Stephen Matos, 68, is an international gambling recovery specialist who knows what it means to be a problem gambler.

"I was a problem gambler for years because my father was a problem gambler and I got pulled into his lifestyle," Matos told News 12 Tuesday.

But the international gambling recovery specialist now helps other problem gamblers through his work at the nonprofit Midwestern Connecticut Council on Alcoholism.

"It's extremely rewarding to help people who are going through something I went through myself," he said.

Matos is part of a team of health care professionals representing several Connecticut nonprofit organizations that are working together through the University of Bridgeport to help students head off problem gambling - just as the Major League Baseball Playoffs get underway.

John Hamilton, of Liberation Programs of Bridgeport, says "it takes a village."

"And we're that village - all of us working together to tackle an urgent problem which - for some, statistically - will lead to suicide," he said.