Hello everyone, I'm a 19 year old student and have a gambling issue. Since turning 18 i have gambled non-stop and has become increasingly worse ever since. it used to begin when i was 16/17 asking older friends to put on football acca's for me and once i become 18 it got even worse. I have always had a part time job along with my studies and 90% of the money has gone on gambling. From fruit machines in bookies to poker at the casino i do it all. I have decided to reach out to gamcare because i now have bills/rent to pay for which my loan was meant to be for and instead have gambled the money away. My family are not well off and i cant look for them for money so i try to gamble my last penny just to have enough for rent the next month. I understand this is bad, my friends know that im very bad when it comes to gambling but do not know i will be struggling to pay rent for the next 3 months until my student loan. My family do not know about my issue and want to try and cope with it myself as i feel they will not understand and be very dissapointed with me. I have emailed a local gambling treatment to hopefully get some support/ counsselling so i am able to control my issue
Hi there Walshe123
Checking in on how things are going for you?
You've said you're concerned about paying bills for the next 3 months, until your next payment from student finance drops, I assume? Are you able to cover your rent through earnings from your part time job, perhaps? It may be a struggle but I'd say prioritise this above all else.
Regardless of the desperation for money, don't go chasing losses. I'd say cut out gambling completely as you've highlighted it as beyond controllable. Alternatively stick within a strict and affordable limit, if you trust yourself to walk away from the loss of that amount. Please take this with caution though, as after reading many posts on this forum I realise the trend of advice that seems to work best is an absolute cut off from ALL forms of ANY gambling.
Sorry that you're having to go through this. At your age though, you can see the positive of learning the lesson early. Just throw yourself into your studies and work as many hours as you can - you are lucky to have a job and be in education.
Anyway, good luck and hopefully learn the lesson this time, without just abstaining for now then repeating the same at your next payment in January. It is possible.
Anyway, good luck to you and hopefully you get some more useful responses from long term site users.
Hello walshe123 welcome to the forum It sounds very difficult for you trying to deal with this on your own and the step you have taken to contact the local treatment service could be a great help to you. You have said that you gamble in betting shops and casino’s a strategy that many people use when stopping is to self -exclude. You can self -exclude from all local betting shops in your area by calling the Self-Exclusion phoneline on 0800 294 2060 and they will support you in that process. You can also self- exclude from all land-based casinos please see here for the information.
http://www.playingsafe.org.uk/sense-information
There is also help and advice you can get to support you in starting to manage your debts and bills. Please see here for information on getting help with debt. https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-advice/what-can-you-do/finance-and-debt-management#.VBwEDvldXww
We also have a helpline where you can speak with an adviser about your concerns you can contact us on Freephone 0808 8020 133 and you can also contact advisers through Netline https://www.gamcare.org.uk/frontline-services/netline
Keep posting we are here to support you
Kind Regards
Forum admin
Hi walshe123 firstly don't bet at all. That first bet just leads to another. Confide in someone at uni, there should be a counsellor you can talk to. Find a GA meeting, gambling is becoming a huge problem with students as some companies think it's a great idea to get students to supplement their loan by gambling. It's corrupt. Ask someone to help manage your money. If you can't pay rent call stepchange for advice. Now you need to self exclude. Put your blocks in place. If you don't seek help now this will get much worse. The money is gone, earn it instead.
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