Good afternoon all,
This was a big step for me, signing up to this forum as I am a very private person, trust few and yes, a “head in sand” kind of person.
I am 39, married with a beautiful family. My gambling story starts at the age of 18 playing fruit machines in pubs, then gets much worse moving onto online gambling in my 20s, racking up plenty of debt. Relationships ended, friendships ended.
From the age of 27 I met my now partner and the gambling stopped. I had found a purpose.
Now in the past 5 years it has started again. Originally on mainstream casino sites, then blocked them with GamStop. Now touring the underworld casinos. I stop for a few weeks, am really proud of myself then an email or text from said casinos reminds me and I jump back in both feet.
on average I’ll lose 500-1000 in a month. Be really depressed, angry at myself, distance myself from everyone. Then get better, sign up again and lose it all.
i am lucky, i have a good job and a good career which means i earn good money. However I do not want to keep throwing it down the gambling drain when there are a million better things I could do with it.
i am intrigued as to why this cycle continues.
thanks for your time.
Hello Epernay0623,
Thank you for sharing here and Welcome to our GamCare Forum.
It sounds like you are reflecting a lot on your gambling and are wanting to understand the cycle that is happening. Reflection is a great tool in helping you to remind yourself of the things that have happened and learn more about why it happened and what you can do going forward to build healthier habits.
You are not alone and there is good support available in helping you navigate through this to understand. Please do contact us through to our helpline to speak to one of our advisers for a debrief, a space to open up and talk through support options. Our helpline is open 24/7 and you can contact us via call on 0808 8020 133 or go through our website and live chat to someone here: https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/
If you wish to access more peer to peer support then please do join our chatrooms too where you can connect with others going through a similar journey to yourself here: https://community.gamcare.org.uk/chatrooms/ .
Best wishes,
Brielle
Forum Admin
Hi,
This is so like me! Although I am on a decent wage I have still racked up debt from this. I also go a while without gambling and then see an advert and end up losing thousands. It really annoys me how these underworld casinos can function, they take your money but make withdrawals so hard 😢
I am trying to block my emails and calls as they come through and if an advert comes up on my social media I mark it as inappropriate.
I feel your pain, at 42 I could have thousands in the bank yet it will take me at least 3 years to get out of this debt and feel like I am wasting my life with no money for holidays, a nice car or home improvements etc.
Good luck in stopping! Lets hope we can fight this.
Hayley
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
