Although I'm not officially a new member I thought I'd post about my experiences as I've just recently gone through something that I seem to do every few months . I hadn't had a bet for about 6 months , that was any kind of gambling. Over the last week or so it's gradually crept back , first a few football bets then horses then ultimately and as usual ending with a car crash visit to the bookies to play roulette. I'd say the reason fobts and roulette in particular are so addictive in my view is that you know you can win on these and most times I've played them I've come away with small profits, happy to walk off with 40 /50 pound in profit . The problem lies with the times when you lose , these machines make it impossible for me to accept a loss , if I've a hundred pound in my pocket and I lose that then I can't just walk out , I have to go to the bank or put money on the machine with my bank card . This doesn't seem to happen if I lose on the horses , I think the fact there's a gap between the races gives you a chance to think about it but the roulette is instant and you just carry on as fast as you can hoping your luck changes ... Until the money runs out . That walk out of the bookies when you realise how much you've just lost on a silly game is quite devastating, even more so the feeling you have for the next few days when it's always on your mind . It controls your life , it eats away at you . You can't get on with normal life without thinking about it , you get snappy , withdrawn, your loved ones miss out on things because you have no money , you lie to people , it completely ruins how you feel and act. The feeling eventually goes and you forget how bad it was , then you tend to do it all over again. Today for me personally things came to a head as they do usually every few months , a week of dipping my toe in the gambling life resulted in me being stood in l*******s this morning shovelling 20 pound after 20 pound into a machine trying to win back about 100 pound which is what I'd worked out I'd lost the previous day . 100 in , another 100 , another 100.... You all know the story. Amazingly after putting 600 in I actually made a miraculous recovery and had a run of numbers that won all my money back. I collected and left , all day I've thought about how lucky I was today and how I'd be feeling now if I'd have lost that 600, well it would have probably been more because I'd have been back to the counter with my card . I promised myself I won't do it again, but I've made that promise before .
Your post does exceptionally well in illustrating my own thought processes while gambling.
My last gamble session a month ago was quite the opposite. I won £400 and it was gone vey quickly. As you said, £20 after £20.
Thankfully the roulette game will be reduced to £2 maximum stake, though from what I hear from the bookies, this only applies to roulette (category B2). Slot games have always been £2 max bet I believe (B3).
Don't get caught out, stay away, reduce access to cash. Don't get tempted, keep your card at home. for me, walking past or being near a bookmakers triggered me.
Cheers urgh . Yeah I feel like I've been given another chance , I'd accepted the money was lost but then it all came back . I need to totally stop all gambling . One thing leads to another for me .
Hi Johnbonf.
I will start with a key point that collecting and leaving that time is no sign of control with this addiction. Deep down we know the total losses and we know we will be back. I learnt that I was addicted to the drug of gambling and I treat it as substance abuse
Roulette is a particularly insidious gambling format to put into an FOBT machine.There is no system on it as Einstein himself said. Returning and doubling the stake is a nonsense faced with random probability. Now you are playing a chip without fully understanding how it is programmed.
Do you think roulette would exist if everybody could be a bit clever with spread betting. Its random, Its gambling and the odds are weighted against you. Even at 50/50 you can lose and keep losing for long enough not to recover. This is no James Bond movie for us.
Write down what you have actually lost and do the exercise of explaining a gambling session. Explain your stakes and what you actually have in your head to win. Its not a slow and careful way to make say £50 is it now? Thats why its called gambling
I see a lot of people thinking that roulette is some sort of soft option they can control. It hooks people fast and nobody likes losing.
The play is rapid enough to fuel extinction gambling as the gamblers mist or trance sets in.
You dont need it in your life and as a compulsive gambler you know how highly dangerous it is. Please try and talk to someone close. As non gamblers they will see the reality as our heads are full of addiction and lucky clover.
You had money in your pocket to spend wisely. You dont need gambling in your life. If its out of control you have a serious addiction which ruins people.
Life is much better gamble free.
