MAKE THE BOOKIES SUFFER

I think every recovery journey is personal but all I can say is that my life - one day at a time with no complacency and with a switched on mind - and with lots of support despite health problems I am addressing life is FANTASTIC without that monkey on my back. I only post day by day - I've never said "Hey! I'm never going to gamble again EVER!" Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But today I didn't and didn't want to and that is what I take from the 12 steps. Be realistic - make realistic goals. I just want to help people despite being relatively new to the forum. Phil

deano: wrote: [quote=DontWantGamblingInMyLife]

[quote=Loxxie]""A gambler is a person who contributes nothing to society "" How f*****g dare you insinuate that I ...as a gambler ( not for nearly 5 mnths ) contribute nothing to society I run my own pub...work a second job...am now open honest and caring to all who I meet in what ever walk I take....I assist people when and if I can...however I can....so don't you dare come on here saying that we are all non contributors because we are gamblers. ...I'm not interested in the other debates on your posting....well maybe will just say that at least the staff employed by the gambling industry are at least working to contribute to society....you are just a ""donkey mole "

A gambler contriutes nothing to society, period.

A person who owns a pub definitely contributes but when you're gambling you're not - I wasn't talking about you or about other people's other jobs or other things they do in their lives, but when a person gambles he contributes nothing to society, that's the truth.

It's called leisure time actually and what does anyone contribute in there leisure time?

Hi Deano,

When you go on holiday, you do contribute to the tourism of the country or place you're visiting, by using the public transportation there (which will bring more salary to the bus driver for instance) or by using a water park, six flags, hotels, translators....

When I was in Hong Kong I bought my wedding suit there - best choice I've ever made, got it for a great price and the design was amazing ...

But hypothetically speaking, even I wasn't contributing anything to society, how often does a person go on holiday or leisure? I mean an average working person .... the "leisure" term you're trying to apply to gamblng in my opinion has no fit, as this type of activity (gambling) is intended to be activated all the times ... the gambling industry says "bet responsibly" on the one hand, but on the other hand they allow you to bet anytime, anywhere, from your PC or from your phone, no questions asked before making a deposit (but definitely expect questions to be asked upon withdrawals)....

So ask yourself please if you can see the difference between a normal type of "leisure" and gambling on the other hand?

Phil_72 wrote:

I'm getting the impression that whatever we think of the gambling industry per se most people are trying to emphasise that the forum is to discuss recovery and personal responsibility during that journey. If I broke my leg would I dwell on how it happened or how to go about getting it mended?

That's a very good point, Phil.

I'm telling you all this as an observer from the outside - you said your golden rule is to talk and enhance your recovery (instead of talking about the gambling industry) but part of your recovery is dealing with the problem.

There is a well known fact and I studied it in university, how so many research(es) have shown that in a certain area that had a casino or booking shops in it - once these were close the gambling addiction rate has dropped drastically in that area.

If you had no betting shops in your area or found it more difficult to deposit and bet then you would have more tools and more abilities to fight better against your addiction.

It's like a smoker who wants to buy a cigarette but all the shops are closed now - he would have to wait until the morning until he can smoke, and this period of being free from smoking can help him actually.

So I personally don't beieve in recovery that is passive, it can also and should be active i.e. don't just tell yourself I would stop gambling, because you probably said 1000 times without success - instead, if your recovery is active one then you have more chances of making a better progress ....

And with this type of "business", sometimes the gamblers need to fight against the root of the problem - if the industry wasn't there then they would have lived better lives, but unfortunately the industry is there, and it is quite a giant industry - so at least let those who need it - to seek for advice, to discuss how to avoid this giant "monster" or however you want to name it.

Even if no recovery is coming out of it - I don't see anything wrong with having discussions about it.

It's not always about gambling shops in a certain area though is it ? Close em all down and there would always be online betting gambling sites , slots casinos and not just in the UK that you dont seem to like very much , if you have no addiction to gambling I really cant see why you'd have any sort of input to be honest or are in any way qualified to speak on the suject as you dont work for the industry and you don't gamble , you claim to have friends that have suffered from gambling ? so why aren't they speaking about blame or do they accept the blame ? All seems rather fishy to me !

Good night .

ALAN 135 wrote:

It's not always about gambling shops in a certain area though is it ? Close em all down and there would always be online betting gambling sites , slots casinos and not just in the UK that you dont seem to like very much , if you have no addiction to gambling I really cant see why you'd have any sort of input to be honest or are in any way qualified to speak on the suject as you dont work for the industry and you don't gamble , you claim to have friends that have suffered from gambling ? so why aren't they speaking about blame or do they accept the blame ? All seems rather fishy to me !

Good night .

I used to work in the gambling industry (but most of the money I made in life did not come from there). I saw what it does to people, I remember the meetings we had, discussing how to get more and more players.

And I was working in a company that had operations online (not offline e.g. bookmaker shops) ... but I saw what it did to people that were close to me, once they got hooked it was terrible.

I did quit my job and if you choose to believe me or not I don't care - check my IP, I am based in a country that has tons of gambling operations in it, but gambling itself in this country is not allowed ... I know exactly what the industry is doing, so the fact you guys are skeptical about me not placing any bet or thinking I lost money from gambling - it's just ironic and sorry if I burst your bubble but I have no gambling problem ... well, let me put it this way - yes, I do have a problem - with the gambling industry.

It sounds to me like you're very keen on protecting it, I am not sure why and what your intentions for doing it, Alan, but protecting this industry is bad for society, there is nothing good that comes out of gambling - the losers are normal people, most of them work all their lives, some of them lose their life savings in a matter of days, minutes and even seconds!

