Hi my name is chris and i have a gambling problem. I have had a real problem for the last couple of years blowing 2/300 in the bookies then stopping for me to start again in a few weeks you know the same old cycle. the real problem started last december.
From a 200 pound free bet on an online gambling site i somehow won 11grand 4 days before my 28th birthday!!!! i could not believe it i was on top of the world had the best christmas birthday ever.
Then Jaunary hit and i wanted the thrill again i felt invincible i was doing 400 pound single btts bets on the footy and putting 500 in the fobts all chasing a thrill of having that big win again.
By february i had lost 6k and had 5k left including savings.
3 weeks ago i lost 2000 in the bookies on footy bets and fobts i just could not stop its like when i gamble thats it! it takes over its not even me playing.
Tonight i returned to online gambling and lost 3k but some how managed to win 2k back. I actually withdrew 2k and self excluded myself. so my big win was spent mostly gambling.
i am so disgusted in myself as i was saving for a house deposit with my girlfriend that could have been a great stepping stone but now gone. one positive thing i can say is i have no debts.
Just 2 grand of savings at 28 year old. so many years of trying to save but mostly just pi@#ing it up the wall feel like i have failed myself and my girlfriend. need to stop once and for all and stop thinking gambling is a way out just that one big win to sort me out! so hard once you have tasted the big money you think you can do it again!
Hi Chris89 - Welcome to the site and well done for admitting you have a problem and need to do something about it. I think I can safely say that we have all felt like you - 'invincible' when we have won a nice sum, only to lost it all (and more). We continually seek that 'buzz' of winning, but it never lasts, and we are driven to putting bigger and bigger stakes down.
After a while, the money seems irrelevant and we become like zombies until we have nothing left. One saying you will see here a lot is "I cannot win because I cannot stop" and that is so true - I often remind myself of that if I ever find myself thinking about slot machines (my particular weakness).
If you read some of the stories on this site you will see that lives, and those of loved ones, have all but been destroyed. But there is a way out and a new, more interesting and worthwhile life waiting for you. Be glad that you have seen the light at an early age and that you are not in debt, because as sure as **** if you continue gambling you will have very little left and many more problems to contend with.
Visit the site as much as you can - you'll find lots of support and encouragement here, and yes, inspiration. You have made a good start by joining us and by self-excluding. Stay strong and you will beat it.
Best wishes,
Joanna
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