Best wishes from everyone on the forum
Thank you . I appreciate that
Winning is the worst thing that can happen to a CG. That was the initial hook, the birth of the addiction.
And now, every time you win when at the brink of losing it all, the problem gets so much worse. Your brain now knows it’s happened before, you can claw your losses back, just need a lucky run.... Well guess what, that’s the fuel that tells you to chase your losses with ever increasing stakes the next time you play. Because it’s happened before, right? Until it doesn’t happen again, and you lose everything you’ve ever owned and more.
The only way to win is not to play.
I agree mate and I intend not to but I'm glad I won it back or I would have been in trouble financially . It's not going to make me want to play again but it's good I got out like I did rather than having to lend money now
Try and focus on the money you were down and what that money meant to you. It has a meaning in terms of how hard earned it is and what it would have bought you. Thats the important point because you were addicted enough to sink and it may not have come back out
The problem with late recoveries is that it creates a neuron path in your brain that it will all come back to you at the end. The machine was just going through another random cycle and has no thoughts of luck, miracles or whether you deserve your money back.
Same odds as the first spin and I tend to doubt how random it actually is. Ive seen the misery they cause and people banging the screens in anger as the ball hits the only number in the row not covered. Ive seen it all in there and those gambling dens are thriving off addicts. Its a horrendous drug addiction.
This is why I wont really say good for you because it just feeds your mind that you achieved something.
I know the feelings of grim death trying to break even or snapping out of a trance. It is not fun...I know that much. Its a mixture of fear, grim hope, in for a penny in for a pound delusion, dopamine and being hooked on the ups and downs. In therapy I realised that even the emotions of feeling cheated was something my mind wanted...any strong emotions other than being generally depressed with my life. I was addicted to playing...the money just became tokens to get that fix
Please dont just promise yourself you wont play again. Willpower is not enough. Do something really positive about it and start the blocking process
Best wishes to you
John - it's very hard to stop on a win.
I hope you do. I really do.
I'll make a bet with you now that in the next 10 months you'll fcck it all back to them and x20 through chasing to get back to the buzz of feeling like a winner, for good measure!
I hope I'm wrong.
For me, and for most people reading around this forum, it was never about the money it was about the buzz of feeling 'a winner'
I hope I'm wrong with you, I hope you are the one person who can stop on a win and teach us.
Best wishes,
Max
Mate I agree with what your saying and I don't think of it as a win anyway simply a massive kick up the a**e. I only ever play roulette in bookies , never online so I'm very confident I won't be going in them from now until the stake decrease comes in anyway. I'm not gloating or feeling any kind of acheivment that I won the money back just feel relieved I'm not totally skint now . I won't forget how bad I felt when I thought it was all gone and realise how much I have to work to earn that . I'd take that bet definitely. I won't be going back in. I'll be truthful on here and let you know
I think the problem is that when peole win money and actually get to take it home, it is siltl not real money. It is gambling money. Most times I ever won I never made us of it. Maybe one time I won a huge maount and spent a fraction of it.
That money you won, use it towards something productive.
I'm not sure how long you've been gamblng, but you might move onto another game, it happens. I always did roulette, but I moved between online, casino, bookmakers.
Don't visit casino, it can be quite addictive on top of the gamblng, the vibe and feeling.
Never visited a casino pal. Not my thing, wouldn't even consider it .
Johnbonf wrote: Mate I agree with what your saying and I don't think of it as a win anyway simply a massive kick up the a**e. I only ever play roulette in bookies , never online so I'm very confident I won't be going in them from now until the stake decrease comes in anyway. I'm not gloating or feeling any kind of acheivment that I won the money back just feel relieved I'm not totally skint now . I won't forget how bad I felt when I thought it was all gone and realise how much I have to work to earn that . I'd take that bet definitely. I won't be going back in. I'll be truthful on here and let you know
Cool story bro. Good luck to you.
Max
Never entered my head today to bet .. early days though
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