Gary first began gambling at age 13, betting his friend’s parents five dollars at a time. He wasn’t very lucky, and kept losing. In his teens, he’d bet on sports with bookies, losing paycheck after paycheck. At age 15, he lost hundreds of dollars to bookmakers; he was threatened to come up with the cash. Gary also started drinking, which helped him numb himself to fear of losing money through gambling he could not control. He would soon find himself calling bookies drunk, betting on whatever games were being played that day.