Hi, I'm new here.
I've been gambling on and off for the past 5+ years.
I want to end this nonsense before it ends me and my marriage.
I admit it: Gambling is a Mug's Game, that is, a profitless and futile activity.
I no longer want to go from monthly pay-cheque to broke in less than 60 minutes.
I want to get a grip on my finances so that I can prosper not perish for lack of self control.
Gambling is so destructive to self and others.
I need to replace this nonsense with something fruitful instead.
Doesn't matter how it got started or who supposedly got me started.
No more excuses.
I start my gamble-free count from today - the key is to have some kind of positive or constructive distraction, I think.
Time for change. The buck stops here.
Hi Snowyc
welcome to the forum and well done on recognising you have a problem and seeking help. Your thread title says it all - it is a mugs game.
You sound like you have conviction behind your words of wanting to quit and this is good but conviction and willpower will only get you so far with this horrible addiction so you need to get blocks in place to help in moments of weakness, when that little voice in your head tells you one more bet won't hurt. We all know how that ends as many of us have been through it more than enough times.
As you have mentioned, finding productive things to do and interests to fill the time, particularly when boredom strikes helps but what have you done in the way of putting blocks in place?
best wishes
Bex
Welcome snowy,
Sad to see you here/glad to see you here (if you know what I mean).
Have a good read around the forum. Spend some time reflecting but also taking the great advice given. Just reading other threads has been an immense help to me.
Youre in the right place and amongst people who get it, won’t pander to you and will be challenging at times, but ultimately want to help. Well done for being here. The journey is tough, but I’m getting stronger everyday and you can too.
As a bit of a computer whizz I tend to circumvent my own efforts to block myself from gambling. The only thing that's worked well in the past was renouncing my admin rights over my computer and getting my wife to have to enter her password to unlock things as-and-when i may need to do something that doesn't involve gambling.
Back to the problem itself and I find myself gambling every now and then, in staggered amounts over time, chasing all losses to no avail.
However, since I've joined this forum the gamble-free clock has already started and I just need a healthy distraction when any gambling urge comes about from an idle mind at the computer. Better yet I should be working on a useful project rather than allowing myself to get caught up in destructive games of chance with the illusion of using skill to make it work.
You have the answers already my friend.
Block opportunities. Keep busy. Project or challenge is always helpful.
Do that and look to the future. It's tough, but it's really that simple.
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