Hey, I made my first and only post on this year just under 2 years ago. I was 17, concerned with my gambling, and didn’t listen to advice. I’m ready to listen and act upon any advice because it’s time to stop. My gambling went crazy, I went from gambling £10 a week underage having fun small bets to maxing out my overdraft, gambling student loans and taking out payday loans when I turned 18. I have lost £5k+ but right now I’m low not because of the financial disaster but because I’m disappointed in myself. I was very fortunate to meet my girlfriend who lives abroad in Netherlands. We have been together for over a year now and I’m travelling over there regularly. While she has never knew I gambled, she helped me cope gamble free because of new hobbies, spending time with her and learning her language. Really does suck to get your paycheque and 60% be going towards loan repayments, but I’m nearly there clearing my debts, and any disposable income left over went towards travelling to the Netherlands rather than gambling. I had a flutter every few days, just an accumulator on the football, and if it lost I just left it be. I felt like a “normal” gambler. I want to brush over this topic briefly because it still hurts, but sometime over the Christmas period my girlfriend became pregnant. Unfortunately, we had a miscarriage in February. This hit me hard but her even harder which is why I’m trying to get over there more regularly. I had £200 saved up this went alongside my normal balance, and I’ve gambled £150 of that. For the past 6 months, my weekly deposits has not once been more than £10, I just did football on a weekend, I’m a short amount down. I just blew this money and I’m annoyed and sad at myself. My girlfriend moves to England in May. My debts by then will be cleared by 90%. I can’t gamble anymore, today proved that no matter what, I always have that possibility of pulling the trigger and going crazy. Doesn’t matter if there’s a 1% chance, that’s 1% too much. I’m proud for recgonising this but I need to act upon it. Any tips? How does GamBan work? I feel like I needed a little rant and this relieved me a little. Thank you.
The only suggestion I can give is take each day as it comes.
Each day it gets easier, and you begin to realise how much time you have wasted chasing your losses on these stupid websites.
I'm sure none of us are proud of the amount of money we have lost in the past. But you need to make this change for a better future. Think how much you could save if you didn't do this awful habit..
You are so young! 19? That's nearly 10 years younger than me. I wish I had quit at your age, I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now.
Get that 5k paid off as soon as you can and start saving. And living your life!!
JG (74 days GF)
When I lose I usually feel sadness, anger and need to gamble again. Right now I just feel disappointed, and no desire to gamble. I hope this can be maintained. Gambling feels crazy to me, like how we all end up in these situations. Asked myself the question what my aims are when I gamble. If I gamble and win £200, that’s great and all, but if I didn’t gamble I’d still have all my wage, which is more than that 200. It’s so pointless, I hate the buzz I’m addicted to. Love that your 74 days gamble free, keep it up 🙂 I hope to join you.
Hi you download Gamban to gadgets. Gamstop you sign up to to block you online uk sites. Do both. You need to take this seriously. It's tough at a young age to listen and realise how bad it can get. I'm married to a cg who gambled for probably 30 years. It's very damaging to your mental health and the longer it goes on the more you gamble. Call gamcare and get some free counselling or find a GA meeting. The other thing you really should do is tell your girlfriend, don't deceive her.
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