There's a bookies next door :/

hi - ask to be self-excluded at that particular shop; fill out a self-exclusion form, you'll need to bring two passport-sized face pics (you may be able to do these yourself with a digital camera then crop the image etc). go to the park or a bench or cafe or pub or shops instead. Those machines are a rip-off & a bad form of gambling (low return to player). £50 every 2 days say 3 times a week is over £7500 a year ! Your big win is very unlikely to be repeated, so don't fall into the trap of thinking that it will. Don't chase, your money's gone & you'll never get it back. Treat is as a price for a lesson learned. Provided you stop doing it, you've bought something for that money - wisdom.

Hi dave thanks for the advice , I did think about the self exclude option but doing this will mean I won't be able to go in at all which will mean my co worker's will know I have a problem and I don't feel like sharing that at work , ive had a good chat on the phone today with the guys at gam care and hopefully going to set up a face to face meeting with someone 🙂 already feel much happier after my phone call

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Thanks for your advice and support, today has been my first day ' clean ' in a good while and I already feel so much more positive after my one to one phone call , the guys at gam care were able to let me have a good rant about things which I'm. Not comfortable sharing with close friends and family

Just a quick update guys 🙂 now on day 3 without betting, still feeling good about everything , I think next week will be the real test as it's pay day , i do also have a face to face meeting set up next Wednesday 🙂

Good luck polo kid, the face to face meeting will really help, it did me, I know it's hard telling co workers, I really struggled with that part, but I continually came up with excuses to a few, and after a week or two I said I had bought something which I had to pay for each month so just couldn't throw away the cash, there is so many excuses, car repair, holiday, new clobber, rent increase etc etc, I know this may seem a cop out to a lot of people but I found that the best way, and trust me in the end they stop asking you to go......and then you can instantly tell when they lose/win on there return from the bookies, judge it over a month and trust me you will be richer in so many ways.

a few tips.....at first I beat myself up so much for not going in with mates if they had won, don't do that, it doesn't last (trust me). The biggest bit of advice, IF YOU EVER GO IN AGAIN then self exclude, like me it proved I simply could not do it, I had to ban myself, easy to say but trust me it is the best thing you can ever do. It is a habit playing those machines, impulse, take away the opportunity and the urges half. Real mates (colleagues or outside of work) do not judge you, it hurt me telling a few people at first and knowing that I was being talked about etc etc.....but four months on, we're now talking about another lad getting caught with his pants down, life throws you challenges, be honest and as other posts say, that money has gone.

To my shame I loaded well, well over 50,000 pounds into them machines......and trust me you will do the same, I'm a average Jo, on a average wage......it's a mugs game, trust me!!