Gamcares Advice

I doubt they would have such a black and white view on it. Everyone is different and deals with things in a different way.

Personally I think the only way to stop is to avoid gambling and changing our mindset towards things in our lives i.e. money, time.

Hmmmm or possibly the people who fund/pay there wages wouldnt like that stance!

day@atime wrote: Hmmmm or possibly the people who fund/pay there wages wouldnt like that stance!

Quite possibly but it is pointless getting hung up about it.

the fact is we are here 99.9% of the time as we are addicted gamblers - meaning yes we need complete abstinance as we have proved we cannot gamble in a controlled limited way just for entertainment like some people out there can.

Hence why we are a different category and are problem gamblers.

a few people have joined whom are controlled so far but think that control is going now or very soon and have come early before it is too late.

If you are in complete control and gambling has no negative effects on your life or finances or time then you probably won't be reading this message in the first place.

Not only should there be total abstinance, I would like to see the politicians make gambling illegal. I would like to see every casino tore down to the ground as well. Matter of fact, I think we should throw the people who run these casinos in jail for robbery and the politicians as well for allowing these crooks to operate.

Hopefully that is not to mild of a stance!

Ha ha no i think you have made where you stand on it quite clear justice. I agree that no gambling must mean no gambling. No exceptions. There has to be a line drawn in the sand in your mind. A statement to oneself, a commitment to change. I cannot muddy my thoughts on this by justifying a cheeky pound on the lottery a sweepstake @ work, trading in shares etc by telling myself these things were not a problem for me.

what is ironic is gambling is illegal in china - and yet it is a massive chinese culture to gamble? and uk casinos have high volume of chinese gamblers - even i got caught up in betting the chinese lucky number 8

cost me a fortune in my time.

I do think though, joking aside that the constant hard sell of adverts on gambling should be stopped.......

it makes it so in your face 24/7 when you do have a problem and trying to stop....

plus it's creating an exceptance early on in childrens lives of such a evil and making it seem cool and the way forward....

this should be prevented.......before a new generation of ruin is breed from such misdirection.

LEST-WE-FORGET wrote:

what is ironic is gambling is illegal in china - and yet it is a massive chinese culture to gamble? and uk casinos have high volume of chinese gamblers - even i got caught up in betting the chinese lucky number 8

cost me a fortune in my time.

I do think though, joking aside that the constant hard sell of adverts on gambling should be stopped.......

it makes it so in your face 24/7 when you do have a problem and trying to stop....

plus it's creating an exceptance early on in childrens lives of such a evil and making it seem cool and the way forward....

this should be prevented.......before a new generation of ruin is breed from such misdirection.

Completely agree!

Thanks to everyone who has posted on this thread. The question here seems to be around GamCare's stance on abstinence, and the difference between GamCare and GA. It's a subject that come up on the forum from time to time, as people are trying to find their way.

Whilst GamCare respect that GA’s philosophy is the correct approach for many, GamCare is not the same as GA. GamCare take a different approach to recovery and therefore we don't adhere to the same principles. This does not mean that we advocate controlled gambling over abstinence as the latter is often the correct choice. However, we do recognise that people face challenges in a variety of ways according to their own needs and characteristics.

Although we understand that abstinence is a very strongly held principle for many, we don't wish to exclude people from this site who choose a different approach to the 'majority'. There is something to be learned from everyone.

We should say though, that the idea that advice given by us is in any way connected to 'keeping people gambling' is incorrect and extremely misleading. We are an independent charity set up to support people who experience gambling issues.

Best wishes

Forum Admin

The whole online industry is self regulating and incestuous.

The so called gambling awareness sites that sit at the bottom of all poker sites pages and cashiers were set up by the poker sites to satify goverments. So the government can refer you to the govening bodies. They will liase with the gambling operator and so on.Throw in a gambling awareness site and auditing company and there you go. Any problems are dealt with incestuously.

No matter how we feel about how the casinos/gambling joints work in regards to responsible gaming or indeed Gamcare itself. Ultimately it has to come down to the individual. The battle starts and ends inside with help being offered through different support groups and therapies for those who feel such help can be of benefit. I am a CG but do not blame the casinos I gambled at for my addiction. This addiction came from within. It is part of a much more complex personal structure.

Sure I would want to see certain limitations with regards to gambling. High street bookmakers advertising issues and the such like. But I personally do not waste my energy on blaming the casinos or other similar companys for my addiction. That is my responsability. Just a point to note. Through speaking to the gamcare help team they referred my details to an organisation who now give me totally IMPARTIAL weekly phone councilling. Not just for my CG addiction but for wider issues as well. This has and is of invalubale help for me. I have gamcare to thank for this.

Lets focus on recovery and overcoming our own addictions rather than venting our frustrations in places and directions that in the end really do not matter. My 10 Cents on this.

Exactly. We can only solve the problems within our own lives. We can't do anything about the wider issue of gambling.

Yep.

Totally agree.

I apologise for my tone used last night. I was just so frustrated at attemting to help myself and being led up a garden path and around the houses, to a dead end.

The process for 'taking a break' on the gambling addiction page for this gaming operator, leads back to the 'cashier'. The link takes you to a page where you select the type of exclusion/limit you would like. When you hit the button to confirm the action, a box appears with a 'member support telephone number'.

If a site like this gives that operator the right to display its badge at the bottom of every page, then is it not the responsibility of both parties to ensure the process is as straight forward as possible, given there combined knowledge of 'gambling addiction'.

The last thing i wanted to do was speak to someone from 'member support' before I actually took control myself. I would rather have come to this site to deal with the uirges. Confident in the knowledge that I would not be gambling online.

I appreciate that there is support, software etc etc, but this one little action would have been a small victory for me, an instant victory in my personal battle.