I have been playing FOBTS since I was 19 on and off. I think it’s the ease of the game that draws me in. Put the money in, click on a few numbers and press that button. Before they changed it to max £2 spin I could lose hundreds in minutes and go to the nearest ATM and try and win my money back. I’m 27 now and still on the machines. I’ve lied to work, ex girlfriends in the past and now my wife who has given me chance after chance. I pawned my belongings just to gamble so at one point I didn’t even have a tv to watch. I used to play roulette on the many online betting sites and they’d let you go over your available bank balance so I’d be gambling £300 and when I got paid I’d owe that money back to the bank and then do the exact same the following week. Even today I was thinking what am I actually doing with my life. I have a loving wife and kids at home and I’m sat infront of this computer game which is taking my hard earned money. I have gone a year and a few 8 month gamble free periods but always go back to gambling.
good evening.From 2003 until march 30th 2019 fobt roulette and playing £30-£50 mega games on the fobt machines have completely ruined me......i have managed over two years off from 2013 but that was enforced by 5 months in prison....the reduction to £2 has been a massive help for me and joining gamstop almost a year ago has been a 100 percent success......life without playing fobt machines is safer for me,mentally and financially but still i miss it sometimes despite the countless disasters caused playing these machines...
to combat these feelings iam seeing an addiction and recovery counsellor,given up alcohol completely and on the 12 step recovery programme and this really helps,along with weekly GA meetings.
i hope my situation may help you with ideas,B
Good evening. I’ve never cried as much as when I’ve been on FOBT and online roulette. Something takes over my mind and I’m glued to the roulette until I lose everything. In the past I’ve been in hundreds of pounds of debt and won it all back and that’s an emotional rollercoaster which I didn’t want. I think to myself these machines are programmed to take as much money as possible and give very little out but I still go on them. Ive lied to so many people while on them and made stories up to work as to why I was late or didn’t turn in. I used to go on the FOBT twice a day, morning and afternoon. I’d even go on online roulette at night. I do that I have a destructive and addictive personality so differently need help on that. I will have to search for GA meetings around my area. Thank you for the reply.
Hope, it is painful but familiar to read your story. If is possible to beat this.
Hi Hope 2020 and welcome to the forum
If you stop now the gambling dens wont ruin your thirties, forties and so on.
You are starting to see the problem now but your learning must be that the addiction is far deeper and more powerful than you know now.
Please tell someone close for you will not do this with willpower alone. It should feel like you are ready for a born again moment when this feels right. If you grumble at the thought of allowances you are not ready for whats needed.
If you continue to gamble you will lose everything. It seems you have already had chance after chance. To be blunt they dont really know what they are dealing with. That may sound harsh but this addiction kills people. Prison has been mentioned on this page and the end of the line with this one is when the train hits the buffers of hell at high speed.
There is no system on roulette as Einstein said. Its a nasty addictive activity that gives the illusion that you can spread bet your way through. I would ban it...it certainly shouldn't be on the high street or online.
You need to act now and if you follow the tried and trusted advice here your loved ones should be taking you to a GA meeting and pushing you through the door.
Reality check after reality check is what you need. Its about saving your life. Gambling addiction is no game about a silly flutter. Its a full on drug addiction which completely ruins people and takes their families along with it.
Openness and honesty are your saviours....believe me!
Best wishes from everyone on the forum
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