My Story - 20 Years Old

I started gambling the day I turned 18. I remember it to this day I deposited £** into a fresh account. Thought it was brilliant, I could have a couple quid a weekend on a football acca to spice it up and make it more exciting to watch. At this time I was a semi professional footballer doing my training day in day out and college in the afternoon’s until about 4pm. This meant my environment was full of lads my age that all thought it was brilliant. Some lads used roulette. Some lads bet on the footy/horses so on. £** turned to £** then it turned to £** then to £*** a week. Bearing in mind my wage from the job I used to work in at nights was not a lot a month. It wasn’t long before I skinned myself. It hit me after a few months that I was spending hours and hours of my life gambling on football. Turned into basketball and tennis also. One day I lost a bit too much for my liking so I decided to chase my losses by staking a larger amount on basketball points. I’d go on to lose that also. Then chased with even more. All in the space of one Sunday afternoon I was thousands down at 18 years old. Thankfully as the spoilt kid I was, my mum and dad dug me out the whole and I paid them back over 6 months. I felt fresh and happy to get it off of my back to the parents and girlfriend. I was down on what I'd lost, but I’d felt the happiest I’d felt as I stopped gambling for about a year. I reached 19 years old and said to myself that I have maybe ‘grown up’ a little bit. Silly thing to think as pretty much the same thing developed and I was almost the same amount down before I knew it really. Same thing happened. My mum and dad helped me out. They said it’s the last time and I agreed with them. My belter missus stayed with me through this, that’s 2 straight years of f*** ups and she stayed with me. I was off it again and felt good not to be gambling again. Anyhow. I’m here telling you this story as I turned 20 in Feb and have been gambling for about 6 months again, haven’t lost big, but it’s losing me time, making me mardy, vile to be around and I feel like I’m living a lie. I can’t tell my girlfriend that I’m in this state again as she will end me. I know it. My mum and dad it will kill them, I’m not in any financial worry but I just feel like that’s not the main issue when it comes to gambling. It’s the time we spend doing so. It’s the way we treat others, it’s the exhaustion, I want to stop and need some help. I’m only 20 and I’ve got so much ahead of me. It’s not fair on my girlfriend and family for me to go on this way, sorry if this was a bit blabbered and didn’t make much sense! I’m not great at writing this kind of stuff, any advice would be brilliant! I’m installing gamblock as we speak.