Hi everyone,
My story is probably very similar to many people on here. I'm in my late twenties and have enjoyed football bets for the past 7/8 years, but in the past 3 years or so the online casino has become an increasing problem. It's the same pattern everytime, I lose a few quid on the football and then try to win it back on blackjack/roulette. I end up chasing my losses and lose hundreds before eventually stopping for a short spell. After a week or two the cycle starts again with a few football bets before chasing on the online casino.
I had a winning spell a couple of months ago where I won 1.5k from small stakes but inevitably it meant the stakes increased and yesterday I lost 2k - my biggest loss yet. Luckily I have no debts but my savings, which I put aside for a deposit on a house, have taken quite a hit from this. Over the course of my life I estimate I've lost over 10k through many many losses of a few hundred.
I'm struggling to continually pick myself up from these losses and gain the motivation to earn back the money. I'm currently in full-time employment in a decently paid job, but I'm throwing it away. It's such a lonely addiction, with friends and family not understanding how difficult it is to stop once and for all. I'm hoping that this chatroom will help me stop this madness by hearing how others cope with big losses and try to overcome it in the early stages. At this point I'm just trying to come to terms with such a big loss.
Hi and welcome,you are in the right place.
I'm an online slot addict currently three days clean.
What's your plan for beating this addiction?
The madness does have to stop - it has to stop for all of us!
I understand your situation exactly although I turned to more sports betting after the football bets lost rather than the online casino. The struggle to continually pick yourself up is real but it's the only option out there. You've got to self-exclude. You've got to buy Gamban software - it costs £9.99 a year. You've got to get some other focus.
Keep the faith.
Xenedra - well done on making three days. I'm currently at 2 days clean. The early days seem so hard, it's all a question of getting over the big loss in order to move on. Fighting off the thought of 'I could win it back and make everything better' is difficult.
Change - I think that's one of the best ways of stopping yourself. I've found K9 does the job on windows very well plus it's free. This is the first time I've tried blocking software, I'm hopeful this will make the difference this time to other attempts to stop. I'm trying to find something else to occupy my mind, particularly on the weekend when there's so much sport on.
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