Addictive Potential of Steroids

Animal studies have shown that steroids are reinforcing. Animals will administer steroids to themselves when researchers gave them the opportunity. Animals do this with other addictive drugs, too. The addictive property is more difficult to demonstrate in humans, but the potential for steroid abusers to become addicted is consistent with continued abuse, despite physical problems and negative effects on social relations. In addition, steroid abusers typically spend large amounts of time and money obtaining the drug, which is another indication of addiction. Individuals who abuse steroids can experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking steroids. Symptoms include: mood swings, fatigue and restlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive and steroid cravings. Withdrawal symptoms may contribute to continued steroid abuse. One of the most dangerous withdrawal symptoms of steroid use is depression. When persistent, depression can sometimes lead to suicide attempts. Research indicates that some steroid users might turn to other drugs to alleviate some of the negative effects of steroids. For example, a study of 227 men admitted to a private treatment center for dependence on heroin or other opioids in 1999 found that 9.3 percent had abused steroids before trying any other illicit drug. Of these, 86 percent first used opioids to counteract insomnia and irritability resulting from the steroids.

Effective Treatment Approaches

Medication and behavioral therapy, especially when combined, are important elements of an overall therapeutic process that often begins with detoxification, followed by treatment and relapse prevention. Easing withdrawal symptoms can be important in the initiation of treatment. Preventing relapse is necessary for maintaining its effects. However, episodes of relapse may require a return to prior treatment components. A continuum of care that includes a customized treatment regimen addressing all aspects of the life of a patient with addition, including medical and mental health services and follow up options like community or family-based recovery support systems, is crucial to the success of a patient in recovery because it helps the patient achieve and maintain a life free of drugs.

In poker, dead money is the amount of money in the pot other than the equal amounts bet by active remaining players in that pot. Examples of dead money include money contributed to the pot by players who have folded, a dead blind posted by a player returning to a game after missing blinds, or an odd chip left in the pot from a previous deal. For example, eight players each ante $1, one player opens for $2, and gets two callers, making the pot total $14. Three players are now in the pot having contributed $3 each, for $9 live money; the remaining $5 representing the antes of the players who folded is dead money. The amount of dead money in a pot affects the pot odds of plays or rules of thumb that are based on the number of players. The term dead money is also used in a derogatory sense to refer to money put in the pot by players who are still legally eligible to win it, but who are unlikely to do so because they are unskilled, increasing the expected return of other players. This can also be applied to the player himself: Let's invite John every week; he's dead money. The term dead money also applies in tournaments, when many casual players enter events with virtually no chance of winning.

Poker Tournament

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table called a "heads-up" tournament, and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables. The winner of the tournament is usually the person who wins every poker chip in the game and the others are awarded places based on the time of their elimination. To facilitate this, in most tournaments, blinds rise over the duration of the tournament. Unlike in a ring game or cash game, a player's chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player's placing.

To enter a typical tournament, a player pays a fixed buy-in and at the start of play is given a certain quantity of tournament poker chips. Commercial venues may also charge a separate fee, or withhold a small portion of the buy-in, as the cost of running the event. Tournament chips have only notional value; they have no cash value, and only the tournament chips, not cash, may be used during play. Typically, the amount of each entrant's starting tournament chips is an integer multiple of the buy-in. Some tournaments offer the option of a re-buy or buy-back; this gives players the option of purchasing more chips. In some cases, re-buys are conditional for example, offered only to players low on or out of chips but in others they are available to all players called add-ons. When a player has no chips remaining and has exhausted or declined all re-buy options, if any are available he or she is eliminated from the tournament.

In most tournaments, the number of players at each table is kept even by moving players, either by switching one player or as the field shrinks taking an entire table out of play and distributing its players amongst the remaining tables. A few tournaments, called shoot-outs, do not do this; instead, the last player sometimes the last two or more players at a table moves on to a second or third round, akin to a single-elimination tournament found in other games.