Hi all,
I would like to say hi! I’ve been gambling since the age of 18 since college, I’ve always enjoyed gambling as I saw it as a social thing and a bit of fun. I never used to gamble huge amounts it would be in the region of £5-10 a week but then I would lose around a £100 here and there every weekend since I started working from the age of 21/22 and completely stopped and completely despised it, had a summer off work as was contracting and had one of the greatest times in my life with friends. Then I started a new job and got back in to gambling chatting to this guy about it and started upping stakes to a point where I lost £2500 on online football in around 6 weeks which is a lot to me it completely took over. I stopped for a bit while I started my new job but now I have a problem with fobts and losing money on slots I’ve always been able to control the amount of money spent on horse racing but not other sports or fobts, how do i prevent myself from going on these? I don’t want to completely cut gambling out of my life but I don’t want to be gambling money I can’t afford, can anyone recommend any suggestions? One of the biggest problems I have is I work 9-5 in a job I do enjoy but gambling reminds me of the good times I used to have and the freedom in college with friends which makes me gamble every week just need a way to stop me playing stupid stakes. can anyone recommend any suggestions?
thanks.
If you don't want to stop gambling completely you're not asking in the right place.
Gambling was fun for me. I used to love gambling for several reasons. But only some professional gamblers can make a living or some profit out of it. After several relapses and after losing some good amount of money, I stopped completely. For a complusive gambler, betting little or betting with control at the beginning can lead to betting big and losing big again anytime soon. Good luck to you.
It seems you only want to stop gambling because you are losing money . There is a reason you came to this site and ask yourself why ? If you are still intent on gambling then as one of the members suggested this is probably not the right place . However , whilst you are here and haven’t decided completely , may I suggest you go on a few diaries and read the stories . Some of it may resonate with you . Some of it may provide a cautionary tale . Some of it may stick in your memory and should you be committed to stopping in the future then hopefully you will come back and seek help . You see , a gambler will only want to stop when they are ready . When they have lost more than money . Parts of their life they will never get back . Broken relationships . Unmanagable debt . Confidence issues . Low self esteem . Depression . You see it affects different people in different ways . I’m sure others would agree that we really hope you are not snared by this addiction and you can gamble like a lot of normal people . Give us one hour , read the stories and see if it’s for you . We are not judging we are not the moral high ground . We are just a collection of people from different backgrounds at different stages of recovery . We will give as much help and support as possible BUT you must want to help yourself . Good luck with whatever you decide
Some people can control their gambling. Some people can control their drinking, or consumption of sugary items.
I came here because I realised I could not control my gambling. What does gambling look like to you? Is it sticking a few bets on during a night at the races? Is it putting 5 quid on a football acca on a Saturday? Or is it more, like me, sitting for 17 hours straight playing online blackjack? You said, 'it completely took over'. That sounds like a problem to me. I started with the occasional horse bet and football acca, then I found something that became a much quicker way of losing. When you are playing online casino or slots the feedback is quicker and the stakes can become a lot higher very quickly.
I'm very new here, only 3 days free, but if I could say anything to myself 10 years ago it would be - stop now. It stopped being fun a long time ago but I didn't (couldn't?) stop. If you have the slightest doubt that it not being fun, or affecting your life negatively, take the best gamble of your life and just stop.
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