Hi all,
I started gambling in October 2016 and Finally gave up around August 2018. Although I wasn’t gambling long them 14 months were the worst months of my life and I lost in excess of £15,000.
To say I hated myself is a massive understatement. I was depressed, I cried myself to sleep on many occasions. I lied to everyone I knew, I borrowed money, missed payments on my car so I could gamble it, racked up my credit card to its maximum amount and hid my problem as best I could. It was the online slots that grabbed me and ruined me. I tried so hard to stop because the excitement had gone and it was truly making me ill, I ordered bank cards and quickly rubbed off the 3 digits on the back so I couldn’t register on sites. I sold my iphone and brought an android so I could download blocking software. But I would just reset the phone and carry on gambling. I took all my money out the bank but I would just end up putting back into my bank account so I could gamble it. I put limits on all gambling accounts but would end up finding a new sites when I had hit my limit. I done all this and so much more to try and get over my addiction but NOTHING worked.
I remember sitting in my bedroom one night after I had just lost all my money over a grand in a matter of hours after I had just been paid and I honestly thought this is it for me now this is my life be and I’m never going to be able to get out of this...
After many months of trying I finally managed to put a stop to this addiction by joining Gamstop. If you are an online gambler PLEASE join up to GamStop and I promise you you’ll never ever look back. GamStop saved my life and I really mean that. After joining I spent HOURS trying to find new sites but it was impossible. I would waste so much time signing up when I had a craving only to get to the final step and be rejected by the site due to being registered with Gamstop. I got so frustrated at that time because the cravings were so strong and I really missed it. However after many hours and weeks of trying to find an online gambling site I finally gave up wasting my time and started to move on with my life because I had no other choice but to put this addiction behind me. Its now been 6 months and I haven’t looked back. I can’t stress this enough if you have an online gambling addiction PLEASE register to Gamstop it takes two minutes.
My heart goes out to all of you struggling with this addiction.
I’ll second that, Shantel.
An absolute must! For me, it’s the best and most reliable blocking protection out there right now.
Downloaded gamstop in January. Used my same details to register to accounts and lost all my money in February. Now March and lost another £250 on another casino site. f*****g hate the d**n dirt c**t f*****g s**t world I really do. Never wanted to leave this total misery of a world and go with my Dad. Never been so strong to want to go than last night
Dear BeyondMiserable,
really sorry to hear you were able to gamble depsite Gamstop and really concerned to read how low you have been feeling of late. Relapses can be devastating, but they can sometimes also be sources of learning, maybe looking at how you can tighten your blocks.
It sounds like it would be a good idea to additionally install blocking software on your devices as well, just to cover sites that are not part of the Gamstop scheme.
If the casinos you've opened accounts with are part of the Gamstop scheme, it is worth getting in touch with Gamstop to ask what happened.
Please feel free to call the Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or the Netline for some 1-2-1 advice and support.
Wishing you all the very best,
Eva
Forum Admin
Hi Shantel17,
Fantastic post i was hooked for more than 40 years ( more than 200 days GF ) wish Gamstop & self exclusion had been around years ago. You are living proof that if you have the determination we can beat this addiction.
Stay Strong
AL
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