Hi,
I am a recovered gambling addict. My last bet was around 2021 times and I would say it's thanks to gamstop. I wish gamstop had been implemented the very moment that the Gambling Act in 2005 permitted us all to have a casino at home and anywhere and at anytime. Initially, I tried to get around gamstop but it was very effective. I did find ways but the casino was a scam fraudulent unregulated website which just felt embarrassing even trying to explain this to the bank. Come to think of it, there is always a way around restrictions, the brain can always find ways. However, I will always lose - gambling is hopeless for me.
In 2020, I started a small business and made more money than I had ever made before - initially, I was just saving and reinvesting back into the business. I was always investing in stocks but I wasn't trading so there was less risk and no leverage. However, I realized that businesses go bankrupt all the time and all those penny pumpers were just giving exposure to these at-risk businesses for likes and subscribers. I was maintaining control as there was no leverage being used - Then I had a close unexpected bereavement which triggered me and put me in a different mindset and opened up some childhood trauma and just general grief where I was just trying to occupy my mind. I did play on some fobt machines but luckily now thanks to gambling reform, the stakes have been reduced it's another example of great reform but should have been in place from the get-go. I visited some of the amusement arcades for a few weeks and there was an elderly lady who was also feverishly feeding the machines and I imagined that she may have been grieving also. I wish I had spoken to her. After a while of gambling, the stakes were too low and I couldn't bet online due to gamstop I don't like particularly visiting brick-and-mortar casinos unless I have been on a night out but since having two kids I rarely have nights out now. I started to look at trading which I didn't know quite how addictive this could be. I started to lose but then had a good winning streak. I had essentially doubled up and was feeling great. But then I started to lose but I couldn't walk away. I was losing sleep, in a bad mood and having to put on a brave face. Was starting to bring me right down. Then, a stock I had traded went bankrupt very quickly almost wiping me out. I am still reading court dockets daily but there is no real hope shareholders will get anything back. I managed to build up again but I went back to the bankrupt stock and it initially pumped but then declined back down to micro penny status once BK was confirmed. Then followed some triggers - business winding down - another family bereavement - now finding long lost family (father that I never knew all my life until recently) at first he did not acknowledge that I existed and was standoffish, telling me not to contact his family. So I felt rejection and with some inheritance started trading again. With success initially but before long started losing - was very similar to gambling - win feel great, lose feel terrible - strong urge for more dopamine- lose increased urge - losing all discipline and trading extremely volatile stocks. Got lucky but eventually luck ran out. Today, I withdrew all cash from cfd account which is about 33% of my total deposits. It was difficult to do as I believed I could turn it around but I just had enough. The fundamentals were correct but the market just seems manipulated at times - it all reminds me of Gambling where the programs and software are designed to be addictive and ultimately take all of your money should you increase your betting patterns.
The facts are that I am an addict and lack bankroll management. Whilst gambling I cannot control my urges and during times of distress, I am vulnerable. I deleted all trading apps and hope to never return to this repacked form of gambling!
I wonder if this resonates - funnily enough a few days ago I was watching an interview with the great Matt Zarb cousins who were talking about Cfds and how addictive trading can be.
The brain goes through a process and eventually realizes that other people are battling different addictions and not to be so tough on ourselves.
personally I think you are still in the frenzied stage of gambling addiction not nice place to be you seem to reveal all losses and then profits in s calculated manner as if you are still playing with it in your mind .and trying to justify it.to be gamble free and live a happy life you must have acceptance the same as everyone else on here that what's lost is gone forever and accept it as a life lesson .put all imagineable blocks in place from the gamblock moses and contacting your bank to limits allowed per week and contacting the gamcsre 1 to 1 counselling service and speak to the experts in their field best wishes
CFD's are gambling and the market is rigged , your playing against trading algorithms and hedge funds
To make anything you need to think around 3-4 steps ahead and use reverse psychology against the A.I most of them are operating on
I actually think CFD trading is probably worse than gambling because you have zero control over the market and its harder to walk away
Hi there I never involved with cfd dealing but was into the AIM shares market which over the years has turned hyper risky you really need discipline in whatever investment market you trade or long term invest in.
