Tired of boredom punting/being broke...

Alright Nath,

I am 26, near enough same age as you, I also have a lovely partner and I also have an issue with gambling. Just messaging to say you are not alone. I wish I had stopped when I was winning at least but I guess I need to feel this bad to make a start with beating this. I also will be updating my diary and I hope to keep to it. Hope things get better for you,

Jez

Hi I have been gambling for 39 years and only now realise what a mug I was! You are young and by stopping now you will save yourself years of beating yourself up, both emotionally and certainly financially. Look at those punters in your shop an remind yourself that when they win they are not winners as they only rebet an in the end lose ten times more than they win. Just read others forums on here an let that sober up your thoughts. Keep posting as without this site it would just be another wasted day of gambling. I have achieved so much just in10days around the houses, going out for meals etc so just try to focus on other things that replace those urges. Won't happen over night but does get easier to resist day by day x Mary

Hey Nath, I can relate to your story, I often gambled out of boredom.

you will hear this a lot being 26 ........"you are young, stop,now whilst you have the chance"

I hate to sound like a stuck record but it is true, I was on this site a few years back aged 26, thought I had hit rock bottom, everyone was telling,me how young was and that if I stop now the rest of my life will be so good.

Well.... I didn't stop, I continued to gamble and now aged 29 feel like I have lost everything, my house deposits, savings, love of my life, independence ( moved back with the parents) career development has been put on hold, debts hanging over me....

I was you 3 years ago. I don't want to sound Like a stuck record or a lecturer, just wanted to share what happened to me.

Hope your recovery goes well .... Keep me updated

Hi all,

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement, it has been helpful in stopping me from falling at the first hurdle already.

Surrounded by people discussing their weekends betting at work but don't feel too bad about it all, looking forward to being able to say that day one was completed without any hiccups.

All the best to anyone reading with the same aim as me

Thanks again,

Nath

Alright Nath, replying to your post on here as well as on my post. Luke is right, I'm 26 and you're 25, I was on here 2 years ago convincing myself I didn't have a major problem. Now 2 years on nothing has changed, apart from that I will beat this for good. Probably could be setting myself up for a fall but I have to start somewhere. But yeah, Luke is right, if I carry on then I will be back here in 3 years at the age of 29, it will be another waste. I don't want to lose my partner etc so I'm determined to sort myself out. I didn't realise that you worked in a betting shop also. An issue of mine is that you are looked down on by most, people realise that you are on a near enough minimum wage job and can talk to you horribly. Some gamblers on here may look at us as the evil ones because we work in the industry but they don't know how hard it can be if you also have a problem. The amount of people that have had a go at me because they've lost and I think we'll so have I, I'm just trying to do my best, you can go home and I've got to sit here for hours before I can go home, and when I've lost there's no escape. Our job isn't respected and rightly so, it's a c**P job but we do it to pay the bills. I don't know about you but I don't feel proud working there, it doesn't help with my gambling, I often wish I'd never got the job. 7 years in the industry for me, the exact length of time I would say that I've had an issue. I've got 2 months until my shares are out and I will do my utmost to find a new job thereafter. I'm worried because I don't know whether I'd be good at anything else, not really sure what my skills are and in all honesty I'm scared at trying something new but at the end of the day it's got to be better than staying where I am, which isn't helping my addiction, which is what it's come to, or my self worth. I'm not sure about how you feel about it all. I guess it all comes hand in hand, Jez

Quit your job fellas. Its madness to work in a bookies if your a compulsive gambler. You have no chance of a long term recovery while staying in that environment. Now i know your going to say i need a job for money. But you clearly havnt got any because your place of work stimulates you to fed all your cash into a machine. Better to have no job & live off a little, than to work 40hrs a week & live off nothing

