Life With Sports Bets Only

hmmm been reading your diary with great interest.

Living without sports betting is what i've been trying to do since 6th Jan. I haven't quite made it but i'm trying!!

Got to day 11 and then failed - now back to day 4.

Look sports betting has been my life - my absolute life for 10 years. It sounds just like yourself. Living in my own world of fixtures, coupons and match odds.

In-Play is what really started killing me.

I'm not going to lie saturdays are murder. I feel like i've lost my best friend.

My only advise is stay busy - Book up your days with things - see people who dont gamble - Read books.

None of it is the same as betting but we have to try and replace this gap.

You might be interested to read my diary if you get a minute or 2.

Hi Curly

You are giving me great support on here mate,thanks. re the determination thing, I have resignation driving me at the moment as opposed to determination. i.e. resigned myself that I'm not allowed to bet on this week's football / tennis etc. rather than having to try hard not to.

hope you are right about feeling happier long term

And that you dont do that horse on saturday !

Thanks for the post on my diary captain.

I promise that you will feel better about things as time goes on. I also promise that in time watching sport will be more enjoyable for you without a financial interest.

I do find it important to post on other people's diaries. I really appreciate the support i get on mine and therefore i feel it only right to offer support to others whenever possible.

We are all in the same boat at the end of the day!

Hi Captain as Curly said we will feel better with each passing day - days do turn into weeks and months and years. I managed a short visit to the chat tonight, kids were driving me banannas as the wife is away a few days - but it made me think - normally I would have my head in an online casino instead of ranting at the brats. Keep strong your doing great! Best thoughts to you Blocked.

Day 6 - wake up and remember its Friday, people will be happy cos its nearly the weekend, I'm not cos I cant gamble. I'm not even allowed to know the fixtures.

I saw an advert for Preston v Chelsea so I know thats live, dunno other than that. How will I pass my weekend?

I go to the gym, stick Spingsteen's Born To Run on my Ipod and run the treadmill - 5k in 23 mins, not bad for a middle aged man, could be better.

People stopped asking me years ago what I'm doing at the weekend, I give them 'usual stuff' answer with no detail. Then on Monday if they ask if weekend was good, I say Yes, when in truth it is only good if I've won money, average if I've lost a bit, terrible if I've lost a lot.

You have to have something to look forward to at the weekend. Without gambling I dont.

I implement a long running project at work. My manager praises me, thats good. But I work to live, not live to work, or should I say work to gamble, in the past and work to pay debt in the present.

If I work, renew nothing and dont gamble for about 5 years, I'll be debt free, but surely there's more to life than that. And even if I do that, what then??

I meet my mother for lunch. She talks. I listen, nod and smile. She knows about my problems. She doesnt mention it, just blocks it out. She doesnt understand, I cant expect her to. I told all the important people a while ago, there are (only) 5 who have been impacted, 3 badly.

I'm home, I'll do the household chores as usual but other than that, how will I spend my time? Track sports results hoping for upsets?

Evening captain.

Just popping by to wish you all the best for the weekend mate. You can still check the footy fixtures and watch the footy you know. Just because you know who is playing who it does not mean you have to put a bet on it!

You gave me a few good laughs in chat earlier. It seems both you and me were suckers for the virtual racing in the bookies. Remember the tagline they used on that - there is nothing virtual about a winner - well i remember one bloke in the bookies shouting after one race "there is nothing virtual about a f*****g loser". I think he had it about right mate!

Enjoy your weekend Captain.

Day 7 - wake up, remember its Saturday, usually makes me happy, not today, cant gamble.

Check the Aussie open tennis results, djokovic has won again, wish I'd had the intended 500 each way on him at 6/1 before I stopped, he's only got federer to beat, the other big guns are in the other half of the draw.

Do some weekend chores, and then its time to GO...but I cant, I dont know the football fixtures, havent studied, dunno the golf latest.

So I go for a walk in the rain anyway, drop into the library, dunno why, I've read all the books I want to and I order in any new ones so I know there wont any books to take out.

I pass the bookmakers, not just any bookmakers, but MY bookies, the local one where I am a big shot. I see people coming out, I envy them, they are allowed to bet, I'm not.

My weekend is effectively over by noon on Saturday morning. Can my life sentence not be reduced to let me 'out' at weekends please?

Life is like an open book, it nevers stays open at the page you want.

Hello Captain,

I had a real laugh in chat last night 🙂

Ok...so you are feeling resentful that you can't have a gamble today. Truth is you could have a gamble today but you are choosing not to. It's your choice whether you gamble or not, whether you continue to study the fixtures. I think you should be really proud that you have recognised you have a problem...that gambling isn't fun anymore for you...that you are choosing to recover from what has become an addiction.

