It's becoming a problem

Hi Luke,

Well i thought knew every type of gambling out there and have probally tried them all. I'm not going to try and understand how the gambling you do works but for what you say you are in the right place.

If it's cost you time and money you can't afford and can't stop doing it till the last penny has gone you have a compulsive nature and that will only carry on getting worse if you don't stop.

I think the same standard advice still fits, first step call Gamcare it's good to talk to someone and get their advise, as hard as it might sound telling your parents would be key I know that's hard to do and yes they will be angry but that will pass, if my son who's a few years younger than you was in trouble and did not ask for my help I'd be gutted.

With betting sites we can excluded from them I don't know if this is possible but an email to the site admin might be worth a try tell them your getting into deep and can't stop and see if they can help, they will have been others in the same position before.

Part of telling your parents is so they can look after you finances to help and support you, one idea might be to report your card lost and when you get a new one scratch off the last three numbers without checking what they are. This would stop online purchases.

You're a young lad you don't want this to take over you life like it has for me and so many other on this forum.

Well done for seaking out help read other diaries they will be different but also similar to your story because we can't win because we can't stop!!!

KTF

Oldhamktf wrote:

Hi Luke,

Well i thought knew every type of gambling out there and have probally tried them all. I'm not going to try and understand how the gambling you do works but for what you say you are in the right place.

If it's cost you time and money you can't afford and can't stop doing it till the last penny has gone you have a compulsive nature and that will only carry on getting worse if you don't stop.

I think the same standard advice still fits, first step call Gamcare it's good to talk to someone and get their advise, as hard as it might sound telling your parents would be key I know that's hard to do and yes they will be angry but that will pass, if my son who's a few years younger than you was in trouble and did not ask for my help I'd be gutted.

With betting sites we can excluded from them I don't know if this is possible but an email to the site admin might be worth a try tell them your getting into deep and can't stop and see if they can help, they will have been others in the same position before.

Part of telling your parents is so they can look after you finances to help and support you, one idea might be to report your card lost and when you get a new one scratch off the last three numbers without checking what they are. This would stop online purchases.

You're a young lad you don't want this to take over you life like it has for me and so many other on this forum.

Well done for seaking out help read other diaries they will be different but also similar to your story because we can't win because we can't stop!!!

KTF

Thanks for the reply KTF, I appreciate that. Yeah my type of betting is certainly a weird one yes, not many people know/do it, probably because of the younger age!

I don't like the idea of telling them to be fair, they just wouldn't understand, I've told them I've lost £200 before and they were very angry then so I can't tell them about £2,000 lost.

Also, I don't want to 'restrict' myself from doing things because of gambling because it's all about pride really, I feel almost like a child (technically I still am but) if I have to scratch the digits off of my card to prevent online purchases or let my parents manage my finances, this is something I should be doing myself and I want independence too 🙁

Something that has helped me get through this is knowing really that if I would've won, I just know I'd of continued until I lost really so there's only one route you take when betting and that's eventually you lose everything, whether it's in a few nights or years, you very rarely stay positive the more and more bets you place.

But yeah, again thanks for the comments, this shouldn't be affecting me as much as it is, as I've mentioned it's just so hard to get over the fact I've lost so much!!

I do understand you concern and I can only give advise it's up to you how you want to use. All I ask you consider it and make the right call for you.

A saying I picked up on here is they is more than one way to cook a spud. No hard and fast rule but if it continues to cause you problems you need to do something different and not bury your head in the sand because it won't get better by not addressing the issues.

I have a chat with my 13 year old son who knows about my gambling addiction and asked his advice on what you was betting on and he has explained it and I can see you can lose some serious money with this form of gambling. It's only like betting on a football match using form of is the better team and odds to match you just use the skins like money which you have to purchase in the first place so they have a cash value.

I wish you could well and will follow your progress.

KTF

Hi Luke

Just like you are doing here, Its time to reach out to those close to you and admit that gambling got to you. There is no shame in that.

It gets to people from all walks of life Lawyers, accountants football stars and people like me.

Its all about honesty and openness. Believe me that telling people is nothing compared with the secrecy which will eat you up and continued gambling which will destroy you. Please get the words out because people close will help you manage your finances and put the blocks on.

