How's it going?
My names Neil, I'm 26 and I've got big issues with certain areas of the gambling world.
I'll be honest and I will admit that I enjoy nothing more than a few beers down the pub and few bets on the football and horses, that is not where the problem lies. What really kills me is going online to put these bets on, I'll put them on and then knowing it is a terrible idea think I'll have £20 on the roulette or something like that. That's the problem started, even if I win I don't seem to have any concept of the value of the money and just keep upping the stakes and clicking that spin button, knowing fine well what the outcome is likely to be. Then it's just bang bang bang until there's loads of money down the drain. I normally avoid making myself skint but it has happened on a few occasions. Down the bookies isn't so bad, I like a go on the FOBT's and can play them to a certain level of control at times but as many of you will know there are occasions there is no control but usually if I happen to win I can walk away happily but return a few beers later and it's goodbye to any winnings and more.
The strange thing I feel is that I am only bothered about gambling if there is money there, if I have no money I can sit and watch horse racing all day and it doesn't get me down about betting, it's usually payday when I have my meltdowns online and I am thinking it's maybe something to do with me thinking oh it's only £20 there's plenty there, but after it goes wrong it costs a hell of a lot more.
I am unsure if I have came to the right place because I only want to give up the problem areas of gambling and not the ones I enjoy, control and to a certain degree be relatively successful at but it is all lost on these stupid fixed games.
Does anyone think it's possible to quit some areas and keep the others? Or am I stuck in a rut unless I give up everything?
Sorry for the novel but hopefully one or some of you can advise me.
Hi neillyboi, welcome to the forum 🙂
I'd love to be able to say quit one & not the other but once we cross the line & become compulsive, we cannot win because we cannot stop. Lots of people on here have stopped the bookies & started online, cut that out & moved to scratchcards, stop roulette, start poker...It's the buzz that we crave! I myself excluded from fruit machine shops only to progress onto FOBT in the bookies...Planning to get rich by throwing thousands of pounds @ a £500 jackpot over & over & over again!?! This won't be what you want to hear, most of us loved gambling @ some point but you have recognised early that it is a problem so don't be another person who comes here, decides that you don't have a problem & disappears only to return months or weeks later minus your family, house, car, struggling to pay the rent etc.
If it hasn't truly got a hold yet, giving it up won't be a major struggle & if it has, giving it up is a must!
Gambling takes more than our money, it sucks the life out of us. If you don't care when you don't have money, let someone else handle your finances. Get your gambling (Time-Money-Location, remove one & you cannot gamble) triangle broken & find better healthier activities to enrich your life, not destroy it.
It sounds rubbish but I can assure you as someone who gambled for longer than you've been alive, you can & must put this behind you now - ODAAT
ODAAT is right!
If you could do what you would like to do, why are you here?
It's all or nothing! Give up now and miss the little flutters. Or don't give up and accept that you will never have any money, have sleepless nights, run up massive debts, have incredible mood swings that you will take out on your family, sneak around behind everyone's back trying to satisfy yourself.
I speak from experience - it's not much of a choice is it!
I wish I'd have read this post before I proceeded to lose £100+ in the bookies today!
I left with that feeling of anxiousness and sorrow as I wondered if I can make it through the month without asking for help!
On top of that I threw away 4 months gambling free so I'm still hurting!
I hope you can wise up and avoid at all costs... it's the only way to succeed, otherwise, you will always have that one small bet that leads to a heavy loss and too many of those are not good!
Best of luck in your quest
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