Hi everyone,Â
I’m a 22 year old who has decided to give up gambling today. I would like to tell my story in the hopes somewhere here can relate to my story and provide some helpful tips
I started gambling 2 weeks after my 18th birthday by betting on sports, that quickly turned to online slots. I used to play 40-50p stakes but around the age of 19 I landed a fantastic job where I could afford to play much higher stakes (£2-3).
My gambling addiction got bad when I was 20 after winning £25,000, I didn’t gamble the money away but instead went on some amazing holidays with my then girlfriend, bought a Rolex and put a deposit down on a new car.Â
I lived an amazing year but after spending the majority of that money I have been chasing another big win for the last 2 years which has now left me with £0.Â
My girlfriend left me in December 2020 due to changes in my personality and I decided to try and do something about this and thought gambling was the issue. I signed up to Gamstop and then thought this was a mistake so started gambling on crypto casinos. (I got lucky with Bitcoin in 2020 and owned around £8k in cryptocurrency). My crypto portfolio is now £0.
The money has finally run out and for the first time yesterday I started looking at loans to help finance my gambling, I have now realised that I have a problem and it needs to stop.Â
thanksÂ
Hi @2021gamblefree,Â
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Thank you for coming to the forum and for sharing your story.
I am sorry hear how you have been affected by the roller-coaster of ups and downs in your gambling and how this has impacted on your relationship with your girlfriend. It is not easy dealing with problem gambling. Gambling is cunning, powerful, and baffling and without support can sometimes be too much.
As I am sure you will come to find, the Forum is a welcoming and supportive space which allows you to talk to others who may also be experiencing similar issues to yourself.
It sounds like all of this has been going on for quite a while for you as well so can I suggest that you contact the GamCare Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or Netline just to have a space to talk and offload and see what other support we can offer you.
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Keep posting and sharing
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Regards
Dan
Forum Admin
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Sounds like you’ve made all the right steps in recognising you have a problem. Well done.Â
I wish I was 22 and had this mentality. Instead I always saw gambling as a way out of my problems, instead it just made it worse. If you can get out of this at such a young age then you will be fine. Good luckÂ
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