The beginning of my journey

Hi Rhys, Judging by your online name your a similar age to me. The appeal of gambling is to turn £150 into £1500. Should you win, it's turning that £1500 into £15000. It's unrealistic and creates false hope in your head that you can win. What made me wake up and smell the coffee was the fact I'd gone round and seen a new guitar that I fancied, then saw the price and thought - nah can't afford it. When I worked out what I'd spent over the last 3 months in gambling I'd have been well on my way to having enough for it. I'm not a huge spender - never really treat myself. My treat to myself has always been bets on football games, which when I look back at it is pathetic. I put away money for savings every month but then in my head the rest is for gambling. Now my addiction is going to be saving. At the end of each month I want to treat my girlfriend and in my head the money I spend on that gift or treat would have been wasted on gambling. It was going to be my New Years Resolution to stop gambling but I've started it earlier.

I had a free £5 bet which was to be used so I decided to throw it on a treble for the boxing day football games - which on paper looked a banker - it lost. This only backed up the belief that gambling is a mugs game. In my head I know I've lost more than I've won - this I've forgotten about. It's gone.

I'm moving forward and am now on my third day without a bet. I haven't missed it. Saturday tomorrow which will be a tough test as I'll probably sit down and try and watch a couple of football games. If I can get past a Saturday without a bet I know I can get through anything. The aim is to go a whole month without a bet, then two, then three, then up until the end of the season. If I'm happy and I'm not getting urges to throw a bet on and I'm happy I can control myself then I may introduce responsible gambling for the World Cup. This will be dependant on how I feel over the next few months.

Hi guys, joined this site today and i'm happy I found it. I've gambled since I was 16(now 39). I have a great family who know I gamble. I've always said that I only gamble what I could afford to lose, however, i've finally relaised I have a problem. Every spare moment I get I gamble. I open online accounts and after losing my money I self exclude myself. I go into shops, place bets, if I win I'll go back in and lose it all. Despite this I still go back. I've now had enough! I know talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, but I know I have to stop and more importantly I want to stop. My last bet was yesterday and i'm determined not to bet again. I wish you all the best.

Hi Rhys / Big brad here is the reality check . You are deluded if you think you can gamble again responsibly. Believe me I have told myself what you are telling yourself about the World Cup . I’m 43 and been gambling all of my adult life and some of my young teenage life . Now you have crossed a line with yourself and something has led you to this website . I can tell you from experience that this situation you need to stop and nip it in the bud . Otherwise you could end up like me . Completed a debt management plan for 7 years and am in danger of starting another one if I don’t stop . I have managed 5 days so far and realise that gambling has given me nothing over the years and nearly taken everything . Luckily I have a fantastic wife , a great circle of friends and a really good job . Unfortunately for some reason it hadn’t been enough and I thought the next win was just around the corner . I’m only going to win when I have stopped completely, self excluded any option of gambling available (so my mind can’t play tricks to get around said fortress ) and accept that I can never gamble again if I want to have a normal and fulfilled life . Good luck and please accept that you have an illness that you can treat and recover from

There is no such thing as responsible gambling. It is just a couple of words for casinos to use to argue their side of story

Very interesting reads Vulture and Jamie. I take your viewpoint that there is no such thing as responsible gambling - after all you never see a poor bookmaker. I've just run a search on responsible gaming and it brought me to this forum on a post from 2008. Very interesting read. I'm sure 95% on here would probably agree that everybody starts off placing the odd £1 here and there and this gradually increases. Before you know it your placing £10 bets on and in some cases £100's and £1000's.

I think my issue is online betting. It's so easy to deposit and place a bet....can be done in seconds. Once in the betting account it becomes monopoly money. I can't imagine me ever spending more than £10 in a bookies in one go and that would be for Saturday only. This will involve several accumulators where you don't expect to win but may end up winning £100 - £300 should you get lucky. Online when you see the all the Request a Bets that look bankers you start putting £10 to return £20.00. Risking the same amount that your going to win back but psychologically in your head it's a banker and your doubling your money. I know my downfalls and am determined that by abstaining for several months and not feeling uneasy about placing a bet I know I can get back to putting change on accumulators at the Bookies.

The offers that ****** at the end of every week just lead into a vicious circle where you don't ever feel you can have a week off. Its most definitely a bigger issue in society than it's ever been and the introduction of social media - seeing all the big wins just leads to the properganda that one day you'll win big.

