Bookmakers=Gov

Hi eg

Yes you touch on some very important points about facing reality and speaking the truth.

I think thats the truth for a lot of gamblers including myself when I was gambling. No food in the cupboards but playing for escape or a lifestyle based in a dream world for most of us.

Its a deep and complex addiction as deep as we are losing our meaning and our way in a society in which gambling has been deregulated.

We cant all be rich and the love of money is I feel not what ultimately makes us happy. The powers that be tell us we can all have this and that but the reality for many is different. The gambling dens and government make a fortune out of us and that is the reality of gambling

My view is that gambling deregulation has gone crazy and for a start casino games should never have come to the local high street. I dont agree with any gambling but it should be heavily regulated if not banned

Gambling causes misery for many people and it creates addicts.

I wish you well in a recovery process

Best wishes from everyone on the forum

Welcome to the forum, you have made a start at fighting back, aim to be gamble free day by day and don't give them a single penny more. Good words from joydivider, you will get a lot of support on here. Best wishes x

Hi EG,

Welcome to the forum.

As joydivider said, you make some good observations about this addiction. The idea that 'gambling' money cannot be spent on anything but gambling (not even food or living expenses) is a common one.

I noticed that you made no reference to giving up, this may be an omission (or meant to be implied) but the first step of recovery is to truly WANT to give up (not NEED but WANT). I had many false-starts quitting because, although it was ruining my life, I didn't, if truth be told, really want to stop.

I seem to have commented a lot lately about the legitimacy of FOBTs. It is my honest belief (backed up with a fair dose of insider knowledge) that FOBTs are genuinely random. There is no need for them not to be and I can't imagine they go untested when they are under such public scrutiny. There is a house edge of 2.7% on standard roulette which, when you consider how quickly bets can be placed and re-placed adds up pretty quickly. BUT this is all besides the point, the fact is that it doesn't matter whether you are playing Baccarat with a 98.75% payout or a fruit machine at 70%, if you cannot stop yourself gambling then you will ALWAYS lose in the long run as the odds are against you. There is a common expression on this forum "I cannot win because I cannot stop" and this couldn't be more true, it's not about winning or losing, fixed or not, payout percentages or strategies, if you can't stop gambling then you will always lose.

Sorry to, once again, deviate but I think it's very important in the early stages of recovery to accept that it is US that has the problem because we have no control over our gambling. Claiming we 'couldn't' win because we were cheated or the odds weren't fair is avoiding the REAL reason we cannot win and that, as stated about, is because we cannot stop.

Stick around on the forum, read some of the diaries, it's a great place for support.

Good luck in your recovery 🙂

Phil

Hi Phil , Anon and joydivider you 3 really are wise owl,s who been through it all and well on the way to cleaner healthier GF future , i could really do with your regular support at momnet im really struggling after a stupid online/bookies binge , i would love to have lost onky 2.7% of the money i lost , the reality is its get,s it all and im reeling on all front,s , rent , family , living expenses , im still getting out of bed in morning and travelling to work and holding down a brave face as the money and catching up on bills can be retrived with employment but im sick and tired of it im 33 and been gambling since 17/18 but its a progressive problem as you know and last 15 years the gaming industry with the goverment blessing and gone from strength to strenth making billions , at the expense of same many youngster who could of been protected , sad really 🙂

have a good weekend all GF

Hi Spraggy,

Sorry to hear you're in a bad place at the moment. Unlike the other wise owls, I am relatively new to recovery so my advice is based on theory, logic and lot of reading rather than extensive personal success.

You don't need a lecture but that's the thing with odds, 2.7% doesn't sound a lot but when you can bet big every few seconds you can turnover a HUGE amount in no time at all, the losses will add up rapidly. But again, it's NOT about your chances of "winning" because we can't win, if you win one day you'll go back the next or up the stakes or switch games, the one thing you won't do it quit.

You're the same age as me and have been gambling for about the same amount of time, I won't bore you with my story but, to summarise, it started with me being a (successful) professional gambler and ended with me here. I don't want to sound like a broken record BUT you need to get blocks in place to prevent another binge. Self-exclude from the bookies and get blocking software installed on your devices. These will NOT ensure that you can't gamble BUT will make it sufficiantly difficult that it buys you some thinking time and hopefully a reality check.

The gambling industry is immoral in many ways but we can't focus on this, we need to focus on ourselves and how we can start recovering from this. In the same way, debt is merely a symptom of the addiction and not the problem in itself. I have a friend who has a problem and, every time he loses, we starts saying "I wish I had lots of money so I could afford to lose". Gambling ISN'T a financial issue (look at Michael Owen et al. The bigger the income, the bigger the stakes and losses), take care of the gambling and the finances will recover in time. In the short-term, look at StepChange if you are struggling to manage debts.

So my advice is to forget the losses (the money aint coming back), ignore the predatory bookies, casinos and adverts and focus on how YOU can progress. Blocks, self-exclusion and support...it's cliched by it's cliched for a reason.

Good luck, we're all behind you.

Phil

Thank you Phil , i took a lot from that i have a lovely 2 year old girl and a baby on da way so got so much to focus on and be self motivated for , im going to mass self exclude later nad ring gamecare ,got no laptop pawned it but my phone is a massive issue so need a app to block it and be looking at doing that soon , i just heard my local GA might not be there anymore , really upset me , i live in a biggish city we need it

but small steps mate , so need your help and support at moment feel like im at a bottom of a huge snowy mountain with no shoes on

Hi thanks to all the responses, I certainly intend to stop try several times but always relapse at some point ,I'm very upset with myself I kept this bull c**P going for so long all the best lads.