My Story

Hi All,

My name is Dave and I am addicted to gambling, and have been for over a decade. My story begins back when I was a teenager. Even before I could legally place a bet, I'd send family members in to the bookies to place bets for me. I'd use my pocket money and wages from a apaper round to gamble. It was always on the football at weekends. Then when I started university, I had a job and a student loan but lived at home as the uni was local to me. I had all this money sat in the bank and not really knowing what to do with it. So I gambled with it. I gambled on longs odds on favourites and won a heck of a lot. I mainly did this on my phone, and I was placing bets of several thousand at a time. Of course I'd have losing bets but there was always more teams to bet on over the course of the next few weeks, that i'd make more money in the month then what I had when I started that money with.

When I graduated I seriously had enough to buy a house. And I thought I had this betting malarkey all figured out. I moved out of my family home and in to a place with a mate. This was the start of the downfall. This new place had internet, and now I could gamble 24/7. I soon fell in to online casinos and roulette. Using the infamous betting on black and red and doubling up if the bet lost. Well you can guess the rest. I soon endded up losing over £60k. This meant I couldnt afford the rent or bills. So I moved out, and back in with my mom. But I didnt tell my housemate this. I stopped the direct debit and just ignored the calls and texts from him.

Then it dawned on me that I had no money so would need to get a job. It took me 2 years to find employment. This was the lowest I got prior to now. I had nothing, and I genuinely struggled to get out of bed some days never mind out of the house. My dole money I gambled away sometime in a matter of minutes, as I kept telling myself that I could turn it all around and win back the thousands I had lost already. I really did feel like I had no purpose. I was scrabbling around for pennies. Thankfully I have a wonderful mom who kept a roof over my head and food in my belly, even when I had no money to pay for anything. She was there and I will be eternally grateful to her for this.

Eventually I got a job. Working nights in a hotel for minimum wage. It doesnt sound like much but it gave me a reason to get out of bed and a reason to live. Problem was, every wage I was getting, I was gambling with. Sometimes I'd get through a monthly wage in about an hour. I took payday loans out to try and cover my monthly bills. At its worse these got to a few grand. I found step change and managed to get on to a debt repayment plan, and I had these paid off within 6 months. But I was still gambling. I dread to think how much I would have saved now if I didnt bet every penny I had.

The last bit of my story now I promise! I started to win again. This time I told myself that it was through trading on b*****r. But trading is just another form of gambling. I had 8 months of consistently winning. Prices moving in my favour me trading/cashing out. I would do this all day sometimes and I quickly got a bank of over £15k. I quit my job thinking I could live of this money and I'd always be able to 'trade' my way to a monthly income. Well tonight I gambled the last of that £15k away. I now have nothing and no job. I cant afford this months bills or the rent which could put the house at risk. What a completely stupid reckleess thing to do. To give up work and to throw away thousands. I must of thrown away at least £100k. I feel silly and i really fear what is to come. If I am unemployed again for a long time, which is a distinct possibility in todays climate, those old feelings of desperation and lonelines will come flooding back.

I have so much I need to work through right now. Hopefully this is the start of the recovery.

Thanks for reading