I see your point day@atime. In my mind, I always pay my bills first, it's goes straight out when I'm paid, usually I don't bet until the pint of no return, this has been the one occasion in a very long time so it's not a usual thing that I bet all of my wages etc. I wouldn't want to put all of the pressure on my partner either and they always say it's better to have a job when you are looking for one. Totally get your reasoning but for me I'm just going to have to grit my teeth and bear it, especially for the next two months and then see what's about after, if anything it may help to have my mind on something else. Cheers for responding, Jez

I wouldn't be concerned about not being able to do another job Jez, I'm sure that most of the basic CS skills that you have in the job are directly transferable to many other rolls in other fields. I work for an online bookmaker in a poker fraud department but I started off taking telephone bets and then went on to do CS. I think that was the start of the problem and suffered in the same way that you do, I don't think moving jobs is the ultimate solution even though it was the cause of the issue. I am sure that I can beat this by being mentally strong and committed, however if I was taking bets all day I think it would be much more difficult. My boss works in the same team as me and had a big problem, but thanks to this forum and hard work he is over 4 months without a bet and happier than ever. I think it is possible for anyone to beat, it's just about wanting it enough

Hello again, I think I could continue doing my job for the mean time, at the end of the day it's a wage and I'm under no illusions that by leaving, my gambling issues will stop. Needless to say, I guess I have more of an issue about my job because of self-worth etc and not having really progressed. Thank you for stating about the transferable skills, at the end of the day there's no point me being negative as I won't get anywhere otherwise and it's the wrong attitude to have. It is hard being face to face with the betting, it's not like I start itching and need a bet, it's more that it could come along because I could be talking about a sporting event, horse race etc and then all of sudden I'm like 'best back it just incase', ridiculous really. So I shall have to ignore these impulses. I've self excluded myself and put blockers on my phone so I wouldn't be able to bet now anyway, plus I don't want to because I don't want to disappoint my partner (as well as myself). I guess my main thing that I need to do is get over the impatience. I need to get a new job, get out of my overdraft, quit gambling and be a better person, as well as heal things with my partner. This will take time so I guess I'll just have to get on with it and maybe write things down each day to keep me on track, hope all is well with everyone, stay strong, Jez

My last bet was Saturday morning, and yesterday went ok despite the abundance of sport on tv. Normally I would have had money on football matches running from 12 through to 10 at night, so I see this as a good first day.

I have abit of a dilemma at the moment though, as I have a few ante post accumulators on the football. I feel bad as I'm still rooting for my teams to win, so I'm not sure if this is still feeding my habit by keeping the matches interesting, or is it ok as long as I'm not actively still punting?

Wishing everyone else well,

Nath

Sounds like your still feeding the fire Nath

Something I really try and stear clear of

Hope you get sorted ASAP

Alright Nath,

It's a tough one with regards to the ante-post bets. I think it's a thing where you should commit to not betting anymore and if you do happen to get anything back, to withdraw it as it could go towards family, paying debt back, or whatever. Or you could self-exclude from your account and if you get any winning bets, get in touch with the company to ask for your money back. I guess it could be feeding the fire but at the same time if you commit to not placing any more money and to cancel all accounts then if you do happen to win any money on ante-post bets then great. Maybe the wrong advice but there you have it, Jez

Day 2 went fine, and I've had no urges at all today. The usual tough spot for me is when the football is on at night, so I just made sure I watched whatever my missus had on last night (The Enfield Haunting, scary as hell! haha).

I've got this blog as the loading page on my iPhone which is a constant reminder should I consider loading a betting site. I would suggest anyone reading to do the same for their own blog as it can only help.

All going to plan so far, hope things are going smoothly for everyone else.

Nath

Well done Nath on quitting this horrible addiction.
I too am back at the early stages of recovery again.
A couple of years back I was 8 months gamble free but I had an ante post bet running on man city,the bet came up,over a grand in my pocket.
I should of been honest and give the money to my partner,but I didn't and ended up back on the rocky road of gambling,it only takes that first initial bet to start the ball rolling- the grand lost plus many more.
Give the bet's you have away they will do you more harm than good.

All the best trigger.