Hi, I'm new here.
I haven't gambled in nearly ten years and this week I found myself itching to place a bet on two champions league games, I would have won money on both, it turns out. I've spent the last few hours feeling very anxious and depressed, about this missed opportunity.
Missed opportunity. I'm missing money that I haven't won! It's crazy. This is what gambling does to you. Fortunately I'm self excluded from all the main sites, I did this a few years ago for the maximum five year period. I then went and spent £7 on a nice takeaway.
Moral of the story- it's better to spend money on food than throw it away gambling.
Whatever you win today, you will lose eventually.
It's just a matter of time.
Very wise!
In your post, every single word is correct. Well done you did not put money on CL, you would have won and next week in the 1/2 finale you would have give them back. In 3 months you would have spent your wages.
Well done to you - fair play.
The other day I forgot about a game I wanted to watch. It was a re-arranged Premier League game because of cup commitments and it slipped my mind until it was over. I thought i'd check the score.
Before I did (and I don't know why as I'm really proud of being 100 days gamble free) I predicted the score and first scorer (i even wrote it down), checked teletext and I was right. Based on what I'd usually place as such a bet, I would've won big! Like you, I was a little gutted.
However, like you, I can reflect on the truth. I would've just split my winnings over a few more bets. They may have won, but I'd have done the same again....repeating until I was skint and far more gutted than the feeling of not winning a bet that I had no intention to place!
It's a funny old feeling, but I was able to find it funny and laugh at myself. Also like you, I then bought something. I went online and bought myself an item of clothing I wanted and needed (and could afford), spending half of what i would have placed as a bet back in the day.
Not sure if it's a saving, a loss, a missed opportunity or something that can't be explained, but I'm sat here in a nice Ralph Lauren Merino wool jumper having a giggle to myself as I type. Yes, I have a perverse sense of humour, but it's helping me through. Next time I have a takeaway, I'll think of you 🙂
Wow, a very good success story, very rare these days!
It is a good lesson for myself to know that even after ten years you still get urges. That is the sad reality of this addiction.
May I ask how often you think about gambling these days?
Thank you for the kind words @oneofyou. Indeed I estimate that I would have won £1000 on the Barca vs Man United game, but I would have then lost it on the Man City vs Tottenham game the next day.
The house always wins. Always.
@bdog yeah unfortunately the mind plays tricks on you, you start imagining what life would be like with your winnings. You wouldn't need to work as hard, you could use them to pay this bill or that credit card. It's a vicious cycle. Every time I spend money on a bill or clothes, or food items, I think to myself that I'm actually getting some use out of these things, that feeling is amazing. I'll be sure to think of you the next time I go clothes shopping. Which should be soon actually, I'm starting a new job next month after 12 years of driving a taxi. The job made it easier for me to get lost in that seedy world of roulette tables at casinos.
Which leads me on to @urgh. I lost £6000 in 2 hours, on New Years Eve 2008. I had a £106,000 mortgage, a £40,000 loan for my business, and £1500 worth of bills to pay in January 2009, and I was completely skint. I got introduced to gambling via a friend from a previous job, we would socialise in the casino after work, betting a tenner here and twenty pound there. Eventually I tried to win big money, the biggest mistake of my life. I was weighed down by so much debt at an early age, that I dreamt of winning over £100,000. Instead I lost my life savings and spent the next ten or so years paying off small loans which I took to cover the losses. One after the other. I'm in a better place now, not completely debt free but doing ok, I think about gambling whenever there's a football match on...the anxiety and sinking feeling remains but there's nothing I can do about it, I'm self excluded from all the sites.
I'm just grateful I don't go near a roulette table anymore. Even the thought of losing £5 on it makes me ill
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