You know, these platforms use the same psychological
tactics and triggers as gambling apps and casinos
do. You know, for a lot of people, it's just
not a hobby anymore. It's become a high -speed
cycle of chasing, spending, justifying, and regretting.
I had all these cards and all of these sneakers,
too. For some sick reason, I felt like I had
earned those. To get from Jersey City to Staten
Island and back on a Friday night, I had lost,
like, $10 ,000. It's... disgusting to think back.
Today's podcast guest is Alyx Effron, and he shares
his story of gambling addiction, but also specifically
his story of getting addicted to collecting,
whether that be trading cards or other things.
But before we dive into his story, I have just
one favor to ask from you. There's so many of
you that watch this channel regularly, but aren't
yet subscribed. If you would do me the honor
of hitting that subscribe button, then my promise
to you is that I'm going to continue to work
hard each and every day to spread the message
that gambling addiction is real. You ended up
with a gambling addiction, a gambling problem.
Do you want to tell us kind of how it reached
that point? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm 35. I have
been a sports fan my entire life, and gambling
has become mainstream, right? So we see it everywhere.
It's sort of baked into our day -to -day, our
lifestyles, especially as sports fans. casino
and sportsbooks ads everywhere you go. Friends
talking about it. Fellow fans talking about it.
You even hear it in the workplace. And it's just
become more and more popular and mainstream.
And so probably date back to, I don't know, 2016,
2017, when apps like DraftKings and FanDuel started
to become more popular amongst... sports fans,
I was kind of dipping my toe and just exploring
what it was like to place a bet on a game. I
enjoyed it. It made watching the game that much
more exciting when you had some stake in it.
And so what started as something that was really
lighthearted and not that serious started to
spiral. I've been a collector my whole life.
I collect sneakers, sports cards, memorabilia,
you name it. I've been involved in it in some
capacity. And so that paired with the option
of being able to make money through, you know,
basically your knowledge in sports, just it was
very attractive to me. something I got heavily
involved in. And as time went on, I got more
and more sucked in and, you know, was making
money from bets and then taking that money and
spending it on a pair of sneakers or a box of
sports cards. And this sort of vicious cycle
started to really spiral. And, you know, fast
forward to the pandemic, I got really involved
in the sports card hobby and community. I started
breaking. If you're not familiar with breaking,
it's this concept of community opening up a box
of cards so that everybody can get a little piece.
The prices of a box of cards is absolutely astronomical
compared to what it used to be. And so in order
to be involved, in order to maybe hit a card
that you're looking for, you can participate
in. Again, what's called a card break where you're
assigned a specific team or a player or a parallel
or something of that nature where you could obtain
one of or a handful of cards from a box amongst
other people that are also participating. And
so I was introduced to that. I was actually breaking.
I was on the breaking side and I got. really
into it, you know, really enjoyed the whole experience
and the community and meeting new people and,
you know, being involved with, you know, an experience
that was rooted in nostalgia, something that
I enjoyed as a kid, grew up in the 90s. So, of
course, you know, sports cards and Pokemon and
things of that nature were always really, really
exciting for me. And so, you know, it just kind
of became more and more. of an addiction over
a relatively short period of time. And fast forward
a year, year and a half, I was spending so much
money on cards and breaks and the chase, the
dopamine rush, which is ultimately what I was
subconsciously after. And so that paired with
the gambling, I started to play blackjack, specifically
live blackjack, live casinos within apps on your
phone. And again, it was this vicious cycle where
I needed that immediate fix. I needed that you
know that that quick hit uh and i would join
a break you know these breaks again astronomical
you can join high -end breaks that cost thousands
of dollars i'd be after you know a card and whether
or not i hit or not i still wanted to recoup
the money so i would hop on the blackjack and
uh try to win it back and uh at one point i thought
i was this you know expert blackjack player and
um it just it got ugly really really quickly
uh you know i found myself going down a very
dark path it was a very slippery slope obviously
there are ebbs and flows to addiction and there
were times where i was up a lot of money there
were other times where i was down a lot of money
and i felt like i had hit rock bottom and so
there were a few instances in particular that
i can recall that led me to acknowledging that
i had a problem and so i started to go to gamblers
anonymous meetings I also sought outpatient treatment
through a recovery program that I know you know
very well, Right Choice Recovery, led by Rob
Sackowitz. I did that for several months, along
with the Gamblers Anonymous meetings. I attended
therapy. I had a psychiatrist, therapist, all
these things to try to rewire my brain and figure
out the root cause of all of this. A huge part
of the problem for me was that it wasn't necessarily
the gambling that I was addicted to. It was really
just the chase. I just, you know, had this inherent
desire to obtain something that was hard to obtain.
