I’ve won and lost thousands sometimes I put XX on football bets at a time if it looses I can’t hack it. So I put even more money on to try and win back. Even when I’ve won bigger amounts I can never cash i I’ve tried but takes a few days to cash in I just reverse deposit because I want more never happy. But if it was actually cash in front of me I’d think twice it’s just numbers on a screen online gambling is the worst thing! Being doing it for years il never win back the amount I lost. I’ve deleted my account and restricted the websites on my laptop and phone. This needs to be the end of it hard to admit but do need help. Really don’t want to keep loosing hard earned money feels like I’m working for free i never spend on myself
To be honest M L I would hazard a guess that almost every problem gambler on the forums are not here because we lose but because we chase the losses. Anyone that gambles loses from time to time. Even professional gamblers accept the fact they will lose from time to time as nothing in life is guaranteed. But the difference is, they and probably most people put a bet on accepting the risk that it may lose, and if it does then so be it.
I lost over two grand in about 30 mins about three weeks ago. Why? I think the simple answer is that I made a stupid bet and it lost. All I could think about was chasing the initial loss and telling myself I would stop when I got the initial amount lost back again. I hot that numb zone that most of us experience where time stops and you are locked into a feeling of anxiety and panic as the initial chase goes awry and the loss becomes bigger and bigger requiring you to make larger risks in an attempt to pull the money back.
Now with three weeks passed since that crazy episode I can look back with the benefit of hindsight and recognize that not once during that mad half hour did I consider the very real possibility that by chasing I would lose even more money. Not once did I consider how I would feel later that day if the chasing didn't work. Not once did I consider all the much more positive things I could have put that money towards.
Now I just feel shame and stupidity that in these strange times where so many people are struggling or losing their jobs, I was happy to give over two grand of my hard earned cash to some big firm of bookmakers who really didn't need it.
I still feel the pain of the damage my chasing did BUT now I am turning that pain into a really effective reminder that I should never ever do anything like that again.
Hi ML and welcome.
You have to face the truth that the addiction is way beyond the money. It will just be numbers on a screen just as for cash users it becomes bits of plastic going into a slot. we have all had money out but ITS NEVER ENOUGH and we put it all back in again and more. Its a drug addiction more than anything else.
Its not until later that reality sinks in again as we come down from the drug that compels us to play.
ITS NOT AN INCOME SCHEME and YOU ARE WORKING FOR FREE! Until you enter a full recovery and those facts sink in your mind wont heal.
I reckon if I took money from you in the street you would be more than angry but you are prepared to risk it all to feed your addiction...picture dropping money down a grid because that is the reality of gambling. NOBODY is offering you life changing odds on a no brainer decision
I was once told I was playing at recovery as it took me 10 months after joining the forum to do something positive about it. In an addicted state I was angry with that person but now I realise that was the best thing they could have said to me.
Tell someone close and get your money protected. You do need help and there is no shame in admitting that. We have all been there.
At the moment your words suggest you just want to stop losing. You need to STOP gambling. its not for you...its no good for you and you will actually have a life when you dont do it any more.
Best wishes from everyone on the forum
Hi
Being in the recovery is about replacing unhealthy habits with healthy habits.
I am not able to change history.
I use to be a very unhealthy person.
I use to be a very emotionally vulnerable person.
The recovery program was going to help me identify my unhealthy reactions to people life and situations I could not deal with in a healthy way.
Being in the recovery program was about healing my pains.
Being in the recovery program was about reducing my fears.
Being in the recovery program was about reducing my unreasonable expectations of people life and situations.
Being in the recovery program was about exchanging my unhealthy reactions to have healthy interreactions.
Before my recovery I was in effect my own worst enemy.
The recovery program would help me abstain from unhealthy habits and exchange unhealthy habits in to healthy habits.
Only when I had abstained from my gambling could the healing of my pains start.
The recovery program would help me reduce my fears.
The recovery program would help me have healthy therapies and also reduce my fears.
With reduced fears I would start to trust more.
It was a very good investment in my self to stick with the recovery program.
Dave L
AKA Dave of Beckenham
I found that I was unable to withdraw the funds when winning , time and time again I’ve said I would withdraw 2/3 rds of any profit of over xxx just last Friday I had xxx (xxx profit in one day in skybet ) by Saturday night I’d blown the lot and more
that’s when I said enough is enough and admitted that I am out of control !
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