Good afternoon all, I find myself back and back with a bang! I had been gamble free for a number of weeks, which for me was a big achievement. My choice of poison is the FOBTS no other form of gambling takes my fancy and weirdly I will only go into certain ones where I can tell the moment the wheels spins whether I have won or not other machines don't interest me, bizarre. However just before Christmas I popped into a bookies with a friend to place a football bet and there was a message about text a number to reforge free machine credit...I did and didn't receive any credit until new year on assist basis I am reviving a text message with anywhere between £5 and £10 free play ... I told my friend who said just back red and black and all three thirds and cash in £5 a day, it's a takeaway or something a week. Not me though I gamble it then chase them chase then find myself in a financial mess again. Payday is only Around the corner and I am nervous for payday as I know what I have done for the past 2 years on payday.
Sammy however your cutting the cake your gambling. To those who suffer from this addiction there's no such thing is free play. Good luck to you but i just hope no one pays any attention as your encouraging others to gamble in my book. Have you phoned up Gamcare? Got some help?
Hello Sammy19919
I can see from your previous post that FOBT's have been a problem before, but it sounds like you managed to break away from them. Well done for that, and I'm sure you can get back to where you were before. The main thing is that you can face up to what's happened. Acknowledging that you have a problem is a really important step, and I can hear you don't want this to continue.
You mentioned being in a financial mess. It could help to get some advice from a debt specialist such as The National Debtline: 0808 808 4000 or Stepchange: 0800 138 1111. It might help you to talk about the difficulties you've got yourself into and help you to stop chasing your money.
It's usually difficult to stop one form of gambling and continue another. Putting yourself in that environment was bound to be challenging and I can imagine that the idea of free credit made it even more difficult for you. Perhaps you felt you had overcome your problem, and therefore felt a bit more relaxed about being in the betting shop? It's often important to keep working at a gambling problem, even once stopped, and keeping fresh in your mind the reasons you chose to stop using the FOBT's.
Understandably you are nervous about payday. Have you had any thoughts as to how you can make yourself/your money safer? Perhaps you could give your bank card to someone you trust. Could you self-exclude from the local betting shops? It’s now possible to self-exclude from multiple bookmakers in a local area:
The number is:
0800 294 2060
Website = http://self-exclusion.co.uk/
I wish you all the best
Laura
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