Who We Are
A suggested way of life for the compulsive gambler who wants to stop betting — and stay stopped.
Our Story
The fellowship of Bettors Anonymous is the outgrowth of a group of men and women who, after many years within another 12-step program, made a decision to form their own fellowship based on the original Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Thus on Wednesday, May 9, 1990 in Stoneham, Massachusetts, Bettors Anonymous was officially started through a group conscience vote. In the following years several more groups were added and are growing throughout the state.
These men and women realized they had a truly baffling history of trouble and misery due to an obsession to gamble. They concluded from their discussions that in order to prevent a return to gambling, it was necessary to come to grips with those serious character flaws that made them problem gamblers to begin with.
In order to accomplish this, they used the spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous which had already been utilized by thousands of people who had recovered from other compulsive addictions. In order to maintain their own abstinence, they found it was essential to carry this message of hope to the compulsive gambler who still suffers.
Bettors Anonymous
A fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from a gambling problem.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gambling. There are no dues or fees for Bettors Anonymous membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. Bettors Anonymous is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses or opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stop gambling and to help other compulsive gamblers do the same.
About Compulsive Gambling
Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real problem gamblers. No one likes to think they are different from their fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our gambling careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could gamble like other people. The idea that somehow, someday, we will control our gambling is the great obsession of every compulsive bettor. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
We learned that we had to concede fully to our innermost selves that we are compulsive gamblers. This is the first step in our recovery. With reference to gambling, the delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.
We have lost the ability to control our gambling. We know that no real compulsive gambler ever regains control. All of us felt at times we were regaining control, but such intervals—usually brief—were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced that gamblers of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any period of time we get worse, never better.
Therefore, in order to lead happy and purposeful lives, we try to practice to the best of our ability certain principles in our daily affairs.