Hello everyone

Oh and for those of you that are football fans, not sure if there are many, but I had PSG to win or draw against Lyon to win all my money back Sunday night, when they concede a 94th winner... this pretty much tipped me over the edge hahaha

Hi, there are many football fans here. I was a sports bettor like you.

Chasing loses is how a lot of us get into trouble. I would start the weekend with "just a £5 bet" on a friday evening, then by 3am Sunday after a weekend of constant betting i would be waiting for the MLS teams to get me out of a £1000+ hole i had dug myself. Just couldn't let that fiver go and if i won i'd bet again and lose it at some point anyway.

The worry for me is that you have started to place bets of hundreds of pounds now. It scary how quickly this can feel totally normal and a lot of money can be lost very quickly.

Sadly the money has gone, you have to accpet that or more will be lost. Trust me i've been there, you think this loss hurts wait til you add another 0 to that.

You realise you have a problem and now you have to make sure you stop. Have you put any blocks into place? To me gambling became something i did without any thought, it became an automatic action. So just thinking i should stop didn't work out to anything.

d**n, that's scary how familiar that sounds. I would always start the friday night just a 5-10 pound bet promising my self I would not bet anymore if it loses, then its like okay im just going to get this back and before I know it the weekend is gone and I've lost like £50 or something stupid. Yeah this was the first time betting with these amounts and it was so strange I was depositing like £400 per go which is absolutely crazy.

I understand what you're saying and I really must stop now before it turns into something that I no longer have control of or can afford.

The problem with me is that I have the dilemma of wanting to do casual sports bets which I really do enjoy, but i need to understand when to stop and cut my losses and I am not sure if I know how to do that, maybe I should give it a rest for a set period? Not sure what's next..

Just asked if I could get some bonus money for the losses, they gave me £25 just for casino lost it instantly. aaaah

Hi there,

Welcome to the Forum!

You can be a smart person and still have a gambling problem. The fact that you joined us here and have thoughts about recovery is a sign that you would like to make changes.

Change is difficult and you still look for bonus money and replay old bets in your mind. I am not sure whether you want to stop gambling at this time or whether you would like to lose less money.

Maybe you would like to give us a call on the HelpLine on 0808 80 20 133 to discuss your thoughts with an advisor in person. Depending on how you want to move forward, an advisor would also be able to make practical suggestions as well as listen to how you feel about gambling at the moment. The NetLine is our equivalent online advice service http://www.gamcare.org.uk/support-and-counselling/frontline-services/netline and we are open from 8am to midnight every day.

Keep posting!

Kind wishes

Gabriele

Yes I know what you're saying, i might just give them a call later.

Thanks!

Hello, sorry went to bed before i saw your post last night.

I think you will find the advise once gambling becomes a problem is to stop TOTALLY. What enjoyment is to be had out of those small bets when you know it can and very likely will get bigger and uglier very quickly.

People on here often keep track of their days gamble free, no "small bets" no "free" this that or the other. Temptation is all around and once gambling becomes compulsive it can not be done responsibly.

Its often the case that new comers doubt the level of there problem. I gambled on with a small gambling debt for 11 years before that small debt trebled in around 3 months.

I had to get there to admit i even had a problem. Be careful, you can lose so much from this. More than money, this can and does drag family and friends into it.

Wish you well, feel free to keep posting and asking questions. Have a good read around this site and the stories people tell.

All the best.

Hi Messed Up 87

I think you need to decide if you really want to give up gambling. Wanting to stop losing money is not the same thing unless you are also determined to stop gambling.

For what it is worth, my opinion is that you are on the start of a slippery slope where you are moving into complusive gambling behaviour which if the many stories on here are anything to go on, the £3000 you have lost so far is just the start of a pretty horrible journey where by the end you can only dream of only losing £3000.

My advise would be put the brakes on this immediately and put the blocks in place to stop yourself gambling anymore and then be absolutely determined to never gamble again.

Go find another hobby or past-time to fill the gap in your life and see the £3000 as an expensive life lesson in life.

Good luck and keep posting.

