I've had an on off relationship with gambling over the past year.
It started out as an easy idea to go on an expensive holiday. Oh how that was such a bad idea looking back.. I could have just saved up my money.Â
I signed up to lottogo and mrq to see which one was better. The 1st night on lottogo I won big. My first thought were, wow that was an easy flip on £100. So I went again, spinning the slots and In no time at all I had lost it all.Â
The next day came and I woke up thinking about how much I lost last night, kicking myself silly because I would have cashed out. So I deposited some more money, in the hopes I could win it back. Little did I realise that's where they got me hooked. I started chasing my first big win.Â
A few months past, of me gambling on lottogo and mrq, I had won (in my eyes) a lot of money! Which I evidently cashed out and kept depositing it back, I kept chasing the amount I had lost.I found myself having no money left to gamble with by the 3rd week of the month. So I took out a loan to see if I could win it all back and have that amazing buzz of watching the numbers rack up on the screen. I lost all of the loan money... I infact took out 3 loans. 2 loans of 150 and a loan of 1000, to gamble with and pay my bills with.Â
After taking all these loans out I found myself struggling to pay them back, with the 1000 loan having a massive interest rate (which I am still paying off). All I could think about is winning a massive chunk of money again and paying these debts off. And I kept using whatever spare money I had in my bank to try and win it back. I soon realised I wasn't getting it back and I should focus on paying the debts back. So in a fit of rage I self excluded myself from both sites and thought, you aren't getting any more of my money....
I went 4 months without using a gambling site after this and Paid a good amount of money off the loans.Â
But I started to get the thoughts about winning again and paying the debts off so I'd have more money each month. I signed up played for a week, using small deposits, and guess what! I won! Again.... I won just big. I withdrew most of it, leaving 300 to continue gambling with because I thought it was my big night. How stupid I was to think that, I made a massive loss of 3200 (1200 of my savings) over this weekend because I got greedy. I've left myself with nothing again, But shame. I've got hardly any money left over. And 3 weeks till I get paid. Once again I am back in the gutter.
I went for a very long drive to think about what I was going to do, and GAMSTOP was the first thing to pop up on Google. I hope this fixes my mind set to gambling and gets me out of the awful rut I've been in for the past year. All the advert were right! Gambling ruins lives....Â
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Thanks for reading 🙂Â
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The beefychieff
Hi, thank you for your post on the forum.Â
This sounds like a difficult situation for you, but well done for reaching out on our forum for support. It is great you have Gamstop, and we can also offer GamBan for free on our helpline, as well as further support. Please do not go through this alone, and for further support please do reach out, we are open 24/7.
https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/
tel:08088020133
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Many thanksÂ
Forum Admin
Lauren
The one good thing going for you pal is you're still young . That period of your life can become a distant memory in a few years , stay strong an out it down to a lesson that you're never going to repeat . Good luck
@simonsmyork19 most definitely a lesson learned! On wards and upwards from here! Thanks for the reply 🙂
@scar hi, that's very kind of you, and it's very thought full, but I have an amazing supportive girlfriend that is helping me though thisÂ
@beefychieff Been there my self many times. Thankfully I'm 37 now and my slips are getting longer and longer apart
Hi BC and Welcome
You are young so please tell someone close and start getting the real help to stop now.Â
Your gambling thoughts have been delusional as it quickly becomes an illness and addiction
The truth is that you are far more likely to lose your money at any given moment but the machines promote a false sense of activity to lure you into the trap and keep you gambling to extinction.Â
So put simply the reality is you will lose all your money with the slim slim slim chance of a blue moon moment because gamblers refuse to understand the odds with a head full of holidays and lady luck... addicted gamblers strive for the drug so you would never have made it long term
its often a delusional state to combat the grey streets loneliness and sham drudgery... much of your recovery is finding out who you are and the simple pleasures in life
Youve seen the result of gambling and they have pushed a highly addictive product at you.... a drug addiction for gambling.
I will put it bluntly.... you are still alive to tell the tale and young to start again..... tell your mum and dad straight away and get a plan to protect your money and pay your loans
Im serious because unless you recover properly there will be another day when you chase those losses again
That money has gone.... go and earn some more..... flip burgers on a saturday night...clean trains.... anything to get you earning extra and work structure in your life.
nights off to brood are no good.... keep studying and earning
you will recover but can never be complacent again as your psyche is vulnerable to the gambling drug
Best wishes from everyone on the forum
@joydivider completely agree mate! I work full time as a builder, so should be sorted in a few months, hardest parts are trying to fight th3 urges to go back to it
As others have touched upon, it's very difficult to be 23 and financially crippled.
The guilt and shame is maybe making you catastrophise things, making things seem worse than they are. Don't get me wrong, you need to stop gambling now as it will never get better if you keep gambling. But the situation is easily fixable if you stop gambling.Â
If you don't gamble, you'll recover the money quickly. If you do that, you'll look back on this in a couple years and feel so glad you stopped.Â
Use Gamstop, stick to it, block gambling transactions at your bank, fill that time with something new.Â
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