uh hard to sort of articulate but um it was always
about like the exclusive pair of sneakers or
that card that everybody's talking about whether
it be an athlete like cooper flag or caitlin
clark or victor webbing yama that's like really
uh hyped and everybody's excited about you know
i always wanted to sort of be at the center of
that conversation and be involved in some capacity
and so there's a lot of fomo sort of baked into
this and the hype and the Again, the dopamine
and the chase, the rush, all of these things
like, you know, just made my brain go nuts. And
that's what led me to, you know, the place I'm
in today, which is a recovering gambling addict.
And ultimately led me to found a mission based
platform called Collectors MD. And that's what
I'm excited to talk about today with you. just
before we dive into what collectors md is all
about you had mentioned that there was a couple
of instances that you can remember that really
got you to wake up and pursue recovery would
you be comfortable sharing one of them just to
kind of illustrate it for the audience like what
was it that got you to realize that this chase
for the big hit this chase for the next rare
item was actually leading you down a bad path
yeah absolutely so i would say in the first couple
of years uh of of being involved with the sports
cards and really really just kind of spiraling
with the blackjack and the and the gambling um
i was spending an extremely high volume on the
sports cards to the point where i had these cases
filled to the brim of just high -end cards i'm
not talking about just base cards i'm talking
about autographs one of ones just ultra -modern
high -end cards that were each individually worth
a ton of money and so in order to obtain them
i was you know not just working my full -time
job which you know all in all was pretty successful
in but i was also gambling so i could earn this
sort of uh additional disposable income that
i can then spend on on the cards and so um i
was doing pretty well for for quite some time
at one point you know i know we always talk about
that the amount of money is is relative everybody's
situation is unique and so a hundred thousand
dollars to one person uh might not be the same
to another right uh but at one point i was i
was up six figures just from gambling and was
collecting and was enjoying myself and was just
sort of living life in the flat fast lane this
was actually the summer of 2022 right before
i got married i got married in november of 2022
and so that summer i was just cruising i was
winning I was buying whatever I wanted and it
was great. I was enjoying myself. And so fast
forward to the end of that summer, I would say
around September, I started to hit a wall and
I would lose quite a bit, you know, that those
losses started to really accumulate. And I ended
up losing everything I had won that summer and
then some, and I started to spend money that
I couldn't afford to spend. I had been saving
up for my wedding. You know, I had my portion
to contribute and I started to dip into that.
It got to a point where. All of the money I had
saved for this wedding was depleted. And the
wedding was like a month away. And I was at a
loss. I was just beside myself. I didn't know
what to do. I didn't know how to handle it. And
so I went to my parents and explained to them
the situation. This was the first time I had
ever admitted to them that I had a gambling problem.
