How many times have you heard 'When the fun stops' on the telly or radio via the bookies who shall remain nameless?
When I was gambling upto July 2022 and for the previous 30 years believe me when I say I had no fun. The bookmakers treat addictive gambling like its a computer game that you cannot put down, like the old pac man or space invaders.
In all my time gambling I never saw funin others nor did I experience it myself. Gambling can be a solitary vice, you are around people who like you are putting on a brave face whilst losing their money, sure we may cheer and smile when we get a win, but it's not like being on holiday in Mexico or waking up on Xmas morning.
Addicting gambling is a cold hard place, there is no fun, their never has been, we live In misery, praying for that win, knowing that our evening could be a pleasant or horrible one based on a horse or dog crossing the line first or the numbers we have selected coming up.
Many a day I would trudge out of the bookies with nothing in my pockets, forcing a smile, not wanting to talk to anybody, my plans around what i would buy to eat changing, going from fish and chips to toast and butter, going from a nice bottle of wine to a cup of coffee whilst turning the computer on and trying to get another loan and hoping it will arrive in my account by the following morning, losing all my self respect and wanting that loan to gamble with.
With gambling the fun never starts but the misery continues until you stop.
I couldn't agree more with what you describe in your post. It just reminds me of certain experiences that fill me with dread and anger. But I let it be that way momentarily, because I don't want to concentrate on the misery, fear, and constant anger I suffered at the hands of gambling addiction. I want to concentrate on the now, the present. For today, I don't want to or need to gamble.
All the best.
Ergos
Gambling is marketed as low brow entertainment , the problems start when users start perceiving it as a get rich quick scheme or a way to make "easy money"
its this temptation and basic greed which draws a lot of people in and before they know it they are on a death spiral
That is why they say when the fun stops "stop" this is meaningless when someone isn't playing for fun yet trying to "make money"
Gambling Is there to make the house money not the player the odds are stacked against you so its nigh on impossible for a user to come out on top in the long run
another big issue I found during my 20's was the amount of time and mental energy it was consuming
Ive left it all behind now I have no interest in it anymore in fact I find it all quite boring and monotonous
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