Reasons not to play the lottery

Here's another reason NOT to play the lottery....

Police are investigating the death of one of Britain's youngest lottery jackpot winners.

...in a 2003 interview, the lottery winner told of the strain of winning the lottery and how this had changed him...

He said: "It was very hard to deal with all the attention I got. I even had people camping outside my house. It put a huge strain on me and my family."

On his page on a social networking site the lottery winner admitted that he was scared of socialising and listed his activities as: "Sleeping, watching TV, listening to music, surfing the net. Basically, anything that involves not leaving the house."

Police spokesman said there were no suspicious circumstances behind the death...

... in other words he probably ended his own life!

You are not gamble free if you continue to play the lottery.
When i continue to make my recovery about finance addiction will always remain close by.
Playing the lottery keeps me in my dreamworld of believing that a big win will make my problems disappear.
It blurs my boundaries. If i play the lottery surely i can buy a scratchcard place a bet on the national trade in stocks & shares play pool with my friends for money, go to poker nights with friends for small stakes. Where do you draw the line. No gambling means no gambling is where the line for me had to be drawn.

Thanks day@atime... thats just what I needed to hear.

No gambling means no gambling. Amazingly enough, although I have relapsed several times since 2008, I haven't actually bought a lottery product since 2004. I aim to keep it that way!

Lets not let this topic drift off the front page for a while folks.... what do others think?

Great posts SA, second one very powerful.

When the lottery first arrived, (this was before my gambling addiction started) I like most people did it every week FOR A WHILE emphasise for a while, because I knew the odds were well against and I found it boring, could not be bovered lol, scratch cards I did the same with, used to get one or 2 a week, if they were in front of me while shopping and only if I had a spare pound. But the novelty went off with them too, why because I never won on either of them, am sure it I had of won, my story now would be totally different.

I basically got bored with them, I also got bored with bingo online because the winnings were next to nothing, so I tried ONLINE SLOTS, WOW the biggest mistake I have ever made because I won and won BIG I really wished I had not won and then become bored with that too, because I would not be today around 30000 in debt through winning on slots.

I understand what you are saying totally, (always do understand you) the chances of winning the lottery are very remote, so unless we throw 1000s every week at it, it's not a problem, because a pound is nothing, BUT WHAT IF WE DID WIN, would we then think, I can afford to have a go on (whatever gamblung) we did I would not like to 100% committ to saying no ofcourse I would not gamble any of it, I don't or ever will trust myself.

My OH has a syndicate at work, he out of his own money, puts a fiver in a month, I would not stop him from doing his lottery, he does not have a problem, it's me, I used to check it every week for him when I was gambling, since I have stopped, I have nothing to do with it, it's his choice and he doesn't have a problem with it,

The point of my ramble is, us CGS, would we have a problem with the lottery if we did win that 99 to1% I think most of us would.

no I want to correct that I think all CGs would have a big problem.

These are just my thoughts on it, I can't do the lottery I might win and how long would the money last, as Duncs posted a while back, what makes a CG a Millionaire , a CG that was already a Billionaire to start with, just food for thought

Suzanne

Everyone is different because everyone has their own triggers. Playing the lottery for me has no association with my favourite gambling vice - betting exchanges. Others may think it is too close to their own gambling habits to do it. As I say, everyone is different.

The message/lie we continue to tell ourselves if we play the lottery is that freedom from our pain can be bought. That it can be fixed by no effort on our part. That someone or something will fix it for us. Humans need emotional security to love & be loved to have a sense of worth, a purpose a sense of belonging. What we dont need is a barrel full of cash. Wealth is not my desire it will not bring me the happiness i searched for on the spin of a reel for 25 years. My pursuit of peace can only be found within my own actions & behaviour both to myself & others

What I am saying is if I won the lottery Ofcourse I would not put any of it back on the lottery, I am not addicted to the lottery, my winnings would I know go on SLOTS sooner or later, and my addiction would then be something I could not even contemplate, but that's me, we are all different and as I have said we all do our recoveries in different ways, I respect what each and every person does, and what works for each individual,

Sa

Great thread fella.

