One video poker hand at a time, one slot spin at a time, a record number of people are betting it all. And in Oregon, more women than men are hooked on gambling and cannot stop.

AP File

      "I didn't think gambling could become an addiction. I was your typical mom. I helped at my kids school, was P.T.A. president", says Elizabeth Wallace, who‘s a gambling addict. "I lost probably in 3 1/2 years, $750,000. We lost our house because I didn't pay for it." A house on an acre of land, with a pool out back. The house where her kids grew up.

            Until this spring, she gambled away money that should've gone to the mortgage and took money from her husband's business where she ran the office and managed the books. "I was lucky I didn't have to go to outside sources and steal. but when you stop and think about, i did the same thing, except I did it to us."

           She's now completed 53 days at the state's residential treatment program for problem gamblers and can expect years of counseling ahead. She says gambling was an escape. At first, she spent just a few dollars a day. But after six months of video poker, she was dropping hundreds of dollars each day and finding time to 'sneak off' and gamble without any of her family noticing. It's something gambling addicts become very good at so they can hide their problem.

       What's most amazing, is that Elizabeth's story is not that unique. In fact, a record number of Oregonians are ending up in her shoes. Gambling counselor Marcia Matosso is overwhelmed with people who have lost serious money and are often considering suicide. "I tell people, we're an emotional E.R. because when people come to us, they're bleeding in every way. They're devastated. I do the women’s groups (group sessions). Among ten women, we had three million dollars in losses, totally due to gambling."

           If these gamblers were rich, you might understand how they could come up with so much money to lose. But the average working income of a gambling addict is $35,000 a year. Many lose $300 a day, which quickly adds up to $9,000 a month. So how do they pay for it?

           In Elizabeth’s case, it came from her husband’s business. But most gambling addicts start draining checking accounts and savings accounts. Next, they’ll raid their 401k or IRAs and perhaps that of their spouse if they can get to it. When desperation sets in, many take payday loans. Sometimes several loans from several different places in a single day. And if that isn’t enough, statistics show that about 25% of serious addicts will steal from their employers, an organization they might volunteer with or really from anyplace where they think they can secretly come up with the funds that allow them to keep playing.

           "There are about sixty thousand adult Oregonians with a problem. We’re now seeing over two thousand people a year. Last year the number went up 10%.” Jeff Marotta runs Oregon’s gambling addiction program. A program that is funded by the Oregon Lottery, which gives about one percent of its money to help problem gamblers get treatment for free.

       He says the problem is growing for a variety of reasons. For one thing, online gaming is catching on fast. Some addicts play multiple games at the same time to make the action fast paced. For another thing, you can play video poker at about two thousand places in Oregon. Many places like bowling alleys and delis attract those who don’t like visiting bars. And not too long ago, the lottery added electronic slots.

Last year, the Oregon Lottery had record profits and already, it‘s twenty percent ahead of where it was this time last year. That means more money for schools and more money for parks. Lottery dollars recently purchased land for a brand new State Park near Vernonia. But Jeff Marotta says more lottery games and more access to gambling leads to more addicts. So luckily, increasing profits means the Lottery has more money to spend on addiction programs.

           Says addiction counselor Lucia Mattoso, "I truly believe this one percent (the Lottery spends) is saving people's lives."

           Saving lives, because gambling addicts like Elizabeth often consider suicide. She credits her kids with convincing her to keep on living. And she credits her husband with staying by her side even after all the damage her gambling has done. And she credits her counselor at Cascadia Behavioral Health with changing the odds of breaking her gambling addiction. Seventy percent of gamblers who get help actually are able to turn their lives around.

           And that kind of success rate is the reason Elizabeth agreed to talk to us in the first place. "What I'm hoping to come out of this is that one mother, one grandmother, one woman will see this, and not have to go through what I've gone through and what I've put my family through.”

           For confidential help or just to ask questions, you can call 877.2.stop.now. That’ the number for free gambling addiction help in Oregon.