Hello all,
I am 22 years old and have gambled since the age of 18. At first it was a bit of fun on the football e.g. £1 accumulators etc. Then it soon got out of hand with casinos, online etc.. You know how it works.
4 years now after I started gambling I'm in roughly 5k debt with my parents and owe a loan of just over 4K too, I have no credit cards and have the one single bank account. Recently I've had a really bad time and lost quite a lot of money to the point where I look in my bank account and I have my last £400, inclusive of a £250 overdraft anybody reading this kust think don't deposit it. My problem is online casinos and online roulette. I lost around £1400, then had this last £400 left.. I was beside myself sitting in the bathroom shaking and crying pulling my hair out thinking why did I do this?? There was no need too! Initially all I tried to win was £5 for my football bet and before I know it I was £1400 down. I'm so ashamed to admit sure enough I deposited that £400 which left me with £36 till payday, my concern is that I knew I couldn't afford to lose it yet I still did it. Even at the time I was thinking why am I doing this I don't need too?! I get in the position where I just don't like spending my money and if I want to buy something it has to be the casinos money I use, with everything else in life I'm so conservative with my money apart from this, I've never been a greedy person nor have I ever thought I would go to the lengths I have. Call it luck or whatever but I turned that £400 into £3300. Even after this I'm sat here thinking why? What is the point? Yes I won but am I happy? HELL NO! I really can't let this go on any longer I've let so many people down. Just imagine if I hadn't won that money I would of had nothing, I worry myself to sleep and this is my story, I could really use some advice I say I won't gamble then I'll look at the football and out an accumulator on and sure enough it all spirals out of control from there. The biggest worry is I can't spend my own money, I have to use the money I win?? Is this normal for a compulsive gambler?? I really appreciate any advice, Thanks. LifeLesson1
Unfortunatley this is the way of gambling and if you read diaries on here you will find so many stories very similar including my own. No matter how much we win its not about the money its about the buzz. Winning money only makes the urges stronger so that we can kid ourselves we are world beaters who can make money...look at your finances....do you feel like a winner? I spent 8 mths on the wagon getting myself into a good financial position,feeling good with myself,buying indulgent things that i could now afford,one bet on the golf and 3mths later i'm looking down the barrel of a gun again.
Do you know how many times i've wanted to buy something for say £20 and persuaded myself to win this money in the bookies even though i could pay for it myself no problem to walk out 4 hrs later £350 down and wondering why i just didnt go bloody buy the thing outright earlier!!!!
Its just the nature of the illness and only to stop it consuming and destroying your life is to stop.
All the best
hi Lifelesson, a few tips for you :
1) whatever you do, do not reverse the withdrawal (assuming you withdrew the £3300). Online bookies allow you to reverse it so that you will gamble it away & they don't have to pay out. Some keep the withdrawal 'pending' for 2 days ! Plenty of lads have gone broke with them.
2) to help you to do this, download ' txnogam ' (google it) it's a gambling-site blocker you can use on a 28 day trial basis for free. install it straightaway (use the 'never allowed to uninstall' option).
3) in the short term, * the very moment * the funds arrive back to your bank, ring up your bank & report your debit card lost. that way while the money is sitting in your account you won't be able to lose it back as the debit card won't work. Go to your branch with ID & withdraw most if not all of it in cash, maybe give it to your parents if you need to, just keep it safe . If you have it in cash you cannot deposit it online.
4) Dude, forget about the football accumulators ! Think about it, there's a 13% overround (bookie's edge) in each match, if you do say a 10 team accumulator you are losing 13% on each match. Heads or tails for example, if I said to you lets flip a coin for a tenner (i.e. £5 stake each) if you lose you give me a tenner if you win I'll give you £8.70 would you do it ?! Yet thats what you're doing with each match. This is magnified each time so double is even worse, treble is even worse than a double, fourfold is even worse etc. £1 becomes 87p after 13%, 87 P becomes 76p , 76p becomes 65p & so on until ... 0 . Why do you think bookies give offers with accumulators ? e.g. money back as a free bet if one leg lets you down etc. Did you think they were being nice ? Do you ever see them giving offers with win singles ?
5) think of the win as a golden goodbye. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can do it again. You are at your most vulnerable as a compulsive gambler after a big win. Protect it, think of yourself as your own security department, guarding your funds against those predatory bookmakers. (just like bookmakers & casinos have their own security departments guarding against losses).
Kiss goodbye to gambling while you are still young.
Dez1 - I couldn't agree more with you about "that buzz" and delusion of being a world beater and making money. I did make money initially. I hate to asdmit to how much - 18k, yes 18 thousand. I had no idea how I was getting roped in, I was absolutely loving it. It wasn't until I'd joined all one group of sites, and my bonuses came to an end and realistically it was time to stop that I realised I like this too much, I will spend some of my winnings. Then I spent some more, then some more and probably over a course of 6 months I'd blown the lot and was losing more besides. 🙁 It just seems so wrong that these companies make money from us because we become addicted and cannot, or find it hard to stop. Then they try and portray themselves as caring etc. when all in all they don't give a stuff!!! xxx
Hi guys thank you very much for your replies. I agree with everything you've said. I just struggle to think at the young age I am now and I can't pay for anything out of my own money how can I possibly over come this or ever grow up??
The money will be in my account tomorrow and I have already closed the account however although j won't get the full 3300 as I owe the bank about 800 the remainder will be mine. I like what you said about the accumulators I never thought of it like that. That's my problem when I try to move forward and away from any betting I.e casino I'll then say ah I'll just have a small £2 or £5 on the football then I'll lose that then keep putting games/accumulators on throughout the day just to try and make some profit. It got to the point where I was winning money and was thinking why did I just do that I don't even need this? Is this all worth the stress and heartache I put myself and family through? Absolutely bloody not!!
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
