Daves Diary

I would suggest you re-read your first post and ask yourself what you really want to do moving forwards. Are you REALLY ready to quit or do you just want the losing to stop? I can tell you the second one won't happen until the gambling stops. You HAVE to close that account or you won't stop. I've been there. I kept that last account open. The result was, i kept gambling, more debt.

Until you get to the point where you will do EVERYTHING you could do to stop you will struggle, at best. Its not a game of leaving a door open and showing control to not bet. Its about blocking access as much as you can. Give yourself time to get your head out of the sand and work out whats going on. Only then can recoverry start.

You can do this but only when you are ready to.

sjwsjw you are right. What am I doing keeping the account open? My head is a mess. If I want to stop I DO need to close that account. Today it will be closed. Thank you for your words which have made me realise this

Hi Lilly, wishing you well for your journey ahead and will check in where I can and offer words of encouragement.

Wilsy

So it’s day two. Managed not to bet yesterday woke up this morning not really feeling any different but strange not having to check the football results that have happened during the early hours as I would normally as usually I would have had a bet on them.

Been a busy day at work so not really had chance to think about a bet.

The journey home is the real test. Made it past the first 3 bookies no problem. As I get towards the 4th it dawns on me that Man City are playing tonight. Should be some easy money to be made on that game. Still got this £10 in my wallet do I use it?

I’ve now driven past the 4thbookies so just one more to go. Had a quick look at the footy fixtures and there’s plenty of games tonight. I could turn this money into £100 easily.

Approaching the final bookmakers on my Home and all I can think about is a bet. I pull up outside and turn my engine off. I don’t get out the car straight away but decide to look at my phone. There it is a picture of the kids and my fiancГ© as the background. It then dawned on me that there is more to life than betting. I’ve got three beautiful children and fiancГ©. I need to stop this for them if not myself.

Home now to spend time with the kids. Tonight will be strange when the kids are in bed and I’ve got no real reason to check the football scores.

Let’s see how I feel tomorrow

Well done Lilly and keep up the good work. All the best.

You can now self exclude from multiple bookies within a postcode area with one telephone call. The number is available in the self exclusion information section above. I would also suggest coming clean to your partner and handing her control of the finances. Making yourself accountable to someone else makes it very much harder for you to gamble in secret.

There's no magic formula or quick fix. Willpower alone won't cut it. You have to want to stop more than you want the next bet and to do that you have to put actual barriers to gambling in place then explore what's driving that addiction through avenues such as counselling and GA.

Sending you strength and best wishes on your third day of being gamble free. Try protect yourself and remain determined.

Wilsy

Hey there Lilly123, good job you did not back City! Well done on making it through another day. Enjoy today, take comfort in the fact that we are supporting you and going through something similar

Thanks for the responses I really appreciate your views and encouraging words. I will look through your stories once I get my head around what’s happened to me.

So it’s day Three now. Last night felt strange not checking the football scores or having to discreetly look at my phone to either get a bet on or play some online roulette. I felt good this morning knowing that I’d managed two full days without a bet.

Been a busy day at work again so not had chance to crave a bet. Had a spare ten mins at lunch but rather than look st the horses running today or the football fixtures I spent the time looking at a couple of the most recent posts on these stories.

As I was reading them I felt their pain as I know exactly what they’re going through.

It may sound selfish but it’s good to know that I’m not the only person struggling with this if that makes sense. But also that how good it is that you all offer support to each other. It’s hstd for a non gambler to understand those urges and feelings we go through but you guys know what these feel like so your words mean more I think.

Still not in a position to tell the missus just yet as I’ve said previously she’s got s number of things going on at the minute so it wouldn’t be fair to. So I’ve decided I’m going to let my mum take control of my finances. I know it may be a little child like but I don’t think I can trust myself so feel this is a step forward.

I’ve managed the journey home from work again without a bet. Don’t get me wrong the urges were there but I didn’t pursue them. That’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it?

Here’s to another gamble free day