I was afraid to talk to my wife about it. I was
afraid to acknowledge that I had a problem and
that we were... in a dark place and my parents
basically told me they were like look you know
uh we'll help you but you also have to figure
out a solution here and so they were they were
getting ready to like pull from their retirement
savings and make sure that this wedding happened
because there was a lot on the line we had a
lot of guests coming and um they obviously you
know wanted to help as much as they could my
in -laws were already helping more than i could
ever have asked i mean they were basically covering
the majority of the funds for the wedding the
cost of the wedding and so um i couldn't bring
myself to go to them and so i asked my parents
to sort of cover what i had owed you know it
was a rock bottom moment i just felt so pathetic
i felt like a loser i felt like you know a failure
and so um i had all these cards and all these
sneakers too and like it didn't sort of dawn
on me that i could just go ahead and sell those
in order to recoup a lot of my losses because
for some sick reason i felt like i had earned
those and those were mine and i could never touch
them right because they were like my my tangible
investments of sorts for like my alternate assets
and i also had like you know i think a subconscious
attachment to them and so it was really really
hard for me to let go of those and so after speaking
with my parents i think uh something sort of
sparked and i realized i can't make my parents
touch their retirement funds i need to sell some
cards and so i ended up finding uh a buyer who
was willing to uh take a large portion of my
collection in bulk and and pay me a nice chunk
of change these folks came to my apartment building
assessed my collection basically appraised it
which was really hard to do because i had a lot
of cards and one of the challenges i felt was
going to be having to sell each card individually
but when you can find a bulk buyer you know changes
uh circumstances and so I remember vividly them
coming over that Friday night. I was so nervous.
I didn't know how that whole process would go.
It was my first time making like a major deal
like that. And so they came by and assessed the
collection. It was a Friday night. They were
like, well, you know, we have a show this weekend.
They basically, their plan was to take those
cards and run them in a. a live show on an app
called Whatnot to basically sell them as repacks
and so they were like you know we need to bring
the cards back to you know our office so that
we can get the show started but we can't pay
you in full until next week and so they ended
up uh going back to their office or home or wherever
they came from in staten island i was in jersey
city at the time uh to go get some some cash
they gave me some collateral to hold on to And
they brought back the cash. And all in the meanwhile,
I'm sitting there nervously playing live blackjack
because that's what I did. I'm telling myself,
oh, yeah, I just made back this chunk of change.
It was like basically everything I lost and then
some. I can afford to play blackjack right now.
Wow. That's right before the wedding. Right before
the wedding. While these guys are going to fetch
the cash for me, I'm sitting there on my phone
playing blackjack. Before they could get back,
which, you know, took about an hour, hour and
a half to get from Jersey City to Staten Island
and back on a Friday night, I had lost like 10
grand playing blackjack. And it's just, it's
disgusting to think back that, you know, that's
how my mind worked. It just worked in such disillusioned,
insidious ways that didn't make sense. I had
a problem, a real addiction. Fast forward to
the wedding. It happened. I took care of it and
I was still gambling, making money back. And,
you know, we went on our little mini moon and
had a great time and I came back and I think
it was the weekend after where at this point
we had received a lot of money as gifts right
from the wedding. And I had that set aside in
the same account and I was gambling again and
I ended up. touching that i something that i
never thought a million years i would do but
in that sort of crisis mode when you're on tilt
losing money at a rapid pace your mind doesn't
work as it should and i started to take money
out of that account and before i knew it you
know the most of it was gambled away and at that
point it was like i gotta do something here this
is not okay And I went to my in -laws and had
a really hard conversation with them about everything
I had been doing. Obviously, I had, you know,
basically come clean to my wife and she obviously
wasn't happy. We were married all of a month.
And at that point, you know, my father -in -law
was willing to basically float me some money
to bail me out of this situation that I got myself
in. And I had agreed with. them and my family
that I would start going to Gamblers Anonymous
meetings. This was in December of 2022. And so
I found a room in Jersey City, started attending
on a weekly basis, but just really wasn't taking
it seriously. I was still gambling. I was still
buying the cards. I was still actively, you know,
just seeking that chase, that high. And it really
didn't. Last very long I was winning winning
winning and then boom April came and I hit another
wall and lost a whole ton of money in a very
short stint and This was this was the worst one
yet. And I remember my wife was away on a Bachelorette
trip for one of her closest friends and I had
lost the most money I'd ever lost in like a 48
hour window and uh i thought it was all over
i really did i didn't know what to do with myself
i called my dad just in like an absolute state
of disarray and told him what i had happened
he came and picked me up from my apartment i
went to my parents house that weekend i was just
paralyzed i remember being paralyzed all weekend
i didn't know what to do i didn't know how to
operate and uh i knew my wife was going to come
back that monday and you know Frankly, I was
going to have to tell her everything and come
clean again. And that was the first time that
I self -excluded. I self -excluded from the gambling
and from the apps. I couldn't access them anymore.
