In Part 2, Louis Ruggiero picks up where he left off - sober from drugs and alcohol but deeper in his gambling addiction than ever. From betting $40,000 on UFC fights to losing $600,000 on a sports betting app in months, Louis reveals how compulsive gambling brought him to the brink of suicide while his fiancée was postpartum and his newborn son was in the next room. He shares the phone call on the corner of 48th and Madison that changed everything, how Gamblers Anonymous saved his life, and why after everything - the drugs, the alcohol, the arrests - it was gambling that truly took his soul.

Content Warning:

This episode contains discussions of suicide and mental health, which may be distressing for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider seeking support. Help is available. In the U.S., you can contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 — available 24/7.

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

Louis Ruggiero grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Private school. Three sports. By most measures, he had every advantage. At 14 — he turned $200 into $9,000 at a blackjack table in the Bahamas and lost every penny before checkout. By 21 he had a bookie, three felonies, and was stealing checks from a friend to stay in action and fund his other addictions.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Louis walks us through the early years — the entitlement, the structure that kept him together in high school and collapsed the moment he left for college, and the first real consequences that came when charm and a well-connected family couldn't bail him out anymore.

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

Oklahoma was the last place I ever gambled in a casino. WinStar. January 31st, 2022. This is my first time back.

We cover a lot of ground this week — bad flights, great food, a statewide conference on problem gambling, and a number that stopped me in my tracks: 143 casinos in a state of 4 million people. What does that landscape mean for people trying to get out? And is it ever a valid excuse?

We also celebrate Christina Cook — the person who changed the trajectory of my life — as she marks five years away from a bet.

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

Adam sits down with Meagan Dunham, a licensed master social worker and Gambling Program Monitor for Louisiana's Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD) serving the Greater New Orleans area. Meagan didn't come to this work through lived experience — she came through public health. What she found when she arrived at gambling was familiar: a population going unseen and underserved. In this conversation she breaks down what gambling harm actually looks like on the ground in New Orleans, how MHSD reaches people who would never walk into a clinic, and the one pattern she's seen consistently in people who make it: small, manageable goals.

Metropolitan Human Service District: https://www.mhsdla.org/

New 24/7 MHSD Crisis Line - 844-568-6473

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

I'm taking a break from talking about meetings and connection. We know that's important. But this week I want to talk about something different. The cold hard truth that most people struggling with gambling don't want to hear: wanting to stop and being ready to stop are two very different things. Close your eyes, clear your head, and answer three questions. Your answers might tell you more than you're ready to admit.

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

Adam sits down with Sal Guarino, co-founder of The Recovery Partners, an online coaching program for gambling recovery. In a conversation that covers nearly 40 years of living with a gambling addiction, Sal and Adam dig into what keeps people gambling for decades even when they know better, why the same mind that justifies "one more bet" is the same mind that says the meeting wasn't welcoming enough, and what it really means to build a life in recovery instead of just defending against the next bet.

Contact Sal: The Recovery Partners | Building Happy, Gambling Free - Lives

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

In this episode, I talk about finally sending the Venmo for a gambling debt that had been sitting in my head for seven years, why procrastination still shows up in my recovery, the anxiety that creeps in when life starts going well, and how I’m learning to sit with stability instead of chaos. Also...who wants to come to Chris Stapleton with me?!

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com

Adam sits down with Australian recovery advocate and founder of The Hope Project Australia, Kate Seselja. Kate shares her lived experience with gambling addiction — from early wins that pulled her in, to years of secrecy, shame, and financial loss while raising a family. Kate challenges the traditional “disease model” of gambling addiction, arguing that many gambling products — especially electronic gaming machines in Australia — are deliberately designed to maximize engagement and loss.

For more information on The Hope Project Australia - https://www.thehopeprojectaustralia.com.au/

If you’re struggling right now, you’re not alone.
Email me anytime at modernmeetingpod@gmail.com

The Modern Meeting is supported by Evive!

Evive meets you exactly where you are.

Download Evive today or visit www.getevive.com