Hi, i am a 23 year old lad who enjoys football, going to the cinema with my girlfriend, having a nice car and... gambling horses and inplay tennis. I started off like most, £2 E/W on a horse, couple of pound in the machine on roulette on the way to the pub and an accumulator on the footbball at the weekend (like the rest of my pals). Now i punt £40/60/120/180 on every single race every single day without fail. Today has been the worst and my luck has finally eventually run out. I have exhausted all routes to cash via family, friends, credit, selling my belongings. I owe my landlord £1200 and have literally no way of getting that kind of money to save my flat, I stupidly left my job in a callcentre to work at a bookies and breached their self-betting policy so now i have lost my steady managers paycheque a month. Last month i spent £2700 within the space of 3 hours on horses.. £1200 of which i had saved for a specific reason. I then got my last paycheque from the bookies (inc holidays, overtime from the previous month and holidays earned) of £1400 and have wasted that in a day or so. I have come to the realisation that gamling has taken over my life, my bank balance, my relationships with family, my work, my home and my mind. I dont see how this can go away as i am a sport lover, if there is any football gme on TV i will watch it regardless of betting, the same with rugby, tennis and basketball.. but as you can guess i usually put a bet on once the game has started. Any advice would be appreciated? I understand that what i have done is really stupid but once in that gambling bubble there is no need for food, sleep, s*x, work.. i couldnt help myself but i need to learn how. Has anybody ever moved town to try and get a new start because of gambling? Was it succesful? As i think that this is one of my only routes to move forward with my life. Thank you for reading. And say hello to the new non gambling me.. partly because i have literally no money and secondly because when i do get money i am going to buy myself something nice for the first time in a couple of years!
Hi Bryden2301,
I am also new here so can sort of relate to what your saying but my gambling of choice was online slots.. i have had the worse 2 days thanks to gambling. I cant really offer you any advice as im still seeking some myself.. lets just hope we can both overcome it.
good luck xx
lostsoul88 wrote:
Hi Bryden2301,
I am also new here so can sort of relate to what your saying but my gambling of choice was online slots.. i have had the worse 2 days thanks to gambling. I cant really offer you any advice as im still seeking some myself.. lets just hope we can both overcome it.
good luck xx
Yeah, Lostsoul its difficult. I was much worse about 3 years ago.. Wasted 5 months of rent money £2200 and all earnings and basically wasnt living.. just gambling. Hope youve got friends and family that you can open up to. I dont really and thats what makes it difficult. Have you ever lied about money as youve lost it gambling? Ive been forced to do that the last couple of weeks and its just got me in deeper and deeper. Honesty has to be the only policy i think. Its so difficult.. I drinker can spend a tenner on a bottle of whisky and pass out.. fair enough hes got a sore head in the morning but hes only a tenner down and has paid his rent.. A gambler can walk about in the best clothes, have the best phone but beyond that they are penny-less and dont think about anything else other than money (well thats what i find with myself). My advice to myself from 3 years ago would be to find another thing to put your focus on.. Saving money, Trainers, stamps, a game on Facebook.. whatever it be. It needs to be replaced with something non-destructive. but thats just the opinion of a young boy who just lost 5 grand in the space of a couple of weeks! :/ Good luck to you! (Bit of irony to be offering luck haha) xx
i can so relate about the lying i have become the best liar in the last few years not a good trate to have.. my parents are aware i gamble but i dont think they know the extent.. my dad looks after my bank card and takes my wages out but they are on holiday at the minute so left me with the card which ended badly as you can imagine i spent all my rent money which i need to give to him when he is back.. lets just say its really going to hit the fan and i am trying to think of ways to make that money back obviously without gambling.. its like living a double life that nobody knows about.. xx
Bryden, welcome to the forum.
Like you i am trying to recover, i relapsed badly a few weeks ago if you look fown the threads a bit.
What i will say is time is definitely on your side to sort things out and you definitely seem like you have the sense to go the right way.
Wish you all the best on your recovery mate, it's an addiction that needs just as much recognition as drugs/alcohol.
Can you turn to a good mate? Or your girlfriend? I plan on my first ga meeting next week....keep us informed with how your getting on.
.....
Bryden
Sorry to hear about the situation you're in.
Moving to a new town isn't the answer. I'm almost 18 months in recovery after 13 years of compulsive gambling, which left me bankrupt twice. I chose gambling over food, travel expenses, my mortgage payments and creditors.
I found that the only way to move forward was to make an honest and open confession to my loved ones and seek proper help and support. GA is the only thing that's work for me - and I've tried it all.
Hi Bryden
Have you heard of the triangle on here, (time, money, location)? If you remove one of these you cannot gamble.
I am similar to you, I am a massive sport fan, but never really got into inplay betting etc, my gambling was mainly on winners - most sports. But I am on the early stages to recovery, I have left my cards at home, so don't have access to funds , withdrawn money so I am constantly on the bread line, I live off £20 per week, others in savings I cannot touch immediately. I have had councilling through gamcare, this may help you. You have to learn your triggers and ignore them. If you mainly gamble on a tablet install K9 blocking software and ask a friend to set password or hit random keys so you cannot override it. You need to change your cycle, sports are there to be enjoyed, as you know you cannot watch a live sporting event without every advert being about gambling, so you need to remove a line in your triangle.
Good luck.in your recovery.
Sorry to hear about your issues buddy! It seems you are in deep.... first thing first you have made a brave step coming on here and admitting your problem.... I am guessing from working in the industry to finding yourself here might feel like a kick in the teeth, please do not feel like that. Your pride might be hurting but sometimes hitting rock bottom is the only way to get back up.
The most important thing to get sorted now along with your addiction is getting back to work, even if its a minimum wage horrible job. Right now moving away may sound a viable option...
I am afraid I would recommend that you stand and fight. All moving away would do is give you the opportunity to find a new shop to use and abuse. Especially as knowone will know you. A big problem of mine is boredom as I moved away from my home town 3 years ago and dont know many people, my only friend has been paddy! ... It turns out he is only interested in my time when I have money... thats not a friend in my opinion. its a leach!
You havent been sacked for a wicked crime, your no murderer or rapist. You lost your head and got silly. Hold your head up and if someone asks you, be honest.
Ring people you need to pay and explain things properly.
I hope what I have said will help nd hope you deal with it all... I will keep an eye on your posts.
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