It's no easy ride this Captain. In that I mean changing behaviours which are almost ingrained. It has to be done slowly, give yourself time. Get all those feelings down in your diary, it's good to offload how cr** you are feeling. After all, a major part of your life has been switched off and you are going through the process of replacing that with something else. Sometimes the replacements can be boring as sin but in the long run they are so much healthier for your mental health and your bank balance.

You mention in your last post wishing you had put £500 on some tennis match because it would have come in at 6/1. This is the thing, we only ever see the lost winning opportunities...think about all the bets which have lost...and if you had had £500 on it then that wouldn't have been enough, you'd be wishing you had put a grand on it.

My sister went to the casino last night..I did not go even though she wanted me to. In my early days of recovery when this situation arose I was unbearable to live with. I behaved like a petulant child who had had a toy taken from them. I wanted to gamble but knew I couldn't and the fight going on between the two halves was epic. Quite a few months down the line now and that doesn't happen. Those feelings have passed...

It won't be long before you are through the worst of this and your Saturdays will have another purpose in your life. I'm sure that purpose is just waiting out there for you.

Keep moaning and groaning on here. You are doing really well.

Jas x

Afternoon Captain.

Not a bad Everton side you put on my diary mate. I'm not sure i would have Mick Lyons in there like but otherwise a good shout.

How are you doing today? You can still enjoy the weekend without having a bet mate. Honest!

Oh and if Djokovic wins the Australian Open i will bare my a** in Burton's window so that is £500 you have SAVED!

Day 8 - I check the results and fixtures even though I shouldnt. There are defo results which would have put any football acca down.

I would possibly have got the 2-0 Chelsea, would have lost on the Spurs game, would have bet Cilic to beat Del Potro in the Tennis and maybe bet Kaymer to have a chance in the Golf.

As ever, the sports stuff would have been ok, some up, some down, no big problem.

From Sandown to Sprint Valley, Lingfield to Lucksin Downs, Turfontein to Thunder Alley, I dont want to go near any of them again, but I need to be involved in sports betting, its my life. It gives me ups and downs, without it I'm just flat.

Today instead of watching Golf, Tennis and Football I'll have to repeat yesterday, go for pointless walks, browse tv channels and watch any old rubbish thats on instead of sport...no fun at all

You still having a miserable time of it Captain?...it will get better 🙂

Thanks for the post on my diary...Gamcare paying me...I wish! The real reason i enjoy supporting others in their recoveries is that firstly I actually do enjoy it and secondly as a way of paying back for all the help and support I received in my early days here. Those were dark days for me Captain, I don't mind telling you that my gambling had become so severe that death was an easy option. The support and kindness i received here was second to none and I know it sounds over the top but it actually did save my life.

Your recovery is in its very early stages and being bored and P***** off are all part of it I'm afraid...what's the saying..no pain no gain. You will come through this I'm sure. Just keep moaning and whinging...anything just to help yourself.

Take Care....Jas x

duplicate post..soz

Afternoon captain.

Can you remember when you were a kid before you started gambling? I can. I've always been a sport fanatic. Football, golf, cricket and tennis in particular. I used to love sitting down watching the match on the telly with my dad in the pre-sky era when there was not a game on every day of the week. I remember being thrilled watching Seve winning the Open or Faldo winning the Masters. I'd sit for days on end watching test match cricket seeing England get mullered by the Aussies or watching Goochy hit a treble hundred against India. I recall vividly seeing a young Boris Becker throwing himself all over centre court on the way to winning Wimbledon.

All of the above are pre-gambling memories Captain. You do not have to gamble on sport to sit down and watch it and enjoy it!!!

Truth is captain since i quit gambling a couple of months ago i am enjoying watching sport more than ever. Give it a try you just might like it. It beats the Antiques Roadshow that is for sure!

Day 9 - Calculations indicate I would have won around £500 at the weekend on sports bets, but its not the winning, it's the lack of involvement in it, I would be ok even losing 2 or 3 hundred a week and this is affordable, so why cant I just get back to sports betting.

Would I have eventually wasted my winnings on dogs, horses and virtual racing rubbish ? Yes, eventually.

Can I not find a way to eliminate the betting which causes problems and keep doing only the sports stuff? Surely someone out there has done this ?

Another Monday night without a football coupon to study....feel sick and empty, feeling of satisfaction some others seem to get from not gambling is not with me

Spent most of last night on chat advising a newcomer - maybe I should have stayed quiet, am I qualified to advise after only 9 days clean? And why I am advising not to gamble at all when I really want to just cut out the problematic bits?