I'm writing this as I lay in bed. Its 2:30am and I've just finished another excessive gambling session. With the intention of depositing a maximum of ВЈ100, I am additional £800 down on top. Why? Because once again I have fallen victim to the parasite that is compulsive gambling.
My story starts when I turned 18. I had my first experience via online bingo. I deposited ВЈ10 (which at the time seemed a lot) but once I got my first win of £1500, I thought "this was the easiest way to make money". Yes that's right, I am 'one of those people' who had seen gambling as a money maker rather than a form of entertainment.
Moving on a few years, I started to get more frequently sticking ВЈ20.00 a weekend on football accumalators. At this time I was a sensible, I was putting £500 a month away in savings as I wanted to build a deposit to move out, plus any winnings over the season (totalling 5k) was added to this. I had never had credit/loans before so my credit rating was hon existent. I took out a credit card, bought an item and paid it off in order to boost my credit rating. In 2 and a half years I was there. Deposit saved and me and the missus began our adventure. Bought our two bed flat in a lovely area, we couldn't be happier.
"That sounds lovely" you may say, but I assure you it was the beginning of my downfall.
I found it difficult adjusting to my new lifestyle of being responsible for bills. I continued with my same betting pattern without the same results. I'd panic that we would not have enough to last the month and stick small additional football bets on to try recoup my losses.
I eventually starting using that credit card I had taken to boost my credit rating as a source for my football bets so that I would not have to worry about my wages. (You can see where this is going).
After the football season finished I didn't really know what to do. I was never interested in other sports so would not risk money on them. Instead I decided to try these online slots as the adverts make them seem so amazing.
I'd start of with usual ВЈ20 per week (boy did I not realise how quick the money goes). I would win on occasions and withdraw to my bank account whilst making my minimum payment on my credit card. (Minimum payments are not the way forward). When the wins stopped coming I fell foul to the demon. More deposits on the credit card with little success. Eventually my card, my safe haven for a fall back should any financial emergencies was gone. What do I do? How to I cover any emergencies? At this point the common sense in my brain vanished and I took out another card and before I knew it, that was gone too. Stakes increased to £5 per spin, chasing losses and feeding the bank balance of a person who does not care who I am, or my financial situation and one of whom will see me as a number on the end of their bank balance.
I lay here before you today, 30k in debt, pay day loans up to my eye balls and credit cards maxed out. I work full time so I am going to contact stepchange regarding a debt management plan to help me repay every penny. I've used Gamstop to self exclude this evening. I am yet to tell the missus as I hide my letters but I know I need to be honest. We've been together 8 years and have been through some seriously bad times but we got through it together so I'm hopeful we can with this.
My question to myself is, what happened to that saver? The one who was so good with money and was so proud of saving his deposit to buy his own place. How did I fall so low? I feel like I got to the stage where gambling as well as an addiction, was just a routine, out of boredom but also at the start a means to make money.
My advice to any youngsters who are starting out with gambling, is ask yourself, is it really worth it? Is it worth the potential life long addiction to make a quick buck?
I blame myself for this, however for the younger generation growing up, I feel sorry for them because its advertised everywhere you go or ever channel you watch. I feel more needs to be done for them. Its too late for me, I can only help get myself back on track and that starts now.
I just wanted to share my thoughts as I feel I can share here without being judged. I'll be posting regular updates on my progress. Thank you for your time.
Good luck to you sir....
You are not alone, bein a victime of the millions spent on maketing and advertising by gambling company....
Well done for sharing and willing to stop. That the first step !
Hi sj301188
Unfortunately your story isn’t a unique one
Like myself and so many others You’ve been subject to the gambling snowball effect
Someone once told me the only way to profit off gambling is to get in and get out within 15 mins …..I.E put your stake down take the chance and either win or lose and leave
If you stay the house edge will undoubtedly take effect and you will lose there’s no two ways about it
Problem is gambling is one of the most addictive drugs in the world ……I find it far more addictive than C*****e cannabis & alcohol ( other drugs ive tried)
I logged into a well known online casino last night to my amazement near enough every table was full ranging from £5 stakes - £50 stakes
Along the very bottom of one of the tables there was a tiny faded sentence saying “ gambling can be highly addictive please be cautious “ I chuckled to myself I guess this is classed as sufficient protection for the consumer
The lack of regulation on it by our wonderful government is disturbing
Would you believe the industry regulator is funded by the industry ? how can a product this lethal be regulated by its own manufacturers
Doesn’t make sense to me
Saying all this Ultimately though the body of accountability lies with us we choose to log on , we choose to wager hundreds of our cash in the chance of turning a profit
If we all won would anyone even be on this forum ? I very much doubt it
I’ve spent many years trying to understand this addiction and the psychology behind it still baffles me
Thank you for the comments. I feel like a weight has been lifted of my chest. I've begun the process of turning my life around. I've created a post to share my plan and if I can inspire even 1 person with my advice, i will feel its a job well done.
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