Ground zero

Thanks for your message, Ryan. My ability to post on the forum has been under moderation for the last couple of months following a comment I made on Baljit's diary, which the GamCare staff believed to be out of line. However, I believe, and still do, that Baljit's diary is an unacceptable wind-up but it took some time to convince the GamCare staff of this fact. Anyway, they have now removed the restrictions from my account thus allowing me to post freely again. I was pleased to have abstained from gambling for over a year but got bored and have decided to have a controlled flutter again; however, nothing reckless and so far so good - I have managed to keep things under control. In terms of my finances, I am £5,000 in debt, which is the legacy of the reckless gambling I undertook in 2011. In hindsight, I can see the error of my ways: I was impatient, greedy, reckless and too emotional about each and every bet.

Yo Pelle

Hmmm these fake accounts are all over the show, you would think they would get spotted and siffed out pretty quickly!

Glad to have you back anyhows!

When did you have a gamble last then?

Theres probably not such a thing as a controlled gamble. I think ive had them in the past, times i actually walked away i counted as controlled lol

I think breaking the gamble free cycle is usually a problem cause you feel like you might as well gamble again cause your back to the start

But everyones different cause i wish i could have a controlled gamble!! lol

The finances of yours are way down from when we first started so thats great news!!

Ive currently offered a lump some to my creditors through my debt management plan to see if they will write off the rest.

I have 10k of debt in the plan and ive offered 4k of my savings to see if they will clear it.

Ive been in the plan 5 years so the dmp reckons i have a good shot cause its going to take them 15 years at the rate i repay to get it back.

Ill let you know how that goes!

Hi Pelle,

I would be very, very careful with this controlled gambling. I went 5 months gamble-free earlier this year (I've done 18 months before) and I started again in a controlled fashion with small stakes. I think I lasted about a month like that, and I kept telling myself to reign it in if I started betting more often with higher stakes. Well, I knew I was heading in the wrong direction but I just couldn't stop and before long I was betting recklessly, chasing losses, taking every loss personally.

Anyway, I saw sense before I hit rock bottom again and I've probably put myself back about 3 months in my debt recovery plan. This is mainly because I got greedy and saw gambling as a way to pay my debts of quicker.

I hope you are not like me and that you can gamble sensibly. I'm only saying this because I would hate to see all your hard work come undone as your diary and story is an inspiration and you should be proud of what you've achieved so far.

Paul

Hi pelle, hope all is well with you, back on to start again myself.

Please be careful on the small bets.

Pat

Yo Pelle

Hows the form?

Hey Pelle

Any update on how your doing mate?

What have you been up to?

R

I have got my betting on an extremely tight rein (pardon the pun). The weather over the last few days has not made it possible to bet on the horses so I have had a few days off. So far this year, I have placed 6 bets and they have yielded a small profit. Discipline, patience and selectivity are crucial if I am to be successful as a professional. My days as a mug punter are over.

Yo Pelle

Thanks for the update pal!

Good for you on the controlled betting!

Im not someone who can tell you what to do but just be careful because you know as well as i do it only takes one bad bet to set the ball rolling

And i mean a horse you have £2 at 50/1 being pipped at the post and you not having it e/w

You could very easily up the punt next bet cause you feel down £100

That might not happen but just keep an eye on it!

Id love to have a controlled gamble but when i win i keep playing

And when i lose

I keep playing. Lol

Keep in touch pal!

No problems so far. I spent over a year analysing my behaviour in terms of what I did wrong. I am under control at the moment.

Just read the information concerning the editing of posts. I assume it has been introduced to stop people manually deleting their diary entries. It is funny that Michelle talks about proofreading our diary entries but uses a greengrocer's apostrophe at the same time.

Surely you mean * greengrocers' apostrophe *

Or is only one greengrocer the culprit? 🙂

Hope you're gambling is under control.

mm

yes, it was

I am back. After a year without gambling, I stupidly started again in January. I planned to keep things under control and was doing quite well, but have got myself into a real mess again with blow-out after blow-out culminating in a big loss yesterday. I am £6,000 in debt and have less than £100 to last me for the next two weeks until payday. Back to day one. Here we go again.

Day 1: no gambling today.

'Welcome to the forum', as they say.

I take it you've decided to go cold turkey again.

If we were normal, we could dabble every now and again. Unfortunately, we're not and we can't stop the demon from rising - eventually.

Good luck with it this time.

Hi Pelle,

I'm in the same boat as you. I managed to go quite a long time without gambling (not as long as you though) and slowly got sucked back in. Had some decent wins and thought I'd cracked it, but old habits die hard and it led to numerous large blow-outs and a load more debt.

Fair play to you for coming back here, you've made the right choice.

Best wishes,

Paul