9. Power of Habit Chapter 9

 - Stay at home mom of three, Angie Bachmann was so bored that she made a deal with herself that if she could make it to noon without going crazy or eating the cake in the fridge, she would do something fun. She went to a riverboat casino. 

- It became a habit to go to the casino once a week on Fridays, a reward for getting through the week. She got so good at it that she was able to buy a week's groceries and treat her family to dinner, and the company was sending her coupons. 

- Bachmann's parents got sick and she began having to travel to see them. The times she was home felt lonelier than ever and she began visiting the casino more and more to make up for it. She was so good she was walking away with thousands when she was winning. People were sitting with her to learn from her, and the casino gave her a line of credit so she wouldn't have to carry so much cash around. 

- She started borrowing money from her parents in order to be able to pay the bills. She ended up owing $20000 to the casino and had to break down and confess to her husband and have her name dragged through the mud publicly. 

- A man named Brian Thomas accidentally strangled his wife because he thought she was a burglar. He had a history of sleepwalking and it was ruled that he had done it unconsciously, because prior to that he and his wife had a happy marriage and he had no history of violence.

- There is a difference between sleepwalking (when someone can get up and make tea and move around without being conscious) and sleep terrors. Afterwards, they don't remember anything like with a normal dream or nightmare. They just remember an emotion or anxiety. 

- More than 150 murderers and rapists have escaped punishment by using the sleep terrors and automatism excuse. 

- Bachmann is responsible for her habits of gambling, while Thomas is not responsible for the habits his brain made which led to him strangling his wife. 

- Bachmann's parents died, she inherited nearly one million dollars, and she reset her life and stopped gambling. Then one day, she went back to the casino, stayed for nearly three hours, and lost a few thousand hours. 

- The company that owned the casino, Harrah's Entertainment, had patterns to get their customers to give them more money. They began to call Bachmann, arranging for private limos to get her to the casino's in Mississippi, since she had moved to Tennessee, where gambling was illegal.

- Bachman was losing and gaining money, but it wasn't affecting her because of the inheritance she had received. She was lying to herself about her whole life, and even when she tried to say no to going to the casino, the convincing workers were able to get her to come, because they were giving her so much. 

- In an experiment it was found that to pathological gamblers, a near miss looked like a win, but to nonpathological gamblers, a near miss looked like a loss. 

- She finally lost all her money and their house. Ten months afterward, Harrah's tried to collect all the money she owed them. When it bounced, they sued her. She countersued, by arguing that they had preyed on a temptation she couldn't ignore. It went all the way to the Supreme Court. 

- William James, believing that there was no way forward was ready to commit suicide. Before he did, he made a deal with himself that he would try 12 months believing that he had control over his future and then decide. He eventually learned that the power to believe is the most important ingredient in changing your habits. 

- By acknowledging your habits, and believing you have the power to change them, you can control your life. 

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