Hello guys some of you may or may not have read my posts before, I'm 23 and a compulsive gambler, since joining the site early this year I have been on and off gambling (mainly on).
I have been making more important decisions in my life and know more than anything that if I want to make something of myself gambling has to stop! I have recently challenged myself to stop drinking for a month and have completed that which makes me think why not gamble for a month, I need to do this for my own sanity.
No longer will I be sucked into the bookmaker trap!
I will be checking in everyday until the urges calm down, I look forward to chatting with you and thank you for taking the time to read this!
Day 1, No surrender.
Good luck Harry!
Hi Harry and welcome back , I spoke with you earlier in the year and just wanted to say well done for coming back .
Gambling will try it's hardest to kid you into playing again if you let it , as youv'e already found out ? , you have to sit and realise that like everyone on here like it or not ,as a Compulsive Gambler " We cannot win because we cannot stop " and that really sums us up , the only way of truly winning is to stop completely , accept your losses , let them go and just take it as a life lesson in how not to invest money ! .
Bookies , gaming sites and all other forms of gambling are just stacked so heavily heavily in there favour , youv'e got no chance of winning especially the longer you play the more the odds are against you .
Your'e at an age where stopping now will shape your future for the better , so seize the chance my friend and enjoy !
Best wishes ......... Alan
I'm having a stinking time this time, I haven't stopped gambling in the last two days even though I promised myself that I would, I feel like I cannot get away from it all everywhere I turn i see bookies or people talking about how much money they have won. I don't know what I can do anymore, I'm absolutely skint and what's worse is that I'm now actually in debt, I have to stop this before it gets any worse. Starting fresh as of tomorrow. I'm sorry to myself, I'm sorry to you guys and I'm sorry to my family who I am constantly lying to and dissapointing. 🙁
Harry , like I said before " We cannot win because we cannot stop " You said " Everywhere you turn you see bookies " well that was exactly the same for me fella , the only difference is that I went into everyoneof them and took my little photos with me and self excluded , embarrasing ? yeah sure , the first one until I realised that I was taking back control of my life and that's exactly what you need to do ! .
You say " you hear people dicussing how much theyv'e one but how many times have they told you about losses , I know because I've done it all my life , bragged when I won but if I lost even heavily lost , I would still tell others " Oh yeah , I've just about broken even " or my other reply " Up and down , you know " , ring any bells ? , You can't kid a kidder mate , I was one for many years !.
You have to look at how things have changed in the last few months since you first came here , they've not got any betterand now your starting to see the first signs of getting deeper and deeper into debt and thats just the start if you carry on down this path , time to wake up buddy and learn that you will never win , start putting all the blocks in place , the self exclusions , the blocking software for your , phone , tablet or what ever your choice of weapon is , no need to apologise to us , just be honest with yourself Harry and start taking back control .
It's horrible Alan Im ashamed of what I'm doing Im borrowing money left right and centre off my family saying its for food or whatever and going down to the bookies and putting it all in. I know I'll be alright if I can just stop this now. I feel like the last few times iv tried to stop its been a little light hearted I need to go into this fully and understand that I'm always gonna be in this dark place all the time I'm gambling, iv got nobody else to blame but myself and nothing left to do apart from man up and just stop gambling!
I know exactly how you feel Harry because I was there the last time I gambled 7 months ago , you can change it all buddy but nobody except you can do that but you seriously have to let go of what youv'e lost , stop chasing it because all the time you think " just one more more bet and I'll be out of trouble " it will just keep you in the repeat cycle .
I think I remember you saying that your in the forces, Navy maybe ? So really you need to think about your future and how that future could be affected by debt , great if you can afford it but it will get to the point when you can't afford to make the repayments and that could have a huge impact on your carreer ,s o just be mindfull how carrying on gambling will impact on you later in life ? . I'm not being harsh Harry , just realistic , your 23 mate and have the opportunity to put this behind you now ,while its not to late , just accept it as a lesson in life and learn from it , it's not easy buddy but you can do it , you need to do it , you just have to want to enough !
Iv just had a massive heart to heart with my Mrs and laid it all out on the table, I'm determined to kick this filthy habit and be the awesome person I know I truly am, thank you for your kind kick up the a**e Alan it has put a lot into perspective for me, especially career wise. 7 months is a great amount of time to not gamble I hope you are proud of yourself, and thankyou for helping others like me see sense! I look forward to keeping you updated on my journey!
That's a massive step Harry tell her it all don't leave anything out be honest now.
Have a read of this thread about SE it's a massive tool to use on beating this. You would go to war without your protection on. To beat gambling you need to go to war with it our protection is the blocks.
http://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/self-excluding-bookies-over-phone
Good for you Harry and TBH the best thing is a bit of honesty with your loved ones , it brings it home to you what life is all about , I really wish I'd found this place sooner and could have saved myself a few wasted years , so for you to " Get it now " before you get too sucked into it would be the best result I could wish for , keep talking with your Mrs because you need someone behind you that , understands and supports you and most importantly dont let yourself or Her down , money comes and goes but you only get one chance at life !
Look forward to your continued post's telling us all how well your doing !
Take care Harry , speak to you soon and respect for the honesty !
AL
Ok first day done no money to gamble = no urges, feeling positive and optimistic for the future!
Well done Harry , you so know your up for this and you know you can do it , the triangles broken and you cannot gamble, keep it that way and the future will be bright once again !
One day at a time buddy is all it takes !
Respect and best wishes .................... AL
Day 2 finished! No biggie because I'm skint and can't gamble, I'm back at home now for a while which is a result, have to go to the bookies round here and self exclude! I'm a bit gutted that I can't go cafe and bookies on a Saturday morning with the boys but it will be worth it when I'm minted haha! Feeling great today!
Did you read the link I posted a few days ago that explains that you can SE over the phone much easier and can do loads on one hit but going in to do it is just as good. Make sure you do it though bud you will feel great after doing it.
Harry, am being practical, not negative - it's easy not to gamble when you're skint. But what about after payday? Will your time money location triangle remain broken?
Best advice is to make arrangements before payday and also to do the SE, otherwise the results will be predictable.
BW
CW
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