What did you's do with money if you won

'Choosing the wrong words' implies that deep down you were right.

Try again

Post 4 made me chuckle
Brilliant

Different Deeeaaannoooo

I bought a 50k jacket
A 50k engagement ring
And a 50k Samsung flip phone deep in the kitchen draw somewhere.
That's what I value them at because that's all I have to show for all the above money I spent.

Thats a really good post Deano because its so true. Thats how I feel about my possessions.

One of the most painful things is that my gambling losses negated all of my bargains and Ive even sold some of my collectables just to try and replace the money. What bargains have I ever had if I was going to waste thousands gambling?

Im carefully doing up nice cheaper mountain bikes with parts. I sometimes think Im cleverly budgeting but the truth is I could have had a mountain bike costing thousands or a car

Im two generations behind in games consoles and I could have had all the latest gear if I hadnt chucked it all away gambling.Thats just one example!

I really had to put all my thought schemes into action to get over the money lost. It is painful to dwell on but I have to face it sometimes as a warning what gambling is all about.

I dont think winning was ever part of my gambling history. I feel anything but a winner

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Once sat in the services 8 hour (still have the parking ticket) and won 1500, left at 6 in morning was convinced I was on a winning streak and would quit , 10am next day was at local bookies and left at dinner with nothing even went out to car to get my dinner money out of ashtray.

Went to local bookies another time got to 498 quid (from 20) because it wasn't 500 (jackpot) wouldn't walk away and lost it all.

Actually first ever time I went in bookies won 350 next day went straight back in 350 turned to 1200, was in there all day! Next day went in again.... from there lost all my cars, my job, all my self pride, and 10k in debt all in less then a year!!

I remember actually thinking by the third day I was smarter then the machines and if I kept feeding them and sitting there they'd have to pay out!!

The worst one I know is a lad I know, went to casino on roulette turned 1500 into 54,800 54k for god sake to me that is more then life changing and he doesn't have much at all.

With in a week 53000 of his money had gone back into gamberling and with in a week after that he was 5k in debt 53k gone makes me feel sick

I always wondered if anyone else had same experience as me...what got me super addicted...first 6-7 months of steady Gambling I was on a great streak and won alot. Spent on trip and partying also bought a new car in cash. The next 5 years I was loosing everything and taking out advances on my paycheck every two weeks to support my gambling. That early taste kept me chasing my losses for over 15 years now. Did anyone else have similar experience with early wins?
I know now that there are much deeper issues as to why I kept gambling but I am sure this played a role in digging it deeper.

Blownit...I can 100% relate to that 'rounding up' thing. If I won £1470 I would want to get it upto £1500. Alternatively I would just 'burn off' the odd £70 with no intention of winning. How ridiculous was that, almost deliberately losing until you get to a round amount!?!

If I'd have 'won' £xxxx you can bet your bottom dollar I would have 'spent' @ least £xxxx for the pleasure...& to top it off, that would have counted as a 'good day @ the office' 🙁

What fools we are!

I understand completely, at one point I put £150 in roulette, and managed to get my account up to £16,450.. But no matter how much I won I still put in, I withdrew the money but always reverse the withdrawal, and now I'm in £46,500 of debt in 8 or so weeks, and not feeling so good but like you I would give them my winnings and my own money. How's it going with you now ?

Hi Emily,

I really liked your post. I seem to have sparked the backlash by saying "won" in a hypathetical example to illustrate a point (I could have said 'banked' or 'got the credit upto', I didn't really consider it an issue). My point was purely about the desire to get upto, or indeed lose down to, an arbitary, rounded number.

I also get your point that there ARE professional gamblers and, I should know, I was one (sadly not the 'life of Riley' millionaire poker player but I had a nice lifestyle). When I first posted on this forum I went to great lengths to explain my background and how I used to make (to put a figure on it, £50-100k a year) playing %-controlled machines. I still got repeatedly hit by the "There's only one winner", "It's all random", "You can't win" repost which, despite explaining at lengths wasn't true, nobody wanted to listen.

The fact of the matter is though that the professionals making a living from gambling are a TINY proportion of the gambling public, many are recreational gamblers and then there's us lot. I am a unique case in that I have actually been in every one of the three categories but have, unfortunately, ended up in the wrong one (hence being here).

Can someone win at gambling? Yes but it requires severe discipline which is something a compulsive gambler simply doesn't have which is why, despite my beginnings, I can never go back.

Even a severely disciplined 'professional' gambler isn't likely to be making a stellar hourly income once the hours spent playing, physically travelling between machines and venues they're not banned from and the time spent on the inevitable lost games and/or research into sporting events are taken into account.

I was reading back through earlier comment, and I can relate to the "moving it around" idea Joy posted. Funny I remember quite a few times if I did come home with some I would hide it in an envelope, and swear im going to save for something good. 99% of the time I would return the next day with the brilliant plan... "im only going to take a few bills with me to try to win more" and before long it all would vanish and then some. Oh what a pitiful ritual.

Sorry, I can't believe in the idea of successful professional gamblers. Seems to me to that it resembles the Loch Ness monster or the Yeti. Sightings are rumoured from time to time but the rumours are never satisfactorily verified. Or else the sightings turn out to be a hoax. It's pretty much impossible to verify really, the only way would be to compare money staked with money returned. The comparison would have to me by way of bank statements and paper records, rather than orally.

My experience, as verified all too clearly by the boring old bank statements, is that a highly intelligent person who appeared to have everything, thought it was possible to invest in spread betting but didn't know when to stop. Allegedly reputable commodities interspaced with good old sports. Like everyone else, the amount staked greatly exceeded the occasional returns. And all the family suffered for this going on behind our backs with family money, for being seen as a more important activity than the family itself.

I'd always advocate working for the bread on the table.

CW

Hi CW,

On the subject of professional gamblers there are perhaps two types, and as Phil says, above, they represent a tiny proportion of the gaming fraternity. The types are

- poker players, where it is possible to make a decent income at the very top end, and useful profit at the lower levels. However, only 5%-10% of poker players consistently make money and, of course, if you're playing poker than other gaming tempations are bound to tempt you.

- fruit machine players. Here's my understanding and I have to be rather careful how I word this. When a new fruit machine is shipped, the software sometimes has gliches or 'tells' that can infuence the payout for those in the know. There are fruit machine players who exploit these tells, and they are very efficient at sweeping into the local pub, cashing in, and leaving dead slots for the normal addict (99% of us) to replenish. These tricks are still very much the bread and butter of fruit machine prefessionals who do exist, a network between players and possibly, maybe, perhaps, people party to the production of the machines. I think I've worded that OK!

Anyway the bottom line is... don't play fruit machines or FBOTs whilst I think of it for reasons I cannot express, but trust me; random is not always random in the conventional sense (hint: B2 payout regime). Like the Coca Cola recipe, there are only a handful of people who truly understand precisely how the algorithm works........

Anyway ... I agree working is the best way to put bread on the table... gambling, for 99% of us, can only ever take us in one direction, financial and/or otherwise....