still not sure

If you didn't want to stop you wouldn't be considering it, or posting on GamCare. Gambling is something you don't need in your life, as ultimately it will not only lose you money since you can't control it, but mess your head up at the same time. Stay clear of it, find another interest that doesn't lead down a path of despair.

Really appreciate your support guys. Since I posted I have not had a bet since. That doesn't stop me placing bets in my own head tho...

The be perfectly honest about my finances, Im up a fair bit from gambling and thats why the temptation is always there for me to go back. I often would buy something and then try and win that money back from gambling, and to be honest it would work more times than not and that I know is a problem, I just got in to deep. The 12K I was gambling with earlier in the week I didnt loose and I actually got the 1K that I previously lost back, I was very lucky in a few bets and at one point I was down 3K. Thats my problem, I always want more and more, anyway thanks guys and Ill continue to let you know how Im getting on. So far so good, Football has finished also so just gotta stop using those free bets that suck me in to wanting more, if only I had more discipline.

Wow Fraz999 - I wish I could be you, because it sounds like you are the guy who's finally made gambling pay 😉 haha. Or more likely you've hit a winning streak or have enough knowledge about form to lay off the odds. BUT... Eventually you will lose.

I'm not saying that to be bitter or nasty, it's just a fact - play any sport/casino long enough and you will lose. Then you will chase so bad you'll read your post and smack your head on the Formica kitchen table top wishing you'd listened to yourself and just quit while you were ahead.

Maybe you are charmed and have second-sight skill? Maybe you are like Neo from the Matrix and are 'The One' - the only one who can win eventually while everyone else doesn't? I honestly hope you are. Please take all those bookmakers to the ffing cleaners for me. Please prove me wrong. Or I'll look for your new posts here in a few months/years time.

Stop. And stop now. It will only end one way.

Best wishes,

Molehole

Hi Fraz999 - Wise words from NotHappy and Molehole which sum up probably what most of us on this site would say to you.

Reading between the lines I would say, with respect, that you are in denial still. Obviously you have been successful to a certain extent, but to be honest losing 12K in a few minutes to chase 1K lost is not rational behaviour - a behaviour pattern that we all know only too well. That is not behaviour of a gambler totally in control and, as I suspect, has set off an alarm bell in your head, warning you to take action.

There are no half-measures with compulsive gamblers - it's all or nothing, and that applies to the recovery process. Please give this site a chance to show you that there is a better, more fulfilling life out there than wasting time and money in a 'virtual' world of 'if onlys'.

Best wishes,

Joanna

Ha, thanks for the reply Molehole. And your words are true for me to stop now. It was very stupid of me to risk so much, and to be honest if I had lost it then it would have been better. Just because I was lucky makes me think I might be lucky next time also. I used to try and trade on the exchanges quite a lot, I never won consistently but I think some people do and thats tempting for me to try again. Anyway whats your story for being here?

Ah, my story is long and boring. More importantly, it's a story that's now in my past.

My life is still stressful, difficult, sometimes indescribably beautiful and an indescribable pain in the a*s - in equal measure 😉 But since I quit burning money, flushing it down the crapper (IE/ giving it to bookmakers who always, always eventually win because I couldn't stop) my life has become so much easier to deal with and I no longer wake up at 4am with my bedsheets stained with sweat, heart beating out my ribcage from what I did - win or lose - a few hours before.

I think you sound like an intelligent and successful person - this makes gambling even more dangerous for you because you probably do have skill to study form and work' out probability on exchanges (as opposed to a drunk monkey who just hits a button hypnotized by the flashing lights, etc).

This is why you must get over your ego and just quit. A Life well lived has many natural gambles and odds to play and work out, be it in relationships or business. Much more satisfying - and if you are as intelligent as I reckon you are, the odds will be already in your favour. Get your buzz from living life instead.

Molehole.

Oh how I wish I could turn back time. Im very embarrassed to say that I lost over 3k last night betting on the football. I was trying to chase an imaginary win, when Novak D went one set down I tried to put a large amount of money on at odds of 4.0, I thought this got taken only to find out it later when I went to cash out half way through the game... so on to a football mach to to a little bit of trading and I had 3 games that went against me at the last moment.

Well thanks for the advice Mole and thanks for your kind words, so so stupid sometimes. Im now sitting in the Airport waiting to fly back home and not sure if I can tell anyone about this out of embarrassment and pure stupidity. Im ok financially so things could be worse but now enough is enough, I thought I could keep to the Free Bets that keep getting offered and laying against them for a small profit but I got greedy. P****d off to say the least, could have done so much with that money.

Hi Fraz999 - respect for having the guts to come on here and be honest about what you did. In my humble opinion that says you actually want to change.

So, at the risk of sounding like some c**P 'self-help' book: Accept what you did, analyse why you did it, make sure next time triggers are there you recognise them and put barriers in place to stop, then allow yourself to move on.

We can't change the past, what's done is done, let it go. We can't really control the future either (although we can do our best to steer our personal ship's rudder in the direction we want to be headed). What we CAN control is our present, our moment, our now.

Just keep saying to yourself ' In THIS moment, I won't gamble'.

Best wishes, (and try not to be too hard on yourself - we all have f-ups from time to time, what's important is to learn from them and use the pain we feel to make sure we don't repeat. While it's important to acknowledge to yourself you made a mistake, don't beat yourself up about it, otherwise the guilt, anger, humiliation will drive you to feel sorry for yourself and repeat the cycle all over again, in my personal experience).

Let it go, and move onwards and upwards...

Molehole

Thanks again for your support Molehole. Its much appreciated.

I read somewhere on this site that if you now chose to never gamble again then the lessons learnt from my losses are the best investment Ill ever make. This is very true, so many other posts on here are making a difference just now, just yesterday I was in Hamburg Airport and I was close to going in to the casino, thanks to the Free wifi I was able to come on this site and read some posts which were hugely encouraging.

Today I was out at a friends farm, just trying to enjoy the simple things in life and take time with other people instead of hiding away on my online world. I have decided to make a sheet containing 100 ticks, every 30 Im able to save from work will get a tick, this will help me to realise how long it took me to make the 3k I lost and help me never to do something so stupid again. Thanks again Mole, I truly do appreciate your support.