Stopping online slots - First time I have talked about this

Hiya,

"How did I get to a point where just thinking about slots makes me clench my jaw and grind my teeth"

- You got to this point because they are HIGHLY addicting things (designed to make you want to play more). Think of it as a highly addictive drug, not a weakness in you. If you had been dabbling with heroin for a few months you wouldn't suddenly think "oh dear, I seem to be addicted, there must be something wrong with me" - you'd know the addictive potential lay within the heroin!

I don't know if that makes sense to you, but it has helped me take that bit of step back and realise that I'm absolutely fine if I don't step (virtually) into an online casino. If I do, I'm screwed. If I don't, I have no problem. Just as you know that if you touch the slots next time you "go in" to deal with your matched betting funds, you will lose every penny of it.

I'm sure you know the worst thing that happened to you was winning on the slots. I am convinced that that flood of chemicals in the brain, coupled with the "intermittent reward" design of these games, is enough to permanently give us the "taste" or rather the desperate thirst for more, beyond all rational thought.

It has nothing to do with intelligence or moral fibre, and sometimes I think it's even nothing to do with "feeling bad and turning to gambling" - it's a separate part of your brain (limbic system) that has been affected, because that's what the games are designed to do. Some people may be more sensitive to this flood of chemicals than others, but that's about it.

It's a very sticky situation and your brain will need retraining (not to mention a period of withdrawal, and I'm afraid that can be painful), but you can get out of it.

All the best to you.

FF

PS Welcome!!

PPS I got into it in a similar way - "bonus-bagging" years ago when it was mathematically worth doing, ended up playing video poker instead of "safer" games, won, and it was Goodnight Vienna.

Good in a way to hear it isn't just me. And also other people in exactly the same situation. I didn't want my use of the word intelligent to indicate that other people in this situation are not , I just find it so bizarre that now, rationally, thinking about it I know how stupid, pointless and how detached it makes me. But I still want to do it. I haven't got into loads of debt, haven't gambled my house or stolen yet so it's still possible for this to be a hiccup, rather than an utter disaster.

Hopefully this post is a start, and thank you for taking the time to reply.

Sorry - didn't mean to sound as if I was accusing you of accusing others of not being intelligent! Just sharing what I have come to see as true, i.e. that gambling addiction is a huge leveller when it comes to IQ... 🙂

I completely get what you mean.

I think some people on the forum are worried that you won't be able to get out that money you have tied up in the online bookie - I am confident you will though, as long as you Do Not Touch The Slots. You will probably want to, you'll probably say "oh what's the harm?", but the harm is that the switch will switch in your brain and you won't stop, not until every last penny is gone. If you lose straight away, you lose; if you win, you'll carry on until you lose. You know it and I know it, so keep your blinkers on mate! Keep that two grand for yourself, don't give it to one of the slimy rich bookie millionaires who doesn't need it. Then call it a day, maybe? Matched betting is exposing you to a "too hot" environment.

With all kind regards

FF

Thanks for replying again. I have posted my OP in two threads which I now realise is against the rules so if any mods want to delete one that's no problem.

As I mentioned in the other thread the one site with the money in doesn't have a casino. I have self excluded from the exchange. So the main danger is seeing the option in the exchange and going elsewhere. However after a couple of days I'm already feeling much better and whenever I think bout gambling I have come on hear to read through peoples experiences. What you say about the switch it so true - I have over the years drank plenty, taken lots of illegal substances, smoked on and off (although quit that several years ago and never touched another cigarette) and not even had a hint of getting hooked. This I think made me very complacent about gambling, matched betting, beating the bookies etc.

Thanks for the vote of confidence , I will let you know how it goes!

And yes - then call it a day!

Hi there guys. First-time posting here. First-time to admit to anyone I have a betting problem. Age 54, unemployed, basically I have used all this year to bet online mainly casino and slots, with the aim of figuring out how to spank the banker.

