Hello everyone.
About six months ago I was almost at rock bottom, spending all of my wages from work on gambling machines in bookies. I took steps to help myself and had myself self excluded from all of the bookies in town (There are only two franchises in my town with multiple shops each) for a total of five years each.
Recently I snuck into one of these bookies close to my home on my way home from work. Thought I'd be asked to leave but managed to put £ into a machine and win £. Thus I was hooked again.
Over the past two weeks I have lost a total of £+ which I could not afford to lose. I am struggling with the urge to go in and gamble and honestly wish to stop. I am too embarrassed to approach the staff and say "Hey, I'm self excluded here and have lost money".
I emailed their head office today and basically explained to them what I have said here, but have given dates, times and amounts lost in hopes that they'll recoup some of my losses to me and tighten the staff's knowledge of their self excluded file.
This is a way of me venting plus letting myself know that I once again have a problem and that I need to stop and get help.
Hi Tako,
Well done for posting on the forum and sharing your story.
Please check out this self-exclusion scheme:
'MOSES' (Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme; for high street betting shops)
0800 294 2060
https://self-exclusion.co.uk/how-the-scheme-works/
https://self-exclusion.co.uk/faq/
You mentioned that you recognised that you need help. It sounds like you might be based in Britain, if so, please consider calling us for support. The National Gambling HelpLine is available on 0808 8020 133 and our 1:1 Livechat are both open 24 hours every day.  We can give you details for your local support services too, and other online resources.
Take care,
Adam.
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.
