Santa “Claws”

Al Capri pays just 50 cents for his therapy sessions.

The cheap price, though, isn't the only thing unsual about Al's therapy, there's the location as well: the Carrows restaurant on Center Avenue in Martinez.

Al's therapist, you may have guessed, is not a doctor. It's not even human. It's the the claw machine located between the restaurant's pie display case and the restrooms.

This all goes back, Al says, to when his wife, Marti, died 10 years ago. Al admits he was at loose ends. Tired of cooking (too much food) for himself at home, Al started go out to eat dinner most nights. That's when he stumbled across the claw machine.

He says the challenge and, yes, strategy of the game has help to keep his mind busy this past decade. It's why he continues to put in roughly $20 a week to play.

Al's addiction to the game, though, has not been good just for him.

To see who else is benefitting, watch Garvin Thomas' story above.

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