The galling thing is, this kind of problem is unbelievably addictive such that you can't even admit its addictive. I have no problem with any other kind of addiction, such as alcohol, drugs or social gambling ie going to the races or even to the bookies for a flutter. No way. But being in a position where I NEED income, I justified this as my own little project, trying virtual roulette long-term and devising methods of winning more that I lose. I thought I was clever enough, nearly cracked it... told myself it must be possible, but in the process i have accumulated net-deposits of around £3000 now. Am only in debt to the tune of £1000 to my bank as an overdraft, luckily I have "woken-up" and stopped betting before it ruins me. As others have said, when you have a big win, you naturally want to use what you won, to win more, and end up losing it all. But I was never taken in by betting in the past, because I always lost. Flutters on horses or football matches for me were a no-no as I lost on these a few times and said "f*** that, never again!" But online betting comes to you in such a subtle way, with special free offers and with bet-in-play.. I tried bet-in-play on Tennis matches and apparently using my skill and knowledge of how tennis matches usually go when one player is dominant, I won some money so easily on predicting who would win the next game/set/ or the match. Simples. So i tried it more and more, remember this for me is a money-generating project, not having a social flutter. And I lost it all when the unexpected match result happened. Makes sense, in sport there are so many upsets, unlikely scores etc. So I went back to the apparently "surefire wins" i got in online roulette. I was placing a small stake up to 30 times a minute, for hours and hours. On some sites you can bet even 1p, on a 2-1 chance, so you win 1p. If you lose, you double up and if that wins, you have covered your losses. Then you win again, lose again, chase your losses by doubling up, til you realise there's no money left on your account. I tried all the 5-column slots too, found one that was particularly lucrative and gave frequent pay-outs (won't name it lest my readers here fall into temptation) but I was able to bet £2 and win £40, then only use £20 of that winnings before I won another £40. Then i used to reason, if I could just win that £40 bonus-game once a day, thats equivalent to working a full days work on the minimum wage, so its worth doing. But whenever I won £40, i couldnt resist trying for more, on the premise that the more times you bet, the more times you will win. That is rubbish by the way, because in actual fact, the more times you bet, the more times you can lose it all. Having reached about £3000 net-deposits now, I have finally had to admit to myself that I am not going to make a quick buck on this activity, and I have stopped logging in to my online accounts. Thank God I have decided to give it a miss, it hurts to admit to myself that i failed to beat their system, but, better to admit that now, than to become an addict. Guys, believe me, you can win a few times and feel that euphoria, but you will not be able to say no to betting more and more, so in actual fact, winning IS losing. Thanks for reading!!

The belief that you can win back what you've lost is always there but you just have to believe its a lie and the only thing that is true is that the longer you play the more you will lose.

In the past I had won over £10,000 and played a bit longer thinking I could win some more but lost £1000 then bet more and more to get it back. Eventually I had stayed up all night and ended up being £2000 down. I was on the verge of ruining my whole life trying to get that big win before I had to stop or I'd have lost everything. (That was only a week ago so I'm not expert)

Unlike me you've done well to stop before getting into any real money trouble. You just need to get it in your mind that what's past is done and any loses are gone and put it down to experience.

The best thing you can do is draw a line in your finances and don't risk losing another penny from right now. Start planning how you'll spend your saving in your much happier future gambling free.

All the best and good luck.

dot83 wrote: Hi all,

Right I really need to get this off my chest. I started matched betting a few months ago (e'g using booking sign ups and exchanges to make risk free profit , or offers where if you play £7 on a certain slot and lose you get it refunded). It was going really well, had made a couple of grand.

However occasionally on the slots I would get a big win which was great, but instead of taking the profit I would gamble through it - you can see where this is going right! Soon I was using some of my profits to gamble on slots , sometimes winning, sometimes losing £20, £40, £60 but able to stop at this point.

However the last couple of weeks I have really lost control. I smashed through about £1300 in one session on monopoly slots.

At the same time I have a load of money in a certain bookmaker that I need to bet through a certain amount of times in order to withdraw. To do this I need money in ******* as well to lay the bet and make it risk free. (apologies if this doesn't make sense to some but feel like I need to get the whole story down).

I deposited about £800 from my CC but eventually hit the slots. Got down to £30 then amazingly hit a £2000 win. I had recouped everything ! But the urge to gamble was still there and I keep going back - I have been up, down, nearly bust, back up and finally lost a load of the profit last night. Looking at what I have bet through on ******* is horrifiying , £1000's over the last few days.

Reading others peoples stories on here is really helpful. It's good to know that these crazy emotions, feelings and urges aren't just me!

If I can stop now it's ok. It sucks, and I'm really angry for wasting this money but it hasn't put me into debt, I still have about £1000 of the £2000 savings left - that won't take me too long to save again. But I can hear a little voice telling me to do some £10 spins and I'm bound to get the bonus and win it all back.

The final issue is that I need to bet through the a final £1000 turn over to withdraw the money from the bookmaker (about £2500). I can;t just write that off, and as long as I match bet properly on ******* it's risk free. Risk free as long as I don't use the slots.

I'm not sure what my point is but if feels good to write it all out. I'm a pretty intelligent 30 year old with a good like, great
girlfriend etc. How did I get to a point where just thinking about slots makes me clench my jaw and grind my teeth.

Sorry for the length of this!

Hi dot ur story is similar to mine I'm 15 days game free hope you succeed if you need anyone to talk to im here