I remember I read on another similar forum a true story of someone who made £70,000 from sports betting, and then kept the money, invested it, tried to live better life - then after a year or so - lost £200,000 within 48 hours - not someone I knew personally but it was similar to a person I knew who lost much more than that.

That is why I am so much against the industry.

DontWantGamblingInMyLife wrote:

I remember I read on another similar forum a true story of someone who made £70,000 from sports betting, and then kept the money, invested it, tried to live better life - then after a year or so - lost £200,000 within 48 hours - not someone I knew personally but it was similar to a person I knew who lost much more than that.

That is why I am so much against the industry.

Looks like I don't need to go that far - here is another horror story from this very forum:

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/lost-3-years-savings-within-hour-advice-please

"Lost 3 years of savings within an hour, advice please."

This entire forum is full of terrible stories and these wll continue to flow in unless there is a change, and such a change can come from threads like this one, which is why I appreciate threads of this kind and don't think these should go away.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36389823

The shops aren't going anywhere. The websites aren't going anywhere. The lottery and scratch cards aren't going anywhere. Go on about legislation all you like but we all know there's too much money to be made out of this "industry" for any government to give a ***** despite all the platitudes. My recovery from this horrible illness or whatever it is is all about taking it one day at a time. Do I like nuclear weapons? No. There are thousands of them still though.

PS Alan is a co-founder of a major chain of shops and also worth £500 million NOT a CG highly respected on this forum and giving great advice to people. Of course he's "protecting" the industry - that's why he has a huge yacht, a trophy wife and a mansion in the Outer Hebrides (he likes solitude).

Oh Phil , you spilled the beans ? LOL ! , Despite what you think DWG , I have no intrest in protecting the industry but at the same time I refuse to blame someone else for my choices , good or bad . I started gambling well over 35 years ago , when we lived in the dark ages compared to life now , there were no massive campains on TV , no internet and apart from maybe a small 2inch advert in the racing colum of the sun , no adverts . The Betting offices of the time were very different from today , smoke filled places full of punters like myself , no live racing on show unless it was on TV but usually with just a commentry in the background , no machines and all the results marked up on a board by hand . The front of the betting office windows were also blocked out by law as it was regarded as qite a seedy pastime back then , What I'm trying to say is that I'm old school really and what your saying to me just doesn't apply , I wasn't lured in by big campains or actors endorsments or offers of free spins or bets but I still became addicted through a constant habit and no more . You were quick to dismiss the likes of Mcdonalds who you claim give you value for money and that they don't make you fat but your wrong , people get just as addicted to fast food as they do gambling or alcohol supplied by cut price off licences or supermarkets , Mcdonalds supply cheap rubbish food which probably has more nutrition in the packaging than in the product itself , a burger which in one hit gives you twice the recomended daily allowance of calories , fat and salt but thats ok in your eyes ?.

It's like Amom said the other night , it's about percentages , not all people that eat fast food will become addicted to it and suffer ill health because of it , not all people who buy cheap booze will become alcoholics and only a percentage of people who gamble will become Compulsive , it's all down to us and how we allow ourselves to be .

Ther will always be a demand for booze , cigarettes , drugs , fast food and gambling , if people demand it someone will always supply it my friend .

Hic! This first bottle of white lightning cider (9 %) is going down well.....

Seriously I feel the same as Alan - never went into the bookies when they were filled with smoke etc as I was to young - bless. I was never pulled in by advertising - as I have stated before my gambling "only" began 3 or 4 years ago and I genuinely believe I used it as a ridiculous distraction from other issues in my life such as anxiety and panic attacks. The one and ONLY time I got suckered was when I was persuaded by the manager of C-ORAL to get a connect card and open an online account. He was extremely persuasive but other than that I robotically made my own erroneous decisions. Robot? Could have been an extra on Dr Who which they film a lot of the time in Cardiff!

We are all on the gamble free road and we all give good advice to the new members so this has been an interesting discussion.

I have never wallowed in negativity and trying to blame everyone else entirely. I think positively about how I have no urges at the moment after 170 days. Once the blocks were on I started to recover

I do feel part of my recovery process is trying to understand everything about why I would take a large amount of money and throw it away. Why I would keep doing it when it hurt me so may times? It now seems that someone else was in my body doing it.

Im calm about the arcades and bookies. I cant shut them down so I am now indifferent to them in my day to day life. Well maybe thats not entirely true because I will get worked up by people who appear to be defending the industry...ie...... nice people working there and its all my fault.

I dont personally believe that the people who do have gambling under "control" are doing a healthy thing in a positive community environment. I see it as leading down the path to addiction for many people.

I am now t total and I know alcohol is a toxin. However I can see the difference between someone enjoying a glass of wine and someone ending up in jail after a three day binge.

Can I accept the same argument with gambling? Hmmmm... Thats a tough one because gambling is a bit nearer home and caused me serious problems. I may be biased there but im focused on the dangers of gambling :).

I believe in a sliding scale of responsibility. I do agree with that I bear enough of the responsibility to be in control. I just wont say 100% because they hooked me and then something took over my mind. I knew it was harmful but would still end up thinking I should gamble again.

I know I should have been strong enough top say this is a mugs game after the first time I tried it. However Ive been gambling on and off with machines for forty years if Im honest

I do feel I need to work through everything as part of my recovery. This may actually always be within me if the right neurons form a strong path again. Therefore I feel it is important to analyse from a position of strength.

Anyway we all have our views. We all go through the different stages of confusion and even anger. I think our common aim is wanting to be gamble free.

Best wishes

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