Life With Sports Bets Only

"On the subject of celebration of my current demise, there is no doubt there are people on here in that category. There are people on here predominately to take joy from the failure of others because they cannot succeed themselves and cant bear that people can actually beat this illness we have."

Captain... I have used this forum for around four years and have NEVER read anything from anyone that would fit your above statement. Maybe it would help to talk to someone about these views of yours.

You have received a lot of support from many here... even from those who have different opinions to yourself... but they STILL supported you! Why? because most have also travelled a similar path sometime or other during their time in 'action' and recognise how gambling effects a person mentally & physically.

When gambling becomes a problem in someones life over time, a persons normal sense & prospectives of life become distorted because they become trapped in the fantasy world that is gambling. The reality of real life is pushed to one side because the gambling life takes over, is all consuming and becomes their (false) reality.

I see you always refer to your gambling as either random or controlled. Gambling is gambling captain. Its your addiction that tries to convince you otherwise.

If you were in control of your gambling... you would be an occasional gambler. You would not be spending all your time following form etc. There would be absolutely no need to come to Gamcare, after all this is a recovery diaries forum... If you were in control, there would be no need to recover from anything. People in control wouldnt come here at all.

You continue to come here... There must be a reason for that captain(even if you cannot admit it or indeed truly see your behaviour at the moment). Something keeps pulling you here.

Which is why people support you. It is why everyone supports each other here.

We dont have to like each other! but none the less... all share a common theme.

This addiction is so complex and can take a real grip on a person and their personality.

You don't have to be alone to recover from a gambling addiction but a person will always feel alone whilst they continue to gamble.

Be happy with yourself Captain.

Jackie

Your last post was a bit more upbeat mate but only because you had 'won' or rather had a loan until you lose.

As everybody has said mate nobody wants you to fail---but you seem to get a kick from it. Is this because you are still under the illusion that you are in control of your gambling--you are not and personally I do not think that you will ever be as you do not really want to stop. If you are controlling what you do then prove it--do not bet until after the world cup. I have said on your diary before that I think you do not think about others enough. You admit you have little or no interests and find it hard to bond with workmates -- why not make the effort in these areas you may find that thinking about others has a positive effect in that when you return to thinking about yourself you will think more positively about you as a person rather than you as a gambler.

Sorry to ramble but I am trying to be constructive.

Hi Captain,

Some very interesting posts on your diary at the moment mate. It was good to see you in chat the other night and as I mentioned in there, I think it is very important on here that people remain as constructive and non-judgemental as possible, after all, we are all at different stages of our recovery, and if i'm honest I think most, if not all, on here usually take that standpoint.

You have to respect the fact that people are trying to help you avoid some of the pitfalls that they have fallen into in the past, and some of the current advice you are receiving is fantastic. But if i'm honest, it all means nothing unless you learn from it. Nobody here has an agenda, they don't even know you, so can't possibly affect your life in a negative way, but if you learn from the advice given then it can be so positive and you can start to live life again. A gamblers life is no life. .

Please take care mate, and understand that nobody is perfect, that's why they make pencils with rubbers on the end.

Stay Strong

Steve

Evening Captain,

Hope you are doing ok mate.

I will hopefully pop into chat one night this week so will maybe catch up with you then.

Thinking of you mate and hoping you get back on the road to recovery soon.

Thanks for all the advice and support guys.

Well I am nothing if not honest on here and here I am baring my soul again.

After 8 days random gambling I was £1200 up. I lost £1500 this morning in 30 mins. I knew this would happen at some point. So did everyone else reading my diary.

Random gambling is for mugs. I've always known that but couldnt resist the temptation over the past week. A £300 loss is good, I've been lucky, could have been a lot worse.

I'm now sick of random gambling again, thank goodness.

To those who think all gambling is gambling though, thats just b******t. I bet on football only with affordable amounts, spending lots of time studying, doing something I enjoy and have knowledge of and cleared £11K debt in 4 months this year.

I'll be back on advance sports betting only from tomorrow, staying clear of the random.

Whats the difference mate.advance sports/random gambling..when i gambled i would win £500 one day and be on a high yet next day lose £500 plus...when will the penny drop :-/ as for 11k in a few months what you doing on here then..You've got me stumped !!!

Captain I think it is time to stay out of the sun!!

Morning C,

I can't help but think you are unhappy C? I may be wrong but there seems to be a lot of confusion coming through in your recent posts on your diary.

I sort of get your plan C, you know the no random gambling thingy me jig. For me it's an absolute no no but if you can make it work then good for you.

I hope it works for you, whatever you decide is best for you. This is just a thought C....have you ever considered having some counselling? Gamcare offer the facility...I had counselling and it really did help.

I'm sure you will succeed in kicking this addiction.

Jas x

Thanks for recent posts all.

Bit surprised that I'm confusing folk. Its quite simple really. If I stick to advance sports bets only, which I did for 4 months, then I win and debts reduce.

If I go back to random gambling, I'm out of control, I lose quickly and heavily and debts start increasing again.

The challenge is filling the void with things which give me some buzz and excitement when there is no domestic football, which is my main interest in sports betting.

11 days in a row of stupid random gambling now, just cant shake it off at the moment, will hopefully get out of this phase soon and back on track.

Annoyed with myself that I successfully trained my brain and changed my routines for 4 months only to recently go back to the 'old me'.

Hi Captain,

I've got a mate who just cannot stop eating cakes. Cheesecake, chocolate cake, fairy cakes, cupcakes, any cake will do. He is not fussy.

The problem is he is getting really fat and his doctor has told him that if he keeps eating cakes every day he is going to make himself ill. He has promised his doctor that he will limit himself to one cake per day.

Every day he wakes up and promises himself that he will only eat that one cake and every lunchtime he goes to the cake shop with good intentions. Once he is in there though he just cannot help himself as there are so many cakes to choose from that he could never limit himself to just one.

I think he probably can cut down to one cake per day but maybe he needs to have a couple of weeks away from the cake shop altogether first.

I hope you get back on track soon mate.

Today I did not track a bet, study for a future bet or place a bet. (first day like this since January)

Without doing any of this, life is boring, mundane and I feel lifeless, but I dont lose money.

I need to re-train my brain to cope with this situation until another advance sports bet comes on the horizon. Dunno when that will be.

Day 2 without planning or placing a bet today, simply nothing of interest and refraining from doing any random gambling.

Cleaning and tidying the whole house and garden.

Morning C,

You finished those chores yet? How is your boring weekend going?

Try your best C.............Jas x

Got through yesterday without gambling, occupied myself doing chores during day and watching TV at night.

Contemplating a bet on the England game today but if I bet on that I dunno what the next bet after that will be, certainly no inclination to go back to random gambling.