About me

Hi George, you pose a very difficult question 'STOPPING GAMBLING' - if you read a lot on here you at a young age may ask yourself, do i want the horror stories you read to become you? Read my story its not the worst but its pretty terrible. You need to listen to James P words of wisdom given to out of control gamblers. You are very young, time to correct your ways, time to find something else to occupy your time - active sport, reading, dating, anything but trying to beat a computer programmed machine. LISTEN NOW - INSTALL BLOCKERS, INVOKE SELF-EXCLUSION, BUT MOST OF ALL LISTEN. YOU ALSO HAVE TO WANT TO STOP, SO THE QUESTION IS DO YOU ? I HOPE SO.

Hi mate thanks for the reply. The thing with me is I can go without gambling for weeks then all the sudden get this urge win abit and I'm back in the cycle and lose loads again. The worst thing is I know you can't win and know one ever got rich from gambling ! But I always tell myself one little bet top up the bank abit and it always fails and I end up angry and depressed for days. I'm very productive with my time always keep my self busy training (I'm a runner). But as soon as I'm alone I'm straight online making new accounts online casinos I'm self excluded from about 6 but always find a new one. What's the best blocking sites and are they permanent things ie you can't describe them ?

Hi George, i cant be specific on blockers, but if you hunt around this site there is plenty of advice. But i want to re-iterate, YOU HAVE TO WANT TO STOP AND NOT JUST FOR A SHORT WHILE, i am not the best in offering ways to stop (self-exclusion/blockers) i have got ways around them all. I was thinking just like you, win a little top the bank up etc etc. Let me give you an example, between Feb 6th & Mar 11th I visited the fotb's in various bookies (over 50-70 visits) and I never left each day (not each visit) without being up (approx £K4 over all visits). However between 12th - 14th March in three visits i lost £K4.3 in about three 20 minute sessions on the fotb's).

So the story is we always think we can win, that particular train of thought has cost me £K100 in five/six years. BUT NOW I WANT TO STOP, I DON'T HAVE TO, I HAVE & COULD OBTAIN FUNDS OUTTHERE IF I NEEDED TO, BUT I WANT TO STOP, I WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE WARM SPANISH SUNSHINE AGAIN, ALBEIT ONLY FOR TWO WEEKS A YEAR AND NOT A LIFETIME AS I COULD HAVE. So the answer is, never mind the blockers and the self-exclusion (though they do help) the question is DO YOU WANT TO STOP & ARE YOU GOING TO STOP GAMBLING OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL ??.

yes i want to stop i must stop i have worked hard for the last 6 months saved every spare penny and thats nearly gone to nothing in less than 3 weeks i have holidays i want to enjoy. But all i can think about is one more session i could maybe win some back then stop but it wont be that simple will it ? Like i felt fine all day not thinking about it then as soon as i am on my computer like now for example all i can think about is how my numbers could come in then i would not feel so bad about losing holiday money because i would have some back. And i know that will never happen believe me

Morning George, yes the thoughts will nag at your head each and every day, maybe you will give in ............... I HOPE NOT - BECAUSE THE PAIN&DESPAIR YOU WILL FEEL AGAIN WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY LOSE WILL BE TWICE AS BAD. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THE SITES. You need something else in your life as well as work & running - maybe a relationship girl or boy or real friends it doesn't matter - someone to keep you away from the mindset that you have developed as a gambler. Face the facts your mind has turned you into 'gambling thoughts all the time' YOU NEED TO CHANGE & ADDRESS THAT' - be strong, i dont post at weekends - my relationship kicks in on a friday afternoon, if it had been full time, I guess i would not have had the time to gamble (get my point) but i will be back on Sunday evening to see how you are doing - STAY STRONG BE GAMBLE FREE.

Hi George - wise words from Spaingone. Like me, he is a relative 'newbie' to the site, but already I can see how he has moved on from his initial postings. That's the magic of this site - it really helps you rid yourself of the gambling curse. It's not easy, but it is achievable - you only have to read other people's stories. I would urge you to install a blocker such as K9 which is free - and also to self-exlude from as many sites as you can.

I also recommend joining the '2014 Challenge' which you will find on the 'Overcoming problem gambling' page. This is a team effort led by Mr Brightside where we commit to checking in once a week and supporting each other - it's great.

Good luck on your journey - you are in the very fortunate position of being young and able to stop a bad habit becoming disastrous for you and ruining the rest of your life.

Joanna

Hi George, good to see that you have had some positive and constructive feedback already.

You make some interesting points my friend. One of which is when you say that you feel drawn towards gambling after running or training.

Someone I knew had a similar issues; he was an actor, and found that coming off the stage was a huge come down, and that he needed something to keep the adrenaline flowing. So, he turned to gambling, and was out of control for quite some time - thankfully, he has come through it now.

The comedown that you experience (and that he experienced) is only temporary, like the urge itself; they soon pass, they always do - what you must find is your own way of "riding the storm", a way of keeping your mind occupied or involving yourself in something where you can wait it out until it passes. If you can get used to doing that, then the urges will lessen greatly in time.

Try and change your way of thinking. You speak of winning money and having your funds topped up; winning money is much worse than losing because all it will do is make you crave more of the same, at higher stakes than before (which invariably leads to losing). If you lose, then you face soul-wrenching desperation to regain what you have lost (which invaribaly leads to losing). Gambling will always be a lose-lose scenario for you and there is nothing you will ever be able to do to change that, so be honest with yourself if you think about topping up your funds, remind yourself that either scenario will lead to losing at some point.

When others mention your age and what they have been through, they don't mean to be condescending or say "don't do as I did", they mean that you have a lot of open doors in your life that won't be there in the years to come, plus, you have a chance to keep this at a level where it is a painful life lesson, not something that blights your entire life - I gambled for twenty years before stopping five years ago; I regret the time I lost far more than the money.

Be strong, be positive and, most importantly, be honest with yourself - if your best case scenario is to lose a small amount of money and walk away, then why bother with it at all? Winning money will always be a form of mental poison to you -don't let it fool you into believing that it will add anything to your life - focus on things which give you genuine happiness and fulfillment that gambling never could.

JamesP

Thanks for the replies everyone's I am very grateful for this. It's been 2 days since my last gamble and I've been fine so far it's usually when I start getting the money in again and spend some that's when the proper urges come to win it back. But gonna keep posting here and hopefully keep using the forum then make it to 6 months again then a year that would be fantastic. Once again thanks for the replies I'm very appreciative and hopefully this will be the start of something new and a new me.