My story

Hi guys, My name is Dave, 25 years of age with a problem of gambling. I started gambling at the age of 19, a university student, wanting to make a better life for myself. I grew up on a rough council estate, where the biggest achievement within a mile radius was a lengthy prison sentence. As you can imagine, I spent as little time as possible there, so going to university was the best excuse to leave that hell hole. I first opened my ********** account in winter 2010, as daft as it sounds, it was for the x factor competition. I spent £30 picking on elimination, when I first learned how quickly it can be lost. From that point I was spending £20-£30 a week on football, it came like second nature to me. After a few month, it just weren't doing it for me any more, I needed to bet more, so it doubled the amount I was putting on, I was even betting on sports I've never even heard of just to get that thrill. I soon learned that my income wasn't high enough to pay for this now addiction, but instead of stopping, I opened a credit card, but because my credit rating was so bad due to circumstances that were not my fault I could only get a credit card with interest of 59.9% Apr. For the following year I felt great, I was gambling what I thought was a reasonable amount, I felt like I could afford it (despite the awful interest rate). After that year was over I was £1500 in my overdraft and £1500 in my credit card, but that's ok, students get into debt, right? As I soon learned, university isn't easy, so despite my best efforts I left university, with a lesser qualification than I wanted. This is when I learned my first lesson, as I only had a part time job and was still gambling the same as I was before. I made a huge huge huge mistake here. I opened a second credit card and before I sneezed another £900 was spent on that credit card. I thought if I put in £100 in I could bet on small odds and maybe make a living out of this (yes I now realise that was a catastrophic boo boo) To make matters worse I had started with payday lenders. At the time it felt great, because I could get money fast. For the first 3 or 4 months this worked perfectly for me, as I would win double what I put in and pay off the loan straight away, until the 5th month, when it all went wrong. I took out a wonga loan for 850, I bet it all and lost it as fast as I got it, and I could only pay 300 of it back. At this point of the story I have £4000 in debt, with only a 15 hour part time job on minimum wage. I had no other choice, I needed help, I had to go see citizens advice. Citizens advice is full of helpful and great people but the only choice I had was a voluntary weaker form of bankruptcy (can't remember what they call it). That was it I wouldn't be able to get any more credit, no mortgage etc. WAIT, as luck would have it, just as I finished all the relevant paperwork for this, my mother of all people (never gave me anything, had to pay for food and clothing from age 14) had enough money to pay off my debt. Where did that come from? For most this would be the end of the story, I told my partner that I would no longer do it, so that's the end, ok? No, not ok. All I did, was gamble behind her back. Now I had a full time job, and a job that I had to drive for, it was easy just to nip into my local w**********l and place a bet. I didn't want anyone to know however so I kept the cost relatively low at 10-20 for a week. I managed to do this for a year, before I was caught, should've expected to get caught eventually, as you can't always hide things especially gambling. My partner was very understanding about this and allowed me to continue to gamble, at a maximum of £20. This plan has worked for the past 2 years and not really had any further issues until last month. The two things I thought I knew most about, the euros and the eu referendum. Both which I was so wrong about. Instead of my usual money I have doubled maybe tripled my original 20, and I can now feel the demons coming back from 4 years ago when I had 4000 debt. I want it to now stop, I want out. I have a family to support now, I don't want to be on here in a years time with 5 figure debt, partner less and homeless. I try to exclude myself and put limits on my account, but I always find a way around these things. Is there any advice out there to help with my mess, such as distraction techniques etc? Thanks for taking time to read my story, I know its a long one.