And that's when I pursued Right Choice. And so
I started to go to those meetings in addition
to the GA. And things started to improve. But,
you know, obviously, the road to recovery. It
doesn't end. And there were a lot of ups and
downs between now and then. But those were the
three moments I would say right before the wedding,
right after the wedding. And then in April of
2023, that really, really were probably the toughest
times for me in my journey. Struggling with an
addiction can make you feel like you're all alone.
But trust me, it doesn't have to be that way.
At Right Choice Recovery, a family -owned and
operated treatment center in New Jersey, we are
here for you. And we're dedicated to helping
you break free from addiction and change your
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the right choice. Check the description of this
video today for more information. Yeah, I think
that the story that you tell resembles the experience
of the gambling addict. And it's one that I went
through similar types of experiences, as have
many of the people that are probably listening
to this. What's unique about your story is the
way that you continue collecting throughout.
And even to this day, you still continue to collect,
but it's in kind of a different format maybe
than it was back then. Could you talk to the
similarities between collecting and traditional
forms of gambling and maybe also the differences?
Absolutely. So when people ask how are sports
cards or trading cards like gambling, it's totally
a valid question, especially if you haven't been
immersed in the modern hobby. right by the way
we call this sports card hobby the hobby uh but
once you peel back the layers the overlap becomes
pretty clear so let's start with breaking and
i brought that up before which is one of the
most popular formats in the hobby today so in
a typical break you pay money up front for a
randomized chance to get cards from a sealed
box or case okay you don't know what team you'll
get or what players uh or cards are inside and
the vast majority of participants walk away with
cards that are far worth far less than what they
actually paid and so that's almost identical
to like buying a lottery ticket or playing a
slot machine right you're chasing a hit that
one big card that might make it all worth it
but just like in gambling the odds are stacked
up against you even more so actually you know
whereas like when you sit down to play blackjack
there's generally a 50 50 chance that you're
gonna either double your money or lose all your
money but in this case uh the the odds are stacked
up against you even more so and the house the
breaker or the platform always wins 100 of the
time Then you've got things like fillers, razzes,
and minis and micros, they call them, which are
just more layers of gambling. You might pay $10
for a one in 10 chance at getting into a break.
That itself is a gamble, right? It's a gamble
within a gamble. It's just risk layered on risk.
And the mechanics are designed to keep you hooked.
There are things all across these platforms like
Whatnot, Fanatics Live, Loupe, eBay Live, even
on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook, YouTube,
other platforms where people are opening the
cards. But they have things like countdowns,
spinning wheels, randomizers. These are all dopamine
triggers. You know, there are things like hit
bells and flashing animations and deck of cards
where you're basically asking the breaker, which
is essentially the dealer, to pull a card out
of the deck and that'll be your assigned team.
So even the language in the hobby mirrors gambling.
You have hit and chase and rip. and jackpot and
skunked and it's not subtle at all you know there's
the psychological loop as well which is the tilt
uh the sunk cost uh fallacy the just one more
mentality so you spend more trying to win back
what you've lost or to justify previous losses
so in that in that case it's it's really no different
from what we see in casinos or online sports
betting and the scariest part of it all is that
you know it's being marketed as a childhood hobby
you know wrapped in nostalgia and pushed heavily
to younger audiences and this next generation
of collectors but again make no mistake these
are gambling like mechanics and for people like
myself who are vulnerable to addiction it can
spiral fast so that's what led me to this movement
called Collectors MD uh you know ultimately it's
really to call out raise awareness and help people
navigate it and navigate their collecting journey,
their hobby with intention, support, and honesty.
Yeah, I think it's very needed, especially hearing
this idea about younger audiences. Because we
know that younger people, like people that shouldn't
be gambling, are gambling, right? They're getting
their accounts from their families. They're using
VPNs. There's a plethora of ways that people
are gambling. Sure. But when it comes to cards...
