Hi, I'm 29, female and I've gambled since I was 18, it all started on FREE £30 to play and I won £400 and ever since I've always either had no money or small debt due to gambling, few years ago i hit rock bottom, lost my job, I was pregnant and struggled to pay debts. I did stop gambling for about 1-2 years.
When my daughter turned 2 I had paid of debts had small savings & then I played £100 here and there and then I won a large sum & I thought wow I will never blow this, 2 months later nearly all of it was gone!!! Then I won another large sum I thought o*g life has given me a chance again, I excluded myself from all the sites!!! Then I tried to buy a house & couldn't because of being a single mum & the misery sets in again then I noticed all the gaming sites either don't fully exclude you or you can actually set up new accounts with your same name, address etc as long as you pay by a different card so I play & play with the hope of getting more and now it's nearly all gone again, I'm so lucky in some ways because this money was won (I'm not in debt) but it never stops, you've the big wins & the money, all you do is think about it 24/7 then when you don't have it you want to slap yourself silly. Even when you win you still aren't happy. I want to get out of this hole, it's so hard to get out! I've spent most of the money in 2 weeks, (the money I won) I've about £4000 left in savings! w*f, I hate myself! I gamble in hope of changing my life but it just makes me miserable, I think it starts when I'm bored then I get carried away. I wake up in the night with almost like traumatic flashbacks because I can't believe I've gambled a few £1000s again but I do it all the time, every week, night.
Hi
Wow blow most of your win in 2 weeks - that is a lot of of money that could have been used or invested more sensisbly if you had got financial advice as soon as you had the money. But I can imagine if you are coping on your own the stresses of life take over and it is sometimes difficult to think these things through and if youhave little support at home. Gambling is a vicious circle - how great is that big win? Not great in the end for a gambler because it is just a great wad of cash to go out and play with - then you lose money - you gamble to get it back - then you lose - and it goes on until you only have £400 left. You have done the right thing coming on here and be proud that you are trying now to make a better life for your family and make today Day 1 of being gamble free and keep counting the days. Maybe use the diary section of this forum too. Ring a counsellor on here for moral advice and where to go for financial advice and self exclusion. You will feel better talking to someone on the phone. You are in a good position if you are not in debt but carry on spending and the debts will come. If you do have someone close it may be a good idea for them to help you moniter your finances which makes it more difficult for you to gamble. I hope you take some of this advice but it is of course up to you. I can say it has worked for us. I wish you a happy future with your family.
Parent of a gambler.
Hi there :)).
Gamparentanon just took the word's outta my mouth there " WoW ! .
There's a saying on here that say's as Compulsive Gamblers " We can never win because we cannot stop " and now you see why that is ? . I think you have to look on this as " I've just lost a large amount " or " I've just had an expensive lesson in why you cannot win at gambling " and I'd be inclined to look at the latter one .
I can say lot's of thing's to you about you should do this or do that but the main thing is that " Nothing will change if you don't make change " and that's simply down to you , youv'e won big money and youv'e lost the same , your not in debt " YET " but how long before that last 4k goes down the drain just like the rest because you think " this time is the one where I win big " ? and what if you had that magic amount ? would it change your life ? , you could put back what you'd just lost I suppose but then how long before you started taking a bit out here and there because you felt luck again and pretty soon your back where you started with no money and this time in debt , taking loan's and using credit cards just to juggle your finances ? Not agreat thought is it ? .
You can stop this but you really do have to take charge of your life and say No more ! , I've already left amsg on your other thread regarding Block's that supposedly don't work ? , they do if you want them too but again that's down to you .
There's much advice on here regarding thing's that will make it difficult to gamble but if all else fails then just get rid of the laptop and being on social media and maybe downgrade your phone to a house brick with no internet access ( shock horror ) o*g did he just say that ? , yes I did because if that's what it takes to stop your gambling addiction from ruining your life then it's a small price to pay, don't you think ? .
Did you win a large sum twice ???
When you win you actually really lose as gambling syndrome takes over more and more. I won a similar sum in the spring and lost even more in one day playing mainly black jack. Chances are you will lose that 4 k also. Hope you prove me wrong.
Welcome to the forum Agent08. You've had some great advice here about looking at what's happened as a leaning experience. I know it will be very hard for you to think of the money you still have not the money that you won and lost, but if you can do that you may be able to avoid chasing further and losing what you have left. You've recognised that gambling is taking over your thoughts. We can help you with that. If you call our HelpLine on 0808 8020 133 or chat to us on the NetLine we might be able to find you some free counselling to help you deal with your gambling, or we can point you to other sources of support.
Just to let you know, we've edited some comments on this thread, and the thread title, because some of the content could be triggering.
Thanks again for sharing your story. Keep posting,
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