sick of gambling

Hi, I have just signed up to this site myself and my feeling are similar to yours. I too love watching sports but find myself kicking myself whenever I correctly predict the outcome of a match and havent bet on it! To the point of not enjoying the sport anymore. When I do bet things never come through and I am left with the sinking feeling in my gut that I have lost so much and let myself and others close to me down.

Some advice I have been trying to follow and hopefully you may find helpful is that I am trying to watch less sports and more quiz programs! even documentaries..anything that I don't associate with betting. It takes my mind off things and before I know I have gone the day without betting. Don't think of it as pathetic that you got hooked, gambling is by far the most powerful addiction I have come across! I hope you can reach your goal of becoming gambling free, hopefully I can manage too, good luck.

Its been a nightmare of a day after the carnage yesterday but it,s been gamble free and that's the main thing. Found it hard not to keep going over yesterday events, what if I had done this and not that but bottom line it would,nt have mattered as I can,t win as I can,t stop. I,m going to have to push myself to get back doing normal things as to be honest my life,s revolved around betting this last 20 years, I think weekends are going to be extremely hard as from I got up on a sat morn till bed I would be betting on whatever sport was on. The funny thing is in general I would say I,m quite good with money but the minute I stand in a ....... all self control goes out through the window and I turn into something possessed running to and fro from the banklink putting 50quid wins on a cartoon house running at luckinsdown lol. If my finance mentioned about something that needed done to the house I would be lecturing her on about wasting money!! Gambling has robbed me off my self respect ,sense of humour ,value of money,ambition and caused countless sleepless nights over this last 20 years but this time I,m 100 percent determined not going to give into the gamblings demons and ever gamble again

Hi Joey,

Thanks for your posts, and I'm glad you recently found our site. It really sounds like gambling has caused many years of stress in your life, and I hope you find some support here.

You don't say exactly what type of gambling you're doing, but there are several ways to put up barriers to it. For example, if you're gambling in the bookies, then self exclusion would be a good option for you. If you're gambling online, then downloading blocking software like Gamblock or Betfilter would be good ways to prevent any gambling sites from opening on your computer. The more barriers to gambling you put in front of you, the more breathing space you gain to manage yourself more effectively.

Individual counselling is also something that helps gamblers a lot, and many people access that through Gamcare itself or our partner agencies throughout the country. That can help you sort out better why you gamble like you do, and help you with ways to manage your urges better and turn to healthier options. That's what often helps gamblers to head towards a long term recovery.

If you'd like to speak to us about any of this, we'd be happy to chat with you. You can reach us on the Helpline (0808 8020 133) or the Netline ( http://secure.gamcare.org.uk/netline/ ) from 8am to midnight every day.

I hope this is helpful, and I really hope life gets better for you. Let us know if we can help you further.

Travis

Joey, I wanted to post on your thread to offer some support and hopefully offer something that might help. It's regarding what you said re being right on results when you don't bet and that driving you to justify betting because surely you can get the right result again. This used to plague me desperately on roulette etc in a similar way, I'd watch the wheel, not bet and it would land on my prediction. Then when I bet it wouldn't. Why? Because its a myth. Gamblers believe in patterns, we believe we see them , can predict them etc etc. it's rubbish and the only guarantee with continued play is loss. It is well worth reading up on this and trying to absorb the reality of how your mind will deceive you regularly. Good Luck with your journey my friend.

thanks a lot for thailad for you reply, I totally get what you say and it makes a lot of sense. I,m now day4 no gambling and 100 percent commited to staying that way! Today was tough but I kept myself busy and managed to keep the gambling demons at bay. I have found this site extremely helpful with the advice and support I have received since joining. I have got my day planned for tomorrow and it def doesn't include gambling!