I ... so much like everyone else. I didn’t think I had a problem. I started betting on online slots and it escalated from there. Always chasing that impossible win and even if I won well I just carried on betting cause I could always win more! So I thought.
It hit me more when I could have walked away debt free with money in the bank and I persisted on gambling it all away. Thank goodness I have not taken out loans only gone way way over my overdraft. I was always good at the beginning balancing my money so I never went over 0 but since then I have gone over... by about £500 plus the bills I owe so totalling 1k right now I’m trying to figure out how to pay that back.
1 week ago I registered to Gamcare or GameStop and have managed to go 7 days without online gambling. Somehow I have managed to move onto pub bandits instead not as much and no where near as much as the online slots but not a 100% free of the slots!
Today I told my best friend the truth, the full truth not the half truth sentences I have been saying. She was more helpful than I thought and now I feel so much better! We are going to put a plan in place and she is going to take my bank cards away and limit what I can spend she has also persuaded me to tell my bf who has been understanding but again had not known the full extent this conversation is still going on! I want to thank the forum as I have been reading for ages and now I feel like I can write any advice would be welcome x
Hello Loz53.
Welcome to the GamCare forum. We're glad you've been finding the posts here useful. You've taken an important step by signing up and posting your own story here.
It sounds like you've started to take some steps towards tackling your gambling, by registering with Gamstop. Congratulations on avoiding online gambling for the last week. It seems that you've turned to fruit machines in pubs instead. We understand that you're finding those less harmful at the moment, but just be aware that this too could escalate.
Sounds like being honest with those closest to you is a big breakthrough for you. That can't have been easy and we're so glad that your friend and partner have been so supportive. If you'd also like some 1:1 support from a specialist gambling addiction practitioner, we can provide free treatment - just call our HelpLine on 0808 8020 133 or visit our website to find out more.
We're sure that other members will be along to welcome you and offer their perspectives.
Keep posting,
Deirdre
Forum Admin
Thank you for your post! Still have not touched the online slots, at one point I could not go a day without them and always told myself I could stop if I wanted to, and always went back. It took me a few attempts to actually register with GameStop, as thought just blocking one site or another would do, but honestly the best thing I did. Haven’t touched those since last Tuesday so 9 days? Feels a lot longer! But it’s not the first thing on my mind anymore and I’m glad I did it.
Yes your right I could sense I was begining to move from one form or gambling to another and have now tried to implement some new rules. 1 being not to step into those places for a while and if I do either with said friend or with no cards and limited money, haven’t don’t the bandits since Saturday and today was my usual go to time and managed to avoid completely so crossing fingers I can stay away for the weekend! Thanks for the support and the advise (1 day at a time :))
So. I feel physical sick .... the money I needed to pay debts went straight to the machines . Though I was doing so well just a tenner. A tenner turned into a lot more and now my plan to sort myself out has gone bust x
So update 2 days since my blip and I am calling it a blip I have managed nearly 2 weeks on Tuesday without my online slots. Sounds silly but I craved them the first couple of days after GameStop and now ... I just know I can’t and it’s made such the difference... I don’t even try. However ... and big HOWEVER I have moved my addiction on to pub fruitess but somewhere in y head I know this is easier .. I can avoid the pubs ... I can. Home slots was harder as it was available 24/7 this isn’t so Friday was my downfall but I’m back on it with renewed strength. I reckon in 3 weeks I can be clear of my withdrawal limit and be in the green with just my credit card to pay which gives me hope. I am trying and hoping for the best x
Good luck Loz
Hi my name is jacky, I have been addicted to online slots now for three years, I am £3000 in debt due to it and have a iva. This is my first time on here and I am at my wits end. I work over eighty hours a week which mostly goes on this habit. My boyfriend and family have no idea I have this problem, I feel so ashamed of myself. I keep thinking I won't do it again but I always do. Sometimes I think about ending it all because I can't see away out of this mess. I can't understand why I gamble, I'm not unintelligent yet I put myself through the same hell day in and day out. Please can anyone advise me on where to start in sorting this out, I really want to get sorted and be happy again.
Actually I'm Thirty thousand pounds in debt not three.
Hi jacky can you start a 'new topic '? You will get more help and response. It's at the top or bottom of 'new members page'. To help with debt call stepchange. To put blocks in place join gamstop. That blocks online for 5 years. Hand over finances, access to money is continuing your habit. Tell someone. Find a GA meeting. Call gamcare. The money is irrelevant even though it seems huge, it's the habit you need to break. Then start working on yourself. Find out why or what started this. Live just for today, that is far manageable. Get some help, don't put it off. The money is gone.
Thanks vin! Managed not to touch them Saturday through to today. Think it’s still raw but I’ve been here before where you soon forget and then start the cycle again! So hoping I can just do it one day at a time.
Hey jacky! The online slots Did the most damage to me. Once hooked in its so hard to stop. I found myself just playing ... feeling great if I won feeling so low if I didn’t. I’d give it up for a few days then the cycle would begin again. I would recommend registering with Gamstop. It stops you accessing most online slots. At first I tried just cooling off but would just register to another site and start again. I didn’t sign up at first cause the truth was I wasn’t ready to completely commit to stopping so found any excuse not to but after realising I need and want to quit for good I signed up and it really is the best thing. I was moodyfor 2-3 days bored even! Thinking why did I block myself completely could just do with playing 1 more game... but that soon died down and now I don’t even think about accessing the online slots... because I can’t. It’s great and I would recommend it as a first step to stop spiralling further down this horrible destructive path. Good luck Loz
hi Loz53,
Have yo considered going to GA meetings? I've tried highlighting to a number of people that recovery is more than just self excluding online, I and it seems you too, transferred elsewhere. In the early days, it's really helpful to hand over your finances to someone else. Just have the minimum that you NEED. the amount of damage that I did on fruit machines at service stations was horrendous, not as bad as online but gut wrenching all the same.
Do whatever you can to stay off that first bet.
Wishing you well
GamRecovery
Thanks gamrecovery. I’ve looked into the meetings but tbh I would like to try without I’ve opened up to my partner and roommate/friend and find that has helped and was such a relief but I live in a small town everyone knows everybody so I don’t like the idea of the meetings. I think I’m just going to try avoid the places and bookies have never appealed to me x
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