No offence, but do you even want to quit? from reading your diary I have read things like you saying you were only going to take £10 to the arcade so you cant lose on big machines.
The bottom line is its still gambling. You lost £11 since your "meltdown" in fact you have made no progress and weather its 50p, £11 or £11,000 its still gambling.
You have had 30? 40? slips but still put yourself in a position where you can gamble and justify it by saying its only a few quid.
Either you want to quit and dont gamble on anything at all, or you carry on gambling that "tiny amount" and end up gradually in a deep deep hole.
Iv been there. I quit quite a few times in the past. I would only take £10 to town for the same reason.... if I went to the arcade it meant I would only go on 10p a spin slots but of course thats no harm at all is it?
Gradually it became worse and I was back to taking £300 out with me to play machines.
All of a sudden I hit a £1000 win online and wanted to "quit on the back of a win".
I took all money out of bank and kept it at home so I couldnt play online again. A few weeks passed and I was taking £700 of it down the arcades to see what I could win.
A week or 2 later I had lost the lot. The moral is theres no such thing as "quitting on a win" because you will be in the happy, glad you gambled frame on mind.
For me things then went downhill. I took all my wages out to the pub and blew it in a fruit machine. I spent money my mum gave me on fruit machines, I sold my birthday presents and went on fruit machines.
Now im owing money to payday loan companys, my credit rating is worse than ever, I owe my mum a stack of cash, I got bills galore and my wage wont even cover it.
Unless you change your ways you will end up deep in a hole with no escape
While i appreciate your opinion, i don't think that every gambler is the same.
I agree that gambling is gambling but there's a difference between gambling and losing £11 a month and gambling down to nothing any chance u get like i used to or going for long periods without money and emptying bank accounts due to it all.
I haven't gone in a local arcade for months, i did gamble yesterday for fun (went with a lot of friends to scarborough and they all lost more than me, i lost £10 in total which doesn't feel like a problem to me as it was fun and a rare day out)
These may sound like excuses to you but i see them as proof of me getting better.
I know my diary is full of slips, but i'm honest about it all.
I'd never gamble on fobts or horses or online as that has always seemed too easily fixed. Just in a local night club, the only lively place to go in my city.
I thought if I was 'honest' about my habit then that was ok. It was never an evil intent that made me gamble just a small amount, I only ever did it for fun, for the thrill, the joy, for the ride, because I desrved it, I had a bad day, a stressful day, a row, I never did it for the letdown? but the let down was all I ever really got. So when I lost I felt better telling the truth about it. I am not going to critisise you, I have no right, I am guilty of many things myself. Getting better, is stopping. Stopping is the hardest part. Feeling better is what you are doing, feeling ok with yourself and your habit and the progress you have made, is not giving up the thing that brings you so low, makes you miserable. Its alright to feel your doing ok, but your not really being honest unless you accept that you have to stop, if you want to overcome this greedy need, then stop. Its not easy, I thought it might be a stuggle, I was wrong hun, its the hardest thing ever.
Hi
I'm reading through your diary as it's titled "quitting off the back of a win" or something like that.
I've just done that. Well won a bit and closed my account. I don't see it as I've quit yet. I've not gambled for 4 days but I'm not kidding myself it's over.
For me, I have decided to knock it on the head completely. Sports betting, online roulette, a few quid in the fruit machines and even buying lottery scratch cards.
I personally can't see me just having the odd flutter. I'm worried one day I'll just try and chase a loss.
You may have more belief in yourself and be able to continue gambling in small comodities. I think I could too if I'm honest. But for me it's either gambling or not gambling, and I'm gonna try my hardest not too.
Good luck my friend. I hope you can do it!
The problem when you quit ("for good") after a win is at first subconsciously it makes you believe that you have done the dirty over the casino, you have taken revenge for the losses and wont give them a penny back.
Maybe a bit of time later when you get your cash you no longer see it as that crafty last win. You see it as your hard earnt cash thus the mindset of not giving it back fades and you may be tempted to try for more.
For anyone with a gambling problem gambling responsibly is never an option. It may work at first, but its just setting you up to have a bigger slip at some point.
best of luck though guys
I didn't manage to quit on the back of a win, personally i think it's not possible to do that. I'd leave after i had a big win, but then a week later or over the next few visits to the club it would go back in (happened twice this year) I think that sadly it's human nature to do that really.
I''ve made steps towards quitting, greatly reduced the damage it was causing to my life and i've had long periods without it and was never the type of gambler to blow large amounts anyway (yes i'd gamble down to nothing, but i was on the dole back in my worst days and they were still quite small amounts)
The other day when i was on a day trip to scarborough with 4 friends, they were all gambling...it's what the seaside is all about to us really and i kept my cool and didnt blow a fortune and had a lot of fun.
I do see what you guys mean though, i will go for a month totally gamble free just to prove to myself that i can.
The local council took £130 from my account...i go in, query it and apparently thats my council tax for living in a cr*ppy council flat and they give me forms to try claim for housing benefit (even though im working!) they also said if my gf was to move in with me i'd be worse off.
Then i check my email to see what days im working next week...i asked for 5 days and they offer me ONE and tell me i'll be getting picked up at 7am tommorow ! ...thats not even enough to pay my rent for the week! No point in having time off if i can't do anything with it at all.
MY job entails walking for 8 hours a day which i actually enjoy...but only if it's profitable.
I went to the cash machine, drew £10 out and thought i'm going for a gamble but while i'm getting it out i also think "what are you doing?" i start walking towards the place where the machine i wanted to try is, i start walking slower and slower, i stop in the street and fiddle with my phone and pretend i got a text so i don't look stupid. I then turn around and start walking home but i'm angry that even though i'm working full time i can't afford to live and i definately can't afford to gamble. What the hell is wrong with this country!!!???
Blown £30 on gambling since my trip to scarborough. Not going to beat myself up about it and i've done a ton of extra hours this month.
I will make sure that is all i spend for the next few weeks however.
Wondering where the line is between a normal gambler and a compulsive gambler at the moment. I havn't gambled down to nothing in at least a year (and back then i had so little gambling down to nothing wasnt huge sums) but i can end up feeling very low from losing just £20 a month. I'm an odd type of gambler really.
Anyway, not having any urges right now, working hard...and ive found a new night spot where there are no fruit machines (almost all my gambling was in night clubs) and though it's a little more pricey at least when i have a night out and it cost me £20 i wont of spent £20 on the fruit machine, then spend the rest of the time moping about due to losing.
Anyway onwards and upwards
Still gambling on rare occasions...i blew £25 on it while on holiday. Not a lot of money to me but i could of spent it more wisely really but i feel that little compares to the buzz of a gambling win and it's hard to give up totally.
I'm determined to stay away from it all but on rare occasions the urges get too strong.
My gfs just moved in with me so cant waste money as im the only income right now. Not that i'm gambling to that level anymore but i am leaving the door open for those old demons to come back and generally it's just a stupid idea.
Anyway stay strong people.
Currently 9 days gamble free - £50 wasted in the past 5 weeks.
Still off the poison...14 days free
Still not gambling, fate has been tempting me but i'm not interested.
I'm a month clean of gambling today. Don't have any urges or anything right now, i'm a little wary of halloween as last year i put £1 in a machine and got £140 out...but i shall stay strong and keep busy.
Managed 5 weeks clean but did waste £10 over the weekend. A foolish slip but not the end of the world and there's no way i'm gambling again this year.
Having some big problems in life right now but battling through somehow.
Spent £10 on gambling since September 25th 2011, which means 52 days where i didn't gamble...and one where i did.
Not bad.
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