almost 40 years addicted

Well done k2 I saw on a post the x days are easy it’s today that’s hardest! But if you don’t gamble today you will never lose another £1! Well done for 60 today’s!

Jappy wrote:

Well done k2 I saw on a post the x days are easy it’s today that’s hardest! But if you don’t gamble today you will never lose another £1! Well done for 60 today’s!

Thanks Jappy.

Agree 100% - been there before when a single slip causes me to go off the rails, however it's going well at the moment.

Gamstop a godsend

64 days

Keep going mate, I'm with u all the way, adam

​

Obviosly as a degenerate all my bank credit card statements are paperless, so that wife would wonder why a statement was so many pages (and probably needed extra postage).

Anyway, reading another posters diary prompted to look at my activity from previous months & years.

Just my main bank account (this doesn't include 5 credit card and another bank account that was just used for gambling), shows bank deposits of £15900 and withdrawls of £15450 in March 2017 to various online accounts

Can probably multiply by 4 or 5 the amount I actually staked - almost all on horse racing.

What a sickness.

66 days

adam123 wrote:

Keep going mate, I'm with u all the way, adam

​

Thanks Adam

Once had £3k on a horse in 2005

It lost - did I learn my lesson ?

No

70 days

Debt now a smidgen under £35k

Won £24k on an acca in 2009 - my biggest win by far.

Cleared most of my debts. Did it help ? Not really. Just kept betting.

My names Ken and I’m a compulsive gambler. My last bet was Monday 27th August 2018

71 days

Your doing great K2 and enjoying seeing you progressing so well. Your fantastic achievement give me the strength and inspiration to refrain whenever i get the same urges that have haunted and destroyed me for over 40 years. Congratulations and well done mate.

Kind Regards

AL

Thanks for you kind words Al.

I always look out for your posts. I know we are all have the same sickness, but I guess you have had similar experiences as me , from the days when bookies were full of smoke, an old guy marked the odds and results on a huge white board and every commentary on the tannoy made out like every race was a photo finish. At least they were closed on evenings, sundays and the couple of days before Xmas.

Hoping I'll always remain 17 days behind you in the journey

74 days

Wow K2

You brought back some memories there about bookies being closed Sundays and the old board man putting up the prices in felt tip pen. I even remember bad winters when all the meetings had been abondoned so the greedy bookies would show trotting races from other countries with prices available. And yes i even gambled on those races rather than not gamble at all.. Its true what they say theres one born every minute. Nearly 11 weeks gf youre doing great mate. As each day comes and i see you winning the battle you motivate and encourage me to resist the urges.

Stay Strong

AL

Used to pretend to go into work at a weekend sometimes but naturally just went the bookies, had jobs in the past when must have spent more than half my time reading the racing post and betting, before being rumbled and having to leave.

Been out with family when I’ve disappeared to bet or listen to a race.

Time spent playing with kids when they were little often meant me having my phone on checking odds or results.

Depressing really just thinking about it.

82 days clean. I’m a compulsive gambler my last bet was Monday 27th August 2018

Have a good night tonight Ken youve earned it.

Kind Regards

AL

alwalm wrote:

Have a good night tonight Ken youve earned it.

Kind Regards

AL

Thanks Al,

Didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned as my daughter suddenly decided to have a party (she’s 16). Felt like we had to get back quite a bit earlier than planned - and I ended up only having a couple of pints, but did think of you when had my first one.

Still had a good night.

83 days

Hi

Just wanted to wish you all the best in your recovery. Feeling the pain of your story and first post. A "coping compulsive gambler"... I get that completely. Thanks for framing it in that way. Thats me for sure... And I'm not alone in that mindset and feeling now. Thanks.

Also I always wondered what went through my mind when I blew my load. For some reason I only thought 'on tilt' applied to poker but I now realise that it can happen in any form of gambling.

It's a horrible f*****g disease when you think about it. Anyway I hope you can build a gamble free life and finally leave it all behind... Will be tough I guess as youve walked side by side with it for some time - however don't see it as a difficult adjustment... See it more as liberation... And in that respect enjoy it :o) sounds like you are so far anyway

Ps enjoyed your little exchange re gambling in the good old days... Only because I'm 35 and could picture what it would have been like from your descriptions... It was like a history lesson in the 'dark arts' to me :o) felt tip pens and all that :o)

Closed on Sunday! Wow that would have been handy for me... One day a week where I could leave the house and get milk without fear of it costing me a months wages :o)

Anyway good luck and keep going.

Hi Ken & Signalman,

Was interesting to hear your views and amazement about pre digital displays in bookmakers re prices available.I imagine to someone as young as 35 it may seem rather ancient but as Ken will tell you thats how it was done in those days. In 1979 i was manager of a furniture store and i took the shop takings of £900 and placed it all on a horse that fell at the 2nd last hurdle. Career in flames and facing prosecution even then i thought id been unlucky but i wasnt a CG.

One of my syblings was a company director , my sister chief cashier in a bank and my younger brother a prison officer. The same night they all read the local newspaper headline saying GAMBLER STOLE FROM EMPLOYER. I was so sorry for the hurt and devistation id brought on my family but even then i thought theyd change their opinion of me when i got that big win that eluded me but was coming any day soon.

Despite breaking my mothers heart i continued to gamble and in 1985 whilst working as a relief settler for a bookmaker a local dog trainer persuaded me to part with £2000 to buy a greyhound pup that was gonna be a world beater. (A FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE EASILY PARTED ). Oh my god after scrimping and scraping for months and numerous vets and training fees we finally got the dog to the track for a trial and i couldnt wait for the moment of truth. Then ping the traps opened I WOULDNT SAY IT WAS SLOW BUT THE HARE HIT IT ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD. Sold it 3 months later for £250 lol.

Some CGs never learn, some do, some faster than others. All i can say is that this old gambler might be a slow learner but this time ive learned once and for all that i couldnt possibly recoup what ive lost. I only wish like you Signalman id seen the light at 35.

Stay Strong Both

AL