Here’s some food for thought
If you are walking around in a pub and you see a machine that still has credit in, no one else is in there, no one around to claim it, do you leave it there or collect it?
See this is the dilemma, technically you haven’t spent the money so it would look like a free handout and in some ways rightly so, but is there a bigger problem to come? I saw a machine with £9.00 left in it this morning but not once did I think about going and collecting it, for a few reasons. One, to anyone walking in it would look like I had played to try win it and it would look as though, even though innocent I had given into temptation. Secondly, collecting that money to so many can be the biggest trigger to ruining the rest of you day, it’s free, it was never yours, you decide to play, you lose it and before you know it you empty your wallet too.
Sometimes what appears to be a good thing is the devil in disguise, some of us could be so in need that we collect that free credit but I challenge you all now, try your hardest to resist. Just that push on the collect button can be the thing that sets the gambling wheel in motion, as addicts we can be triggered easily if our defences are not strong enough. We all find money and of course we will keep it, but what would you do if you saw it flashing at you, there for the taking in a machine?
Food for thought guys, be interesting to hear people comments, think this is an interesting topic and one that many of us may have some very deep thoughts on.
Well.. a compulsive gambler mate of mine, once he has blown his benefit money, goes around collecting the tickets for the small amounts of money left in machines. He goes to lots of bookies on a daily basis and after a while these vary small amounts of money start to add up a bit and then he puts them back in and either gambles it or cashes them out to buy a loaf of bread or something.
Sad isn't it, but that's addiction for you. People do what they do to survive.
I've never been a 'slot machine' kind of gambler: online sports was my addiction. Interesting though: is it a question of here you are with an easy £9 payout, or do you gamble that £9 in the hope of getting more? Obviously would depend on having more to put in if it lost - or perhaps its more of a slippery slope sort of thing, i.e. I gambled there for free so doesnt count, I can just put a few more coins in....
Firstly to S A,
Very valid points my friend people will do anything to survive and get by, some people with strong addiction will simply gamble by any means and find any way to do so. Over the time I have been clean I have had to build some very strong shields against it and they are the sorts of shields that made me think the way I did today. When I was gambling I was the same I would do what I could to gamble, today for me was about not testing the water and very interested to see how others would have reacted, thank you for your comment.
HertsC
That is more or less what went through my mind when I thought to myself how would it have looked if I had given in and collected it. It’s so easy to say well that doesn’t count to so many of us but looking at it from the point of view I have now it always counts as it is feeding the addiction. If I was still gambling I do believe I would look at it in exactly the way u stated “free money, it wasn’t mine, it doesn’t count”.
Thank you both for taking time to comment, even my Mrs admitted had she walked in and saw I was collecting from a machine she would be in need of clarification that was all I was doing but was nonetheless proud of what I told her I had done. It was at my local Wetherspoons so was breakfast time, the barmaid I spoke to and informed of it seemed stunned which in some ways was quite funny but I knew had I pushed the collect button it would have made me look guilty to an onlooker who knows my story.
Hope to hear from more people I really am intrigued to hear from many more as to what they think and how they have experienced similar situations, we all have a story and an opinion on here and I believe everyone’s on here are as important as the next.
Have a good evening guys.
Hi again. Iv'e seen machines with money left in them, not large amounts mind. For me personally I wouldn't collect the money or gamble it because of my personality and who I am as a person. I would think to myself... maybe the person that was playing the machine has just stepped outside to take a call or have a smoke or they are in the loo. Knowing my luck i'd be confronted by an angry punter as soon as i went up to the machine. Somebody did once try to shoulder barge me out the way of a machine, saying it was their money... it wasn't cos i'd been on the machine for a while... the bloke was just a psycho wanting money.
Having said all of the above. If was seriously desperate, no money and hungry then I would take the money... cos I said in my last post, if you are truly desperate then ya start doing desperate things.
S.A
I totally agree desperate people do desperate things, I have seen first hand a fort friend of mine did cash in on someone else’s credit and that person had as u said stepped aside briefly, wasn’t pretty I must admit.
There is no right or wrong answer to my original post just interested hearing opinions of people or prior experiences with this area as it can be a tricky situation for some among us.
Yep I have taken other peoples credit notes and sidled over to a machine with credit in it after a sly check around.
A grown man in an environment I actually hated feeling some sneaky elation that I could take someones credit. Its Soooooo sad to think about...a grown man feeling sneaky over pence. Ok its never been a large amount but I face the truth. That is what the addiction does. I was ill...very ill...there for the grace I didnt turn to serious crime but I did defraud my parents and had done that off an on for decades. So lets face it I was a fraudster and liar of some description
The reality for an addict is those credit notes can and do end up costing hundreds or thousands more. It was never really a bonus. Again the truth is that 26p or a few quid credit notes were simply dangerous to me as I would often follow it up with my own money thinking Im on a winner here or its a sign things re going my way when people leave credit around.
It shouldnt surprise you that all honour is lost...I craved dopamine..I craved to play again.
Ive seen people arguing over machines and Ive seen people asking for a machine to be reserved and they never come back. the dens play thet game with reserved signs..That for me is also a sign of a real addict who cant bear the thought of others on the machine...they dont even understand that the machines dont work on the two previous punters feeding them up principle...not these days or indeed ever.
Im sorry but I dont see any love amongst gamblers...there was always a feeling that if money was thrown into the centre of the room we would all have scrambled for it....the cold stares and false banter...nobody really wants to lose and see others doing better. Other gamblers used to anger me slightly and I even thought myself above them. couldnt bear the attempted banter but we were all addicts......somebody should have filmed me or held up a mirror
I was going to start a post that all? machine players walk in with some sort of feeling that they are going to get a bit today...If that was the case the dens would be out of business. I would be so interested to see the accounts of one set of machines per day.
They are the crystal meth of gambling...Would you really be surprised about the behaviour in there?
Best wishes to everyone on the forum
Hi joydivider,
Great post highlighting the absolute truth of the world of gambling.
I was someone who would be celebrating other people's wins outwardly with them whilst secretly wishing loss and suffering for them internally.
I was selfish to the core and would have trampled over Anyone to get money so that I could be in action.
I was a fake/phony because I wasn't just an addict but a love me aholic and an except me aholic due to my core self rejection. Saying one thing and feeling another left me feeling guilty and horrible as a person.
I had to come to terms with what I was and use it to power me in to change.
Joydivider and Walliss77
Thank you for your comments and views on this post really interesting to read your stories and see just how much I was able to relate to how I also used to be in my behaviours. I am coming up to 900 days gambling free and I look back to 901 days ago where I certainly wouldn’t have thought twice about taking leftover credits and continuing to play, I myself was very ill with addiction too.
In that moment last week my challenge when I saw that money was “am I strong enough?” I haven’t even touched buttons on an empty machine since quitting because I worry that it may trigger me and don’t want to test the water, for me taking that money was not in my best interests.
I totally agree an addict will do all they need to do to get by, to feed the addiction, to get their fix and free credits are one of the biggest highs because rightly expressed by joydivider we falsely see that as things turning in our favour but in reality it’s just a set up.
For some it is easier to walk away for others it’s not so and I see it daily in people, I had a work colleague who even went as far as lying about dropping money on a public social media page so that his Mum didn’t find out that he had lost his wages 3 weeks before next payday.
My perception on how I have to choose to live has changed mainly down to the fantastic support of my family and from my counsellor who was outstanding. That one push of a button could have been a bad step in my recovery and because of that, for the sake of £9.00 it didn’t seem worth it to risk throwing away all I have worked so hard for.
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