Is there even a minimum age? I mean, there might
be a recommended age of, I don't know, 12, but
there's no minimum, right? There are no age gates,
and that's the biggest problem that we see in
the hobby today. Anyone, including a 10 -year
-old or 12 -year -old, can download an app on
their phone, their parent's phone, link a credit
card, sign up for an account, and buy and sell
cards and boxes on their own. We see it all the
time. We see these clips, these highlights of
people, their kids, you know, on these apps.
They shouldn't be, but they are. And they're
buying just as much as adults are. I mean, there
are also these in -person card shows that happen.
Actually, this week is the biggest one of the
year. It's called the National in Chicago. And
you see these. These young kids, again, I'm talking
about like nine, 10, 11, 12 year olds walking
the showroom floors with tens of thousands of
dollars worth of cards, wheeling and dealing
them to adult distributors and traders like these
people are buying and selling cards full time.
You see these kids interacting with them and
transacting with them as if they're, you know,
right, right at that same. playing field as the
adults. It's crazy. I mean, a lot of them, I
have to hand it to them, are savvy and know their
way around a business conversation or transaction.
And I think in some ways, maybe it's beneficial
that kids are learning how to transact, how to
do business at a younger age, but there are just
too many sort of slippery slopes within this
hobby, layers within layers, that are just too
dangerous, not just for adults, but especially
for kids. And there's no sense of education.
The parents don't get it. They don't understand
what's going on behind the scenes. They just
sort of see their kid, you know, opening Pokemon
cards or sports cards as any other kid would,
but they're not truly wrapping their heads around
the fact that there are all of these gambling
like mechanics that are tied to it. And on top
of that, they're vulnerable. They're impressionable.
And these platforms and manufacturers, unapologetically
target these young kids. They don't care that
these kids shouldn't be participating in these
sort of activities. They just want the money
at the end of the day. And it doesn't matter
if it's coming from a 12 -year -old or 40 -year
-old at the end of the day. If they're bringing
in the paycheck or if they're bringing in the
dollars, it doesn't matter. It makes no difference.
And so it's very, very scary. Yeah. if like practically
at a high level if i'm a parent and i see my
kid uh interested in this kind of stuff how do
i know what the difference is between the gambling
and just collecting yeah um that's that's the
the hard part and that's where Collectors MD
comes in we're trying to educate people not just
collectors not just people who are buying the
cards but parents and um family members so that
they can see the warning signs, so they can see
the triggers and the red flags that pop up from
time to time to truly understand if somebody
is collecting with intention or buying with compulsion
or impulsive spending. And so it's tough. It's
tough to really see the difference. But I think
a huge part of it is the break culture that exists
in today's modern hobby. Um, if somebody is buying
into a break on a regular basis, uh, where, you
know, they're just doing it for the chase, they're
doing it for the rush and there's really no,
um, end in sight, then it's clearly gambling.
But if, you know, somebody is being more thoughtful
and mindful with their purchases, they're spending
within their means, they're spending within their
budget. uh they're buying singles on eBay or
card show or something like that stepping into
their local card shop and just buying you know
a few packs of cards or even a box of cards and
it's just once in a while and they're not spiraling
every time they do and get skunked then you know
it's a different conversation but the lines between
collecting and gambling are so incredibly blurry.
So again, it's just really, really important
that we educate folks so that they understand
the nuances and the differences and can spot
them, you know, from a mile away when they need
to. Sure. Well, take me through it. How's Collectors MD
going to accomplish that? What are you all about?
Yeah. So, yeah. So I want to take a step back
and just talk a little bit about Collectors MD
and, you know, what we are, what we do. And so,
yeah, I am the founder of Collectors MD. I started
it in March of 2025, so this year, just four
months ago. Collectors MD is a peer -led support
community focused on the mental, emotional, and
financial side of collecting. And we're working
with people who love the hobby, but who have
also found themselves struggling with things
like compulsive spending, chasing, or even addiction
-like behaviors, especially in the areas of sports
cards, memorabilia, sneakers, TCG. TCG stands
for trading card games. Pokemon, Magic the Gathering,
things like that, and live breaks. So it really
started from my own experience that we just talked
about and what I was seeing in this community,
in this hobby. And there was sort of this growing
overlap between collecting and gambling psychology.
