Hi all
Not sure why it has taken me so long to start my own thread but better late then never I guess.
Last month I came on here at a real low point for me, I had just blown 3k the night before in about 90 minutes on online roulette. It was at that point I started looking for help and found Gamcare.
A little background about me I am 36 and have been gambling for nearly 20 years. My story is probably a common one, started out in my late teens playing fruit machines in pubs. Couldn't walk into a pub with my mates without disappearing to play the fruit machines, sometimes up to an hour on my own. Then we would all drink up and move onto the next pub and the cycle would start again.
It took me about 3 years but I eventully stopped playing them, it wasn't so much the money I lost (which was still considerable) more how anti-social I realised I had become. Everything was fine for about 6 months and then I changed job and became a rep. I always remember that fateful day when on my first day at my new job the other reps at the company invited me down to the local bookies (something they apparantly all did on their lunch break) to play the new FOBT machines.
At this stage I had never even been into a bookies in my whole life as I couldn't see the attraction. Unfortunately this was about to change, my colleagues introduced me to the curse that is FOBT machines. Within a few spins on roulette I was hooked. I started betting on £2 a spin which over the coming weeks became £10 then £20.
Within 2 months I had spent all my month's wages within the first couple of days of the month. Chasing my losses I took out a loan to try and win the money back, no surprise that this didn't work. This carried on for month's and then years, looking back I have no idea how much I lost and even less idea how I didn't end up bankrupt.
At somepoint I took the decision to ease off the FOBT's and go back to playing fruit machines. Sure they couldn't compare to the thrill of potentially winning hunders of pounds (rarely) but at least I would have some of my wage left at the end of the month.
It was also about this time that I got a new job that payed well. By not playing the FOBT's and just concentrating on fruit machines I found my losses were not so bad, within a few years I had even managed to pay off my debts. I was given a good pay rise at work and for the first time in my life I started to save money. Everything was going great until about 9 months ago, for some inexplicable reason I started playing the dreaded FOBT's again. It was fine I told myself, I would only play for low stakes, (and at the start I did), plus if I got into trouble I had savings to fall back on. It wouldn't be like the old days again I could stop whenever I wanted. The low stakes quickly got higher and higher, my visits to the bookies went from once a week to once a day and to make matters even worse I discovered online gambling. Now I could play outside of the bookies opening hours. I watched as the weeks went by and my savings decreased on a daily basis. I kept half heartily trying to stop but would always find myself gambling the next day. Then about 5 weeks ago I had a massive blowout playing online roulette and 3 thousand pounds went in just over an hour. It was then I realised it had to stop. No having a break, no cutting down how much I would bet, just.... finally..... I had to stop for good.
At this stage I felt completly alone, I couldn't believe how much money I had wasted, let alone time with my wife. I wanted to talk to someone but felt so isolated, like I was the only person on the planet this was happening to. It was at this low point that I found this Forum. I couldn't believe there were other people like me out there, I couldn't believe that some of them were succesfully resisiting the urge to gamble.
To be honest I didn't think when I started that I would last more than a day or two without gambling but talking to people on here gave me motivation to try to fight this addiction. By just taking it one day at a time I found I could fight the temptation to gamble.
32 gamble free days later and I feel like a completly different person. I'm not thinking about gambling a tenth as much as I used to, my savings are recovering and even my wife has noticed a big improvement in my mood.
Thankyou Gamcare and all the people on this Forum who have helped me.
S L
Good man S L your story is so true.
The feeling of being alone and in a world that is as destructful as gambling is so damaging to our well-being and families lives. We owe it to our loved ones to beat this addiction and stop lining the pockets of the book makers. I think gambling addiction awareness has only really scratched the service in regards of youngsters, the weekend warriors as a certain bookies like to call them are being sucked into this with there smart phones and its just so wrong.
Good luck with your journey, i wish you all the best
Thanks timetochange , hopefully we can beat this addiction together.
Congratulations silver on your big 100 days GF. All the very best.
Thanks Mixer sorry for the lateness of my reply it just occured to me I have not updated my thread in a while.
130 days gamble free and feeling so much better about things. Can't believe I let this addiction control me for so long, never again.
Silver
Just dropping by to say well done on your 130 days GF so far. Keep it going!
All the best
Congratulations SL on your 130 days GF.
Your story, although different to mine - is I'm sure, very common. Becoming transfixed with the fruit machines and FOBT's, increasing the stakes to dangerous levels. Losing control, trying desperately to claw back the losses, creating only further debt. But hey, it looks like you've had the strength and resilience to keep this demon at bay and improve your life.
Thanks for the kind words and support guys
Well done mate, great to hear. Your story resonates with me like a lot do on here and reading how people are picking themselves up and fighting is inspirational to me. I have only been on this sight a few days but reading peoples posts and the sympathetic, non judgmental responses is really good. I never thought i would step into a domain like this but im so glad i have now. Speaking to people with very similar stories and who understand exactly what it feels like to be a gambler is such a huge help to me right now. Keep up the good work!!
Doing really great Silver 🙂 keep it going, one day at a time 🙂
Thanks all, Jeffrey the forum is really great in helping you in fighting this addiction. I remebered the first time I came here, it was a great feeling finding out that you weren't alone and that others could relate to your situation. As Mixer says take it one day at a time. You will be amazed at how quickly the GF days start to add up. Good luck to you.
Silver
Well done being gamble free for so long.
You are 100% doing the right thing by realising the problem and taking the steps to stop completely. Your story is very similar to my own, im 37 and gambled around 20yrs. I also stopped for 2years after being fed up of my losses but i bacame complacent and started making small bets again leading to larger bets an i lost thousands!!.
When i stopped i didnt really admit i had a problem and i never seeked any councelling or even discovered this site. Im 3 months without a bet now and visiting these forums regularly and making a concious effort to remind myself of the dangers of making even a small bet will help keep me gamble free forever.
Keep up the good work and enjoy your life with your family gamble free
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