Some very good responses, thanks for sharing.

For me I met a crossroads over the issue of the lottery being portrayed as an 'innocent' two quid a week.

Because for me in my life I fully understand it is wholly unacceptable for me to wage a single penny on any form of gambling

Because the outcome is for me addiction will remain alive, I by any form of gambling will accept it as part of my life.

The odds don't matter, the prize available doesn't matter, because I lived a mantra for twenty years.

I CANNOT WIN BECAUSE I CANNOT STOP.

through those twenty years I stopped gambling, arrested the punt a good few times, why?

Because I got caught out, bills not paid, wallets lost, lies caught up with by Sarah my wife.

I would oblige her, act all remorseful, let addiction lay dormant until I felt the pain was gone

Then the first outlet to seek the 'gambling buzz' from yes always the lottery, the old it's only a couple of quid bul#l#s#hi#t and if it met no resistance then boom green light for addiction.

This cycle continued all my gambling life.

I never once sought recovery, that wasn't for me, I had to have my fix.

fast forward three years and I fully understand the value of my actions.

I made a choice, to seek life without feeding addiction.

I stand by the courage of my convictions.

My addiction taunted me this past week, the old 'see there playing, go on give it a go, you know you want to! '

But that is it, recovery is mine to tailor to my own gain.

It leaves and always will one question.

Does folk who say, write they are gamble free but play the lottery devalue the thrase 'gamble free'?

Only the person writing could in my mind answer the question.

I know I have felt at times frustrated by the sudden emergence of the 'innocent bet, harmless bet' on threads which maintain a daily gamble free count, because personally I know the outcome of hiding a single penny waged.

Again each to their own, this lesson took a while for the penny to drop, no pun intended.

And the bottom line is I am responsible for only my own actions.

Recovery gifted me that.

I am forever thankful.

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Like I said before, I see it as being about personal triggers and limits. If people want to judge me and say putting £2 a week on the lottery makes me not "gambling free" then its up them. I don't really care to be honest. Some seem to talk about "gambling free" as some kind of quasi-religious movement like prohibition.

Delorean nobody judged you, you as I said can only do that yourself.

You if you can responsibly gamble you are a success story for the moderator's of the forum.

Thanks for sharing

Everyone's opinion counts, just none too much.

Regards duncan

All the reasons of relapse i have heard in my time in recovery. A list.

1. I THOUGHT I COULD CONTROL IT.

Not a long list is it after nearly 8 years in GA rooms?

Well for me, I can't control my gambling, whatever the type of gambling maybe.

£2 on the lottery will (given time) lead to other gambling and financial drain and all the horribleness that then follows on the journey to rock bottom.

Trouble is, that (given time) I start to forget what happens once I have placed that first bet. I can convince myself that it will be different this time and all the past misery is conveniently forgotten.

I might sound like a talking GA leaflet but the only sensible thing (for me) to do is to abstain from all gambling and seek financial, emotional and psycholgical security through my own effort and hard work.

This is not easy... but it must remain as the goal to my recovery... despite my times of thinking otherwise.

Thanks for your imput to this thread folks, please do add more comments as and when... S.A

I think playing the lottery is just another example of people trying to convince themselves that they can control their gambling rather than the reality that it controls them.

You read on here stories of pain & destruction by the dozens but yet the issue of trying to control their gambling remains. Why are we unable to face the reality of where it has taken us emotionally. That when we gamble things turn to s###. Yet many allow addiction to remain quietly waiting to cause more havoc, keeping him alive by feeding him the small indulgence of the lottery. Its not what he wants but it will do to keep him alive waiting for you, for when he can gain strength again to take over your mind

I think that playing the lottery is just another way of living in a dream world.

Who needs to look for better paid work when all you have to do is wait for your numbers to come up.