And a lot of people were just quietly feeling
overwhelmed or out of control or ashamed. And
there was really just no safe space to talk about
it. right so many people just felt isolated or
like they uh you know didn't have any anywhere
to go and so i launched Collectors MD to change
that to build a place where people can support
one another share openly and start collecting
more intentionally so we host weekly meetings
um they're anonymous peer support meetings very
similar to Gamblers Anonymous We put out daily
content that includes things like Daily Reflections,
Collector Spotlight. We have a podcast called
The Collector's Compass. I just launched a new
video series called Behind the Breaks last week,
which I'm really excited about. And we also put
out educational content. We started partnering
with organizations like Birches Health and Gamban
to help people access professional resources
when they need it. And at the core, our mission
is really simple. It's to help people collect
with intention instead of compulsion. We're not
anti -hobby. We always preach that. We're just
trying to create a healthier, more supportive
culture where people can still enjoy what they
love without losing themselves in the process.
And it's grown extremely fast in just a short
four months. We've had hundreds of people reach
out, join our meetings, share their stories.
And it's been... so powerful to watch. So whether
someone needs to completely step away from collecting,
abstain completely, or just needs help creating
better boundaries around it, we're here to walk
that path with them with no judgment and just
support. That's awesome, man. And I always love
when people create something that's rooted in
their own experience, because I feel like we're
always the most qualified to help the person
that we used to be. To someone that's watching
this and feeling like... hey, maybe they're on
that border of collecting is pretty fun, but
I'm starting to have some problems. What would
you say to them? So if you're watching this and
thinking, you know, this might be me or I'm starting
to spiral or experience something similar. A
lot of this happens subconsciously. People don't
even realize that they have a problem until it's
too late. We just want people to know that they're
not alone. You're not weak. You're not broken.
You're human. And you're reacting to a system
that is literally. engineered to keep you hooked
so whether it's sports cards breaks or even online
shopping you know these platforms use the same
psychological tactics and triggers as gambling
apps and casinos do so you know for a lot of
people it's just not a hobby anymore it's become
a high speed cycle of chasing spending justifying
and regretting so if you've ever felt that gut
punch when the mail comes As a reminder that,
you know, you went on a bender two weeks ago
at 2 a .m. on a Tuesday, or if you've lied to
a loved one about how much you spent or you're
hiding packages, or if you've told yourself this
is the last break or this is the last purchase
more times than you can count. We understand
what you're going through. We get it. And a lot
of us have been there. You know, some of us still
are. Some of us are still recovering. And frankly,
it's a lifelong commitment, just like. gambling
addiction and recovery to more mainstream things
like alcohol and drugs and gambling it is a lifelong
commitment no i'm not recovered by any means
i'm still you know on my journey and so you know
this is all sort of why we started collectors
md we're not here to shame you or tell you to
quit collecting altogether unless that's what
you want you know what you want to do or what
you need we fully support you either way but
we're really just here to offer support resources
and community for people navigating compulsive
collecting gambling like behaviors and the blurry
lines between passion and addiction. So if this
is resonating with you, if this is hitting home
in any capacity, please reach out. Join one of
our weekly support meetings. We have a daily
group chat that has been incredibly active and
just so positive so that people can stay connected
in between these weekly meetings. Or if you just
want to listen in. We are open to that, too.
You can keep your camera off and just listen.
We feel like that is just as powerful. So there's
no pressure. It's just, you know, we're just
trying to spread awareness and let people know
that this space exists for you. It's completely
free. There's no strings attached. If you want
to just come to a meeting just to check it out,
that's totally fine. If you feel like it's not
for you, you're not. you know, obligated to attend
another meeting after that. We just want to be
there for people who are also struggling and
let people know that they don't have to figure
this out alone. So thanks so much, Alyx, for
coming on and sharing your story and talking
about Collectors MD. If you in the audience want
to find out more about what they do, check the
description of this video for links to them.
And if you want to see another story of someone
in recovery from a gambling addiction, check
out this video next. Let's keep getting better
together one day at a time.