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My dad was for years. I don't know him really well, he hasn't really been in my life since I was five years old, but my mom tells me that when she and he first got together and got married he would go to the track and bet on the horses all the time. At that time it was no big deal and he said it was just something he did for fun.
Then along came my brother and I. My dad would get paid from work, give my mom $50 out of his check and then got lose the rest at the track. Eventually my mom got sick of the fact that he made good money and yet she paid for everything including his car payment and gas for him to get to work because he was always gambling his money away.
She finally got so fed up she sat him down and told him he either needed to choose his family or gambling. He chose gambling. They got divorced and we moved to a different state.
I guess for the next 10+ years things were bad for him. He did make his child support payments, but he had a very good job yet had a shitty car and lived in a tiny studio apartment and even moved in with his parents for a little while.
I don't know what changed in him, but eventually he brought himself out of it. About 10 years ago I spent a little time with him and while he still reads the racing news and watches it on TV he hadn't made a bet in many years so it looks like he finally got things under control.
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