With help to put the blocks on you will have no outlet for your urges which are destructive urges. They will eventually fade away when you have control of your healthy mind back.

By default gambling is a losers game. It pays for a high life for the bookies and casinos or they wouldnt offer it. The vast majority of people lose and keep losing.

Youve seen the hurt and youve seen the results so you must act quickly.

You wont do it with willpower alone. Its an addiction and a mental illness which can be cured.

A chat with the doctor is also a good idea to talk about any stress and depression you may be feeling

Best wishes from everyone on the forum

Hi Luke

I managed my sons finances until he was almost 30 when he felt ready to take them back. I went through anger, helplessness and pain but mostly for him. But I would have hated him to deal with it on his own. You need someone to confide in read up on here they are all affected by gambling in one way or another and your loses will only get higher without help.

Good luck

The urge to gamble? The one you can't resist? It's the addiction talking. The same addiction, the same compulsion, is telling you not to tell your parents and not to self exclude. Anything to keep the gambling going.

Is it really wise to listen to the addiction?

Wish you well,

CW

Hi there Luke. You're a young man with a good future ahead of you please don't spoil it for yourself with letting this gambling get a hold of you. If you carry on it only goes one way and there is only one winner which will not be you! I realise you're embarrassed to tell anyone and that's natural but as the parent of a lad who has a gambling problem I wish he had came to me with his problem instead of me finding out about it. my son is older than you and I'm on his bank account with him, we manage his account together now and he is happy with this arrangement because all of his bills are now getting paid, he can enjoy life again and save some money, it really doesn't matter if you're 17 or 77 we all need help at times Luke. Please think about telling your parents, do you want help to stop this or do you want to carry on struggling by yourself week after week. Give your parents a chance to help you show them your thread on here, yes they probably will be angry with you but then parent mode will kick in and they will want to help you when they realise how serious this could become, i know you're gutted at the money you've lost but it's gone now and if someone gave you that two thousand pound you have lost what would you do with its not gonna be easy but it's in your best interest to stop it now Luke the difference is you accepting that £2000 is gone or you chasing that £2000 and loosing more money, getting more drawn in to gambling and loosing way more than £2000. Have a read through diaries on here when I read some of them I was frightened for my sons future!! With my help and support and with his own hard work my son is a lot better than he was when I found out in November.. There are success stories to be read as well Luke. You can do this!! Keep posting. - Wcid

Hi Luke

Thank you for posting your story on the forum. You've had some great advice from forum users. Whatever the type of gambling, their insight into struggling with addiction will be very valuable to you.

One of the problems with CS:GO gambling is that these sites are not regulated. They don't have responsible gambling procedures and blocking apps aren't great at picking them up. Handing over control of your finances might help - though just handing over your cards to someone else might not be enough as you can buy Steam gift cards for cash. But you are probably aware of this already and it seems you really don't want to hand over control of your finances to anyone just now. I get that at your age you want to be getting more independence not giving it away. But, the choice is yours.

If you really feel you don't want to speak with your parents or someone else you trust about this, at least give us a call on the helpline on 0808 8020 133, if you haven't already. We can offer free, confidential counselling. As those on the forum have already said, drawing a line under your losses is going to be very important, as is finding other things to do, and counselling can help with that.

If you need to talk just give us a call or chat to us on the Netline - we're here till midnight every day. And keep posting.

Take care

Forum Admin

was an interesting read http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-virtual-guns-counterstrike-gambling/

very worrying for the younger generation, despite me only being 26, this is concerning, i used to play counterstrike 1.6 with mates until my fingers were numb, the good old days, care free, where gaming was gaming.

but luke, as people have said, you are very young, it is a slippery slope, 10 years time your compulsive gambling will have got you in 5 figures worth of debt if not more, if 2-3 months has cost you 2k, imagine what 5 years could do, learn from the mistakes, 2k is only like going on a massive holiday with mates and having a blow out, cut ties with the game, get rid of your computer for abit and concentrate on work if thats what it takes, can you not try do some overtime or get another part time job for a couple of months to re coup the losses?

think about it long and hard, its not worth it, you will never win.

good luck mate