Support Needed

I've f****d up again and gambled. Can't believe what happened, how quickly I fell into the trap. I saw a sports event that was on and was very intrigued to see what the odds were of a certain bet. I went on to an old site I'm self excluded from to check. Out of curiosity I checked to see if I could log in and I could, then I thought well I won't be able to deposit and it let me. Next thing I was gambling eventually losing ВЈ1100. Now I'm not overly annoyed at the money yes it is a lot but in my gambling world not a huge amount, but I'm livid at myself for having to go back to zero days GF. The site should never have allowed me to gamble and they accept that as I have all the proof I need. They are refunding me the money and have now correctly blocked me. What an idiot I am, feel very low. The worst thing is now I keep thinking that I have £1100 which I shouldn't have almost like a free bet so worried I'm gonna do it again. Loser comes to mind!

Hey Chance .

I think your quite fortunate to get the money back b ut I have to ask " Why do you think it's down to the gambling site to control you " ? I'm not being harsh but why no blocking software on your laptop / iphone because if it hadn't been that site you'd have found another ? and why as a Compulsive Gambler are you checking odds FFS ?

Your a CG just like me and you can't gamble or surround yourself safely with anything gambling related again just like me ! .

Put the money somewhere you can't get hold of it and move on buddy :))

All the best for now !

Curiosity killed the cat...you can come back from this...as you say its not the money that matters.

Its the fact that you now know how scary it is to be back in hell so quickly!

Good luck moving forward

Is there any blocking software for your phone that you can't get around and unistall?

Hey again ! .

There are some that work but which one's for which phone's I'm not so sure , maybe give admin a message asking for some guidance ?

You can get around and uninstall most things if you really want to but if it's the difference between you Gambling and not why would you want to ?

Thanks Alan

Hi Chance,

Just been reading your post. Hopefully you got some advice from Gamcare about blocking software.

For me, to block those pesky websites I did three things. Firstly I installed K9 (laptop but I hear it works on phones). Just create a random password of letters and numbers in another program/app like word or notes, copy and paste it into the admin password set up. Set your restrictions (gambling filters, malicious websites etc). Log out and destroy the password. That way you cannot log back in and undo the blocks. You can remove K9 but would have to research that, and it'a very time consuming. It's been on my laptop for 500 days plus and I have not accessed a gambling website since stopping. Mainly because I can't! Secondly I did the same to my internet router, blocked keywords and typical sites. Thirdly, I phoned my bank and credit card company and asked for any attempted transactions to gambling sites be blocked. Once I explained I had a problem with it they gladly complied. I get some odd fraud warnings and have had my card blocked once or twice for something stupid like buying a coffee, but it works.

I don't think about gambling now as I simply can't do it. Just popped on today to see how everyone is doing! Well done on self excluding at casinos!

Hope this helps......K9 is the best and it's free!

Cheers,

Abet

Thanks Abet great advice!

Trying to install K9 on my android mobile phone, being a pain!! Any advice would be great.

I've recently been gambling like mad, found a new site to use and in the last 3 weeks just been non-stop. I was 4k down, had 4 pay day loans and with my last £175 i've won £15,500 and withdrawn that money, awaiting it to clear. I've been very lucky cause without that win i would have had to increase my loan which would have meant more time, higher payments and would have had to tell mother who is the guarantor.

As soon as the money clears i'm going to self exclude, pay off all debt, get blocking software and make sure this is the last time. Don't know why i keep doing this??

Hi Chance,

It sounds like you are still caught in a cycle. Chasing losses, paying off when you win and then start again. If stopping was as easy as self-exclusion, which you were reluctant about earlier, you probably would have stopped a long time ago. It is difficult. It requires changes and the motivation to change.

You have managed to stop for a good stretch of time before and you can build on this, if you want to.

It is particularly difficult to stop on a win when your mind tells you that gambling can make you rich. Of course, when you have a gambling problem, this isn´t true and your winnings are being used to cover some of the losses you have incurred and potentially to free up money to gamble more.

If you want to stop, you will need to make a firm decision and then do anything you can to act on that commitment to yourself. It is up to you.

All the best!

Gabriele

Chinese table tennis- that line made me laugh. Totally sympathise. I had to bet on Icelandic football once for lack of any other game in town. What madness we suffer, when you think about it!

Complete madness, all you can think about is getting even. I would have bet on anything in that frame of mine. Why not just wait a few hours, nuts!