Just about everyone has some problem or indulgence that they would like to get rid of. For country music star John Rich years ago, it was gambling, as he revealed to Fox News Digital recently. Playing blackjack was his weakness. Rich, 51, quit doing it entirely in 2010 and is now looking back. He is candidly sharing what he learned. As he said, "I mean, find me a find me a grown man that never had a horrible problem, I'd like to meet him. I'm human like everybody else."
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For Rich, Gambling Became Something Hard To Control
The singer likened his intense, overwhelming feeling about gambling to the craving someone has for drugs. He explained per the outlet via podcaster Shawn Ryan, "I said, 'Oh yeah, man, I love a blackjack table.' You know, and I was good at it. But it got to the point where it was a dominating thing for me. Like I would go way out of my way."
John Rich added, "And then it's probably like — I was never into drugs — but as you hear about drugs, you gotta take more and more and more and more and more to get to the same level. Well, gambling's the same way. You start out at $5 a hand, and then it's $20, and then it's $50, and then it's $100, and then it's $1,000, and then it's $5,000."
He Became Aware of What the Urge to Gamble Was Doing to His Life
Finally, Rich had an epiphany of sorts. It woke him up with a jolt and changed his path forward. Rich acknowledged he felt "so disrespectful to take what God had given me and blessed me with success, and I'm taking this success and instead of giving it to people, helping other people with it, or helping my own family with it, I'm putting it on a stupid blackjack table, hoping that the cards turn in my favor and I can make some more money."
He spoke with unrelenting candor about what he went through. In fact, Rich quit gambling cold turkey. "It just seemed so gross to me that I was living that way and thinking that way that I just stopped. I just literally went 'bang.'...I literally just stopped. 2010 was the last time I played a hand of blackjack."
Rich Took Stock of What Is Really Important to Him
He seems like a truly changed man with healthy new priorities he abides by. "I think that the simple things in life like that are the absolute most valuable. The real memories that I think you probably wind up hanging on to the longest are the ones I'm talking about. Putting goofy clothes on the dogs, opening one present, and making your grandma's fried chicken recipe. You know, that's the stuff that I really cling to memory wise up here."