Big_brad it’s so easy to blame clever marketing or advertising about this . Deflection tactics I am afraid . If money was easy to win everyone would give up jobs and gamble full time . I said on someone else’s post that we don’t have a collect button built into us as compulsive gamblers . We can’t win enough and we can’t lose enough . Our appetite is never satisfied. Self exclude yourself from whatever you can and make a mental switch in yourself to unplug yourself from it all

Vulture I don't blame marketing. I used to visit the bookies websites before they sent e-mails or placed adverts out. My argument is that for serious problem gamblers trying to give it up, it's not healthy. There are people on here that make the situation I'm in look like a walk in the park. So far I don't miss gambling and long may that continue - even with all the e-mails being sent across to me today. The issue I have is that even by self excluding your not helping yourself in the long run. I could self exclude myself from every bookmaker but still give a mate £10 to place an accumulator for me. Deep down I know I can refrain from betting - I've been shocked into this wake up call - after visiting here for advice I realise how bad it has got for some. I'm just fortunate in the sense that I'm not in debt, not paying off credit cards etc and I know I can plough through this and get a habit to save money instead of throwing it away.

Agree that you can’t just rely on self exclusion otherwise you will still be a gambler who just currently doesn’t gamble , not by choice but by circumstances . You are correct you can find loop holes . Same as anyone if you are hell bent on gambling you will find a way eventually . For me and I have tried self exclusion , hyptonism, GA and phone counselling I still carried on gambling because deep down I wasn’t ready to stop. I am now and a big part of me wishes I stopped years ago and I wouldn’t have done so much damage . My advice for what it’s worth is to get out while you still can , from your post you are right there is a lot worse you could be so focus on that

thanks for all the input and feedback. I agree I need to completely stop even the odd few quid on a horse etc as this just leads to 'chasing' a loss or spending the winnings in the FOBT anyway. It's just a means to getting that adrenaline rush. 2nd day of completely gambling free today so taking my boy out with the money I would otherwise spend in the bookies.

If it was possible for a CG to gamble responsibly there wouldn't be a need for this site.

Rhys - you can self exclude from entire postcode areas with one phone call. The number is available in Gamcare's information at the top of the page. It would also be a very good idea for you to hand over your finances to someone you trust. Making yourself accountable to someone else makes it very much harder for you to gamble in secret. Look into counselling (free via Gamcare) and GA. You will need to identify and address whatever it is underlying the gambling.

Big_Brad wrote:

Hi Rhys, Judging by your online name your a similar age to me. The appeal of gambling is to turn £150 into £1500. Should you win, it's turning that £1500 into £15000. It's unrealistic and creates false hope in your head that you can win. What made me wake up and smell the coffee was the fact I'd gone round and seen a new guitar that I fancied, then saw the price and thought - nah can't afford it. When I worked out what I'd spent over the last 3 months in gambling I'd have been well on my way to having enough for it. I'm not a huge spender - never really treat myself. My treat to myself has always been bets on football games, which when I look back at it is pathetic. I put away money for savings every month but then in my head the rest is for gambling. Now my addiction is going to be saving. At the end of each month I want to treat my girlfriend and in my head the money I spend on that gift or treat would have been wasted on gambling. It was going to be my New Years Resolution to stop gambling but I've started it earlier.

I had a free £5 bet which was to be used so I decided to throw it on a treble for the boxing day football games - which on paper looked a banker - it lost. This only backed up the belief that gambling is a mugs game. In my head I know I've lost more than I've won - this I've forgotten about. It's gone.

I'm moving forward and am now on my third day without a bet. I haven't missed it. Saturday tomorrow which will be a tough test as I'll probably sit down and try and watch a couple of football games. If I can get past a Saturday without a bet I know I can get through anything. The aim is to go a whole month without a bet, then two, then three, then up until the end of the season. If I'm happy and I'm not getting urges to throw a bet on and I'm happy I can control myself then I may introduce responsible gambling for the World Cup. This will be dependant on how I feel over the next few months.

At 95% in your boots brad. Day 2 for me. All the best pal

I watched the Old Firm derby earlier - where I would have no doubt had a cheeky few quid on a late goal as it started to open up, it finished 0-0. Now the 3pm kick offs are underway and not a single bet placed. I actually feel really good and there's been no last minute urge to place a bet. My only regret is that I wish I could have done this earlier. It's great, less stress and you can watch the scores roll in.

Hi all,

Yesterday was my first full day without placing a bet, I couldn't bring myself to watch sport as I was scared of the risk involved!! Maybe that will change in time