Muststop123

Hi

Totally agree with the comments - once you have a problem then you can’t have any life with gambling in it, even if you think you can control it. I’ve been don’t the road of thinking a 3k loss is huge and now i wish that was all that I had loss, have lost over 10times that trying to chase losses. I thought I could control it and just have the odd bet, but believe me it doesn’t work like that. Good luck.

I think that is now going to be my plan, I am not going to gamble for the next 4 months until I have managed to save my money back up that I lost in my savings, after that I feel that I will be able to start again and this time be more disciplined with myself, set betting budgets etc and not chasing loses. I think that the best way to truly overcome an addiction is not to quit it, but to control it.

I am now currently, although it doesn't seem much, almost 3 days bet free!

Wish me luck these next few months hahaha

sjwsjw wrote:

Hello, sorry went to bed before i saw your post last night.

I think you will find the advise once gambling becomes a problem is to stop TOTALLY. What enjoyment is to be had out of those small bets when you know it can and very likely will get bigger and uglier very quickly.

People on here often keep track of their days gamble free, no "small bets" no "free" this that or the other. Temptation is all around and once gambling becomes compulsive it can not be done responsibly.

Its often the case that new comers doubt the level of there problem. I gambled on with a small gambling debt for 11 years before that small debt trebled in around 3 months.

I had to get there to admit i even had a problem. Be careful, you can lose so much from this. More than money, this can and does drag family and friends into it.

Wish you well, feel free to keep posting and asking questions. Have a good read around this site and the stories people tell.

All the best.

Hello everyone, thanks for the comments and support. your advise is really helpful and I am deciding to put the brakes on my betting now for a few months and make the money back by working hard instead of gambling.

I am feeling really positive about this and I will make sure to keep everyone updated on my situation.

Im not sure how much of a problem you think your gambling is. If its reached the point of compulsion then there is no way to gamble in a controlled manner. I would always chase losses. Start betting "just a fiver" on the football on a friday evening and then be awake in the early hours of sunday morning waiting to see if some team in Brazil or the USA could stop me being 100's down for that weekend.

From what you have written here i would advise you stop for good, not until you have earnt that money back or you will very likely be back where you are now, quickly. Beating an addiction isn't about trying to show people you can control it. Its about accepting that you cant and not doing it.

Its your choice as anything is but i hope you atleast think about what i and others have said and look around this site to hear the stories of where it can get you.

All the best.

Hi there, I think that my gambling had reached the level of compulsion and stupidity and perhaps is still at that level, however I really feel that it is something I can overcome and make the best of. The big loss was a big lesson learned for me, and I can assure you that it won't happen again.

I understand what you're saying about the chasing a loss, I would sometimes just start betting on random sports I know nothing about in attempt to break even haha.

I respect everyones opinion on here and it gives me a great perspective to see other peoples stories and how they have overcome their addictions, however I believe that everyone deals with things differently and I know I can control my gambling. At the end of the day it's all in your mind, you just have to know when to stop, if you take the emotional pain of losing out it's a really simple concept. You lose, then you wait until next time. I don't feel like i'm trying to show anyone that I can control anything, only prove to myself that I can.

Ps I hope this makes sense because it's almost 1am and im tired af haha.

sjwsjw wrote:

Im not sure how much of a problem you think your gambling is. If its reached the point of compulsion then there is no way to gamble in a controlled manner. I would always chase losses. Start betting "just a fiver" on the football on a friday evening and then be awake in the early hours of sunday morning waiting to see if some team in Brazil or the USA could stop me being 100's down for that weekend.

From what you have written here i would advise you stop for good, not until you have earnt that money back or you will very likely be back where you are now, quickly. Beating an addiction isn't about trying to show people you can control it. Its about accepting that you cant and not doing it.

Its your choice as anything is but i hope you atleast think about what i and others have said and look around this site to hear the stories of where it can get you.

All the best.

Hi, at the end of the day it’s your choice.

I was thinking the same as you a year ago after a 5k loss - said that I would take a break and control it. Didn’t happen - have lost 30 k since. I see myself as a smart person who is logical, but when you are chasing losses all logic goes out the window.

I hope you what ever you do it works out.