Well, where do I start. I'm 27, and I've been gambling for around 12 years. It all started with fobts, at 16 I was working part time whilst at college spending most of my wages on these machines. I found it fascinating that I could increase my weekly wage by 2 or 3 times the amount. Fastforward 12 years I still find myself gambling daily on these machines. I play heavy, and when I win, I win heavy. It's not just fobts I play however, I have signed up, played roulette, lost and banned myself from most online platforms. I estimate that at the start of 2016 I had gambled away at least £100,000. The majority being my own money, however some of this was from payday loans, student loans and overdrafts. I have continued to gamble since, using mostly my wage and bleeding my own business of any money it has coming in. I've lost around 7k since. As much as I want to and need to stop gambling and get on with my life I put on pause for this addiction, the issue I have is that I have won big, and know its possible. I gamble heavy, and often find myself up on a day to day basis but my problem is that I always go back and lose. It's obviously not the money I do it for, although it's that I tell myself. I enjoy the thought of getting one over on the bookies, it feels personal. Furthermore I always read up on and watch the football and enjoy betting on most tv games. I lose mostly but can't handle the thought of not betting and the result ending something I'd back. I totally understand I have a problem, and I'm not trying to make excuses to continue. I need someone, anyone, to tell me how to go about this and help guide me off this route in life. Almost half of my life I've been gambling and nobody has a clue, no family, no friends. I've turned to this forum in hope I find a way out.
As the parent of a gambler I read your post with interest. The story is always so familiar. Your last paragraph sums up a lot about the problem. Noone else knows about it - the secrecy is what makes it so much easier for you to gamble, pull the wool over peoples eyes etc. But in the end that secrecy is a life destroyer. If you could just let one person at home know what you are going through it will really help. The weight is partly taken off your shoulders. You could maybe ask them to moniter your finances, help you with self exclusion, just generally be there for you. You will find that you will think twice before gambling if the secret is out. I am not saying it is an instant cure but it is a start to recovery. If you are scared of admitting the problem to people a home, then don't be. It is a hard task and it comes with a lot of different emotions from people but once it is done you should be proud of opening up to people and it shows you are determined to kick the habit. However they react don't give up and carry on with making plans to recover. I hope you stick with Gamcare and ring them to get advice on self exclusion, finance, moral support etc and speak to people on these threads and read their stories. You are not alone in all of this and it is a great support network. I am glad you have come on here to confront this and wish you lots of luck for a bright future. Some of the above has worked for us and life is starting to get easier.
You haven't had a big win, you've clawed back some of the tens of thousands you've lost but you're still down and that is always, always the end result for a CG. A CG can't win big or any other way because he/she can't stop.It's not personal either. The bookies don't care whose money they take and they don't care how a punter has funded their bet whether it's their own money or whether it's begged, borrowed or stolen from employers or family.
Second the advice to come clean and hand over your finances as an initial step. Get some physical blocks to gambling in place then sign up for counselling (Gamcare offer free sessions) and GA. Alongside preventing your access to cash and gambling you will also need to identify and address what it is that's driving the compulsion.
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