Hi,
I'm new here, after starting my gambling at 16 years of age.
I was (un)lucky enough to always be tall, at 15 I was 6'6. I met a girl who worked at an arcades who was into gambling, but as she couldn't play herself due to working there, she would give me money and stand close enough to tell me which buttons to press etc.
This naturally got me into gambling. I know it's easy to say, but I wouldn't call what I have an addiction - Let me explain. I'm autistic and I play certain games because I like the sounds / music and I would typically stick to those few games. Then once I start playing them (Typically, they are the ones that everyone plays, like Eye of Horus etc), I see someone else on the same game on the machine next to me and my autism will kick in and I will "compete" with them to see who can get on the feature first. I know there is no 'typical' gambler, but I do genuinely only play for sound FX and then compete. I don't go out of my way to gamble, don't sell things to get money or the like.
I have banned myself from online casinos for 6 years and I am about to ban myself from local bookmakers in the area, I just want to get this behind me and be clear of it. Looking back, I've gambled for 22 years now and it's rather scary.
Hi Leigh,
Personally I don't think you have have a diagnosis of autism to get obsessed with particular slot games. Cos that exactly what happened to me. The games have changed over the years but the obsession hasn't.
As for other people playing to same game next to me. I find that am not in any sort of competition with them but I just get jealous when they get the feature and I don't, particularly when funds are getting low.
Your doing the right thing with your self-exclusions, because all slot games are designed to take advantage of vulnerable personality types, especially autism, because as you say you enjoy the set up, the noises, the repitition etc.
All the best going forward.
Thank you.
I forgot to mention in my OP, I do have a partner and although we don't "talk" about gambling, I am completely honest with her and will phone her when I have gambled and tell her exactly what I have done, how much I have spent etc.
Leigh, keep up that communication with your partner and give you’re partner updates on the progress away from gambling. I do this with my girlfriend some times to keep things fresh on where my head stands with her and my addiction. It’s always good to have some one too talk too about the addiction and it takes a lot to tell them if you have the urge to gamble thus preventing the chaos of gambling.
I hope this helps
dave
I got into gambling when I was 18, I was self-employed and earning a lot of money from affiliate marketing / social media marketing.
I started just gambling for fun playing blackjack / roulette.
then I got into slots a couple years after and hit a big win, which is a big part of why I got hooked.
I've been spinning slots for the past 3 years and lost nearly every penny, which I was going to use to get into property investment.
I just feel so stupid and today something clicked in my head that this is just going to keep getting worse and worse so I had to put a stop to it.
it got to a point where I would lose a lot of money in a few hours and wouldn't feel a thing. I would just want to deposit more.
it is 8th Feb 2022, and so far this year I've already lost £15k.
it has also got to a point where I get numb to the big wins I rarely get because I know how much I am down. for example, if I win £1000 on a £1 bet, I wouldn't even show any emotion and continue to gamble.
as soon as I signed up to this I felt better, and reading everyone else's stories puts my mind at ease knowing I'm not alone. we all make mistakes and I hope everyone gets over this addiction.
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