Its all very hard work takes up loads of time you actually believe that you are talented until it all leads to total burnout and financial chaos
Thanks for posting because it has reinforced my resolve and bolstered my defensive attitude towards complacency going forward
cheers MH
100% is mate. I’ve recently lost £36k in the last 18 months on spread betting. I stopped for 3 months after a major loss and then started again a month ago and have lost £3500 again. similar to you, I actually lost my mother last year and used trading to focus my mind elsewhere and in turn a different sort of emotional pain. It all spiralled again this year from her anniversary to now.
Trading is absolutely gambling - The markets are hugely manipulated, they have everything in their favour and we have nothing.
I’ve put my self in a very tough spot financially. So much so, I will never touch a trade again. The stress and Finanical strain truly isn’t worth it. I’m beyond gutted for losing this money, I was comfortable before and now every month is stressful.
Id love to hear others ways of approaching losing that sort of money mentally and how to focus on the positives? As right now, all I feel is despair…..
I’m nearly 6 months gamble free and recently started looking at a stocks and shares ISA. Doing research on it and found you could do trading yourself. One thing led to another and I had plans to get into this. Suddenly though it hit me, I was getting excited in the same way I used to. Planning an easy windfall, couldn’t lose situation etc. This was a huge red flag.
Luckily I was only looking and will not be going down that route but I can see exactly why you got into it. It’s the excitement and thoughts of a free ride to being rich. Every gambler’s dream, which to me says it’s just the same as gambling.
Stay strong 💪
The thing is we can’t control our bet size and go for broke either each and every time or trying to be sensible and then losing and trying to get the money back without any logic. For me, it’s definitely the dopamine our brains are craving. I have an in-law family member who is currently struggling with alcoholism and I imagine the impulse control disorder is the same as gambling adddiction. Seems like some people for whatever reason can not stop once they start whatever it may be. Myself, I can have one drink and stop or go for a week or even longer without a drink. And whilst I have been on a dopamine overdose of late I felt guilty for not being as supportive as I could be for my partner as it isn’t nice for her to see her sibling suffering.
Yes agree, the market is rigged and not in our favour. But some people can control their emotions which is frustrating - I thought I could but I simply can’t. When I realised that hedge funds are using high frequency trading located next to the exchanges so they can see the volume coming in and are a few steps ahead of us, allowing them to mess around with the price action. I realised that this isn’t a place for non financial experts. Or, that it would be impossible for a gambling addict to ever work in this environment.
burnout 🔥 yes, that’s how it gets you - I was staying awake late 2s/3s and then waking at 5s/6 o’clock wired to the price even when the markets are in low volatility overnight mode. Just a few nights restless sleep / bad loss days can take its toll mentally. I am still struggling to sleep but I know with time it will ease.
@t1zumakoiw I have been in the same situation when gambling and taking out pay day loans which I obviously could not pay back. It’s almost as if the gambling act and payday loans were both implemented by the same folks who aim to squeeze the middle-class and let the rich get richer. My credit score went down to the lowest score and was always in the red.
I reached out to step change and they helped me get the debt down and was then able to make small payments until the debt was gone.
Took about 5 years to repair my credit score but now it’s gone from very poor to excellent so it can be done, just needs a prolonged period of time when you just accept where you are now and work your way back.
@t1zumakoiw Sorry to hear it - Grief is intense - especially when it’s your nearest and dearest. It’s life changing - how do we cope with such a tricky time - we revert back to our younger self, when we had no responsibilities and going broke was tough but nowhere near as tough as being an adult with people relying on you. Especially as a man, we are expected to provide and are ridiculed for being average.
My experience of going broke was having to stop smoking and sell my car and cycle everywhere or catch the bus.
i think sometimes it a case of swallowing our pride and just sacrificing a few years to recover financially and mentally.
when it all boils down to it, we were dealing with the greaving in a negative way and the risky behaviour was ultimately self harm. We have to always be kind to ourself, even at our lowest eb. People self harm in numerous ways it’s becoming normalised now in this society with smartphone addiction and the powers that be monitoring our everymove to sell us the next hot product.
get through it - our ancestors went through deep s**t and they made it through the storm to give us life.
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