online poker

Hey man I'm sorry to hear you feel that way, but if you want to quit then do it now, don't finish your game that's already a bad start.

Self exclude from all the poker sites and try and come up with a few blocks to stop you being able to play

ive blocked everything else...just this one site, the last hurdle to get over , i havent self excluded yet but there is no funds in there,....why is a battle for me to do this simple thing and press the button...maybe someone understand where im coming from on this?

If you're serious about stopping then self exclude. By not hitting that button you are leaving an avenue open to gamble
You have ranted about how angry you are and that you have gambled for 15 yrs but unless you put blocks in place then nothing has changed therefore you can just continue to gamble
I'm no expert and have not gambled long but I've made some drastic changes in the past few weeks and it really makes all the difference
It's a struggle and relapses happen but you gotta take that step and self exclude. It might work, it might not. If it does then great, if not try something else like handing over control if finances etc but you have to start somewhere
Start today, self exclude from all poker sites. Get blocking software and take us 1 day at a time

Good luck

It is that easy to self exclude from it, if you're not prepared to do it that just means you don't really want to stop gambling. If you don't you know you'll use that site again.

I also kept a site open to me the first time i "decided to quit". It was my favourite site (and sure enough had done the most financial damage to me, some favourite huh?). The truth is i wasn't ready that first time. Things were bad but i couldn't bring myself to want to stop. I left the door open and after 31 days of not gambling i went right back and did all the damage i was able to do with the rest of my available finances.

The truth is you, like me have reached the point you know it can't continue but you are scared to stop. Maybe you expect you will fail at quitting. But without trying you already have failed. Click the button, maximum time frame and work towards the freedom of being gamble free.

thanks guys sjwsjw thats where i am at, in my mind i look foward to playing poker on the evening at weekends, is this a familar frame of mind for gamblers, its got a control over me everything i do outside poker im always looking forward to the next game when i can play, i know all the start times the site inside out, ive played a bit since posting this thread last two nights, be it micro.....50cents then a dollor or two in games.....ok i thought then went to bed pulled out my phone and had a $100 blast game....what am i doing i thought, i know i need to replace this with something else to enjoy, i look around and ive tried other stuff, but dont enjoy anything else, ill get paid again and play again, repeat and repeat,....lets have a day out i dont enjoy it dont enjoy anything else, i dont enjoy loosing....my mind is f**d...i dont enjoy loosing yet i enjoy playing....ive gotta work this out, ive gotta press the button and self exclude, im riddled with poker gambling my mindset my life..what life? its no life i know that...sad life

Yea, i totally get what you mean. I also played online poker as part of my addiction (though i lost most of my money in the end sports betting on my poker site). I used to justify playing smaller stakes to start of with but it never felt enough. I had to play bigger stakes beyond my budget to "make it worth my time".

I also felt i had no other interests in life other than gambling. I was consumed by gambling and it made me think that was all i had, all i enjoyed doing. Until you step back and see the damage is has done (and is still doing to you mentally) it will continue and will be your excuse to keep gambling.

Where you are now i would say you need to cut yourself free of gambling. Block it in every way you can (Time/Money/Location remove one and you can't gamble). I hope you can see this has to happen before you are forced to change by a future situation. Or worse that you continue, forget the money more time will have passed you by and you will still be where you are (possibly worse off).

Don't worry about what else you will do with your time. There are other things you will enjoy you just need time away from the gambling routine to find yourself. The first few weeks the focus needs to just be to not gamble for that day. Its taken me a couple of months gamble free to even start to see what else i could enjoy doing with my time. Im SO much happier and i've learnt a lot about myself in my 10 weeks gamble free. I was very depressed due to my gambling and my debts that it had burdened me with. We have to accept where we are and just make the rest of what we have better from this day forwards. Accept what is gone and start fresh.

Ask for counselling, don't be ashamed to talk about this out loud. If you can tell people DO. If you can hand over finances and stick to a budget DO it. You need to start learning the value of money and time again. You need to take the action to get the help you need. You have to do this part for yourself. Everyone here wants you to do it but we can't do it for you.

If you can take action and work on recovery it will get better!

Hi Stephen,

Just a quick one from me.

Don't look at it as 'I can NEVER do this again' (although this is the truth). Set yourself a goal each day of just getting through that day without gambling and they will start to add up. It is very daunting to imagine a life without something that has become such a key part of it for so long which is why we say 'one day at a time'. By not excluding from that site you are holding onto a crutch but one that will, ultimately, prevent you from your recovery. I am speaking as a man who failed many times as he left doors open to gambling but, when I finally knew I WANTED to quit, I made sure that those doors were nailed shut and I'm now 3 months (nearly) GF.

As for the games being 'rigged', I'd really ignore this side of the arguement. For what it's worth, whilst they have an edge, online casinos have to be random and wouldn't risk the licence by being anything else. Regardless, to blame your losses (again, as I once did) on the notion that you have been 'cheated' is an attempt to absolve yourself of responsibility and blame a third party for your actions. All this does is prevent you from addressing the root cause and moving forward.

This post isn't meant to be harsh but is based on my experiences which I wanted to share.

All the best

Phil