I am new to this, i have gambled for years (5 to be exact). I work at sea as security protecting ships from piracy and pays well. Before i done this job i was on minimum wage at home in the UK and had a major problem. On payday i would go every thursday morning before work to the casino as its 24 hours, i would draw my £250 out and with no control put it on red or black. the buzz of doubling my wage and having a nice weekend with my partner and daughter would be a good feeling. 70% i would win. but 30& would be a loss, no money to support them. She would never ask where my money went as id use payday loans to replace if lost. towards the end i run out of options and even family gave in on me. Somehow i stopped for around a year but i always had that need to go back.
As i was a Royal Marine in the british military; i was fortunate to land a good job combatting somalian piracy in 2010. The money was dream money to start with as i would come home after 10 weeks work with £20000 and my life just felt unbelieveable. As anything; nothing so great can last for ever, the pay dropped and by 2012 i was on half of what i was on in 2010. The work was reducing and i was starting to get frustrated. To this day i am still doing this job and i am here now on a ship. I am killing myself being away as much as possible as i never saved over the years and bought a home for me and my daughter.
I started gambling again very bad from August last year and from then to know i havnt lost, i have been putting my hard worked savings on the table, doing crazy bets at £2000 a time to win 200. I believe i was up around 10-12k since last august but i always knew it would go back to the casino, that day was on the 10th February 2015. I promised my baby girl i wont have to leave her no more after this contract as i have enough for a house for me and her and this was the greatest feeling ever. On the evening of the 10th February i was so bored i started twitching and b****5 was on my mind. I gave in and deposited 2k of my 10k savings to try win 500 pound. Not going into detail but as you can imaging i lost the 2k in minutes. At this point i was shaking and had no self control to stop, i just wanted my money back and kept telling myself if i get it back i will never do it again. I have said this to myself so many times. Unfortunately, my remaining 8k was put on line and lost withing 1 hour. My babys home and my hard work all gone. I have suffered the consequences and at the moment i dont no how to cope with this. I am in a dangerous place at the minute, and have all bad thoughts going through my head. I know i cant get the money back and i may not even get a new contract to work after februry. In my mind, i keep saying i was so close to getting my 1st home for me and my child, i have finally achieved someting but now eveything has gone.
I have a 5k overdraft and 2k owed to me from work which in picture isnt the worst thing. At least i never went into debt to gamble and i have my family who really love and care for me. I feel i have let my daughter down and hurt my family as i said i stopped a long time ago but i had to come clean and tell my mum i wont be moving out now.
I feel sick and suicidal, can anyone out there been in a position and recovered. If so, do you have any tips?
Stop for one second, I know how you feel, but nothing is as bad as it seems. The feeling of loss right now is immense, its overpowering, but in the morning all will seem better in the light of day...only if you stop gambling though. Nothing is out of reach, I have £25k gambling debt and those feeling ran through my head.
Take a minute, an hour, a day, stop....please stop gambling and build your life again
BNB; Thankyou very much. Means a lot to get some insight. I do get a lot more people are worse off, i actually dont have debt but my life savings all goe in 1 hour is making me sick, i want the pain to go. I feel i can stop if i put my mind to it, i just think of my daughter. But what scares me is how long this feeling will last, how will i tell my child we cant move out her nanas for a longer time, i have to leave her again and come to africa to work. I see a lot more are in worsers situations as its a lot of debt in question on here. so i feel good i can talk to people about this now. Thank you BNB and i hope all goes well with you
we are one, its a horrible place to be, but you have to fight it, I said I would do it for my little girl, but failed, I let myself down, I let her down, but it makes me stronger....just do not put another penny on a bet...if you win, you are a loser, as it will be lost eventually and if you lose you are still a loser.
Little girls love their Nana's & you don't need to let her down! You need to get some help arresting your gambling & you can start saving again & one day you will be able to get a place of your own!
As rubbish as you feel, you must forget about the money, it has gone, we are all here because we only win @ gambling when we stop! The industry is growing & growing because people throw their money @ it! I can't say when your pain will stop but if you start working on your recovery it will give you something else to focus on!
You will find lots of advice on here! Be strong - ODAAT
Hi David,
The way I read it is you have will have access to 7k (5k overdraft plus 2k owed from work). The first thing you must do is ring fence that money. Block the gambling sites. Use k9 free to down load or either gamblock or betfilter (not free). Make up a password if you use K9 ie something like FFrrggeee34. Key it in and destroy it. That way you can't gamble online.
I would use the 5K overdraft for expenses for your child etc. If you don't get a new contract then contact a debt management co like Payplan or Stepchange who don't charge a fee. They will make help you produce a financial statement. Offer the bank a £1 pm if you end up with minimal disposable income and they will look to freeze interest. You don't have to tell the bank that you have been gambling.
Ok your credit file will be shot to hell but it's not the end of the world.
DO NOT USE THE OVERDRAFT FOR GAMBLING. USE IT WISELY.
Your position is serious but not impossible to overcome. I've been in bad s**t through the years and gotten out of it. I guess your not that old. You can recover in time. Believe me.
These are just my thoughts. Obviously other people may give you advice on here as well.
You can contact Gamcare online, via email or phone.
Take Care
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