Trading Gambling

Hi stphn, firstly congrats for coming to the right place. Recognition of the problem is a start but you need to change your mindset. 

I went on the same path you did, sports betting (blocked myself, seemed to work), stocks and shares with silly leverage where I lost so much so quickly.

Already deep in a hole I then found crypto. Thinking it would be my way out. WRONG. Missed all the hype periods and even when I timed it right I was only making back a fraction of what I lost. 

Best thing that worked was telling someone, eventually that led to partner, parents etc...

This changed my mindset as I stopped doing this and worked on paying off my debt. It is the only way, there is no magic formula just hard graft and making saving goals. 

One thing I did do is I battled with certain sites that let me open a different account even if I had asked to close an account. This helped me claw back 1/10th of my loses. They should have a duty of care and as I couldn't afford it and told them I had a gambling problem they shouldn't allow me to open a new account. 

Hope this helps 

Rst

@rst2019 thank you so much for your response! It surely helps a lot to see that you were in the same hole as me, crypto surely ruined my past years as well trading with overleverage, while if I had put that money in spot, I would be rich by now.

Anyway, I am truly sick of it now and definitely want a change and want to thank you for those tips.

I told ByBit already that I have a gambling problem and they just let me reopen my old account over and over again and not responding to any of my support emails asking for help. It is so ignorant from them, and I believe that those platforms should have a self-exclusion option just like casinos and betting websites. To be honest, crypto leverage is 10 times worse than casinos and betting, the amount of money that can fly away in such short notice and it is just 24/7 available for you. How did you address this to the crypto platform that you were using?

Good morning,

My memory is a little sketchy as it was a few years back. Also unfortunately it was with capital.com but back when they did cyrpto and stocks and shares (so a bit of a blurred line). You might not be so successful with bybit as that is purely crypto which isn't backed by the same regulations.  

In terms of my process, I emailed the company and said I was dissatisfied with how they have allowed me to open several accounts despite my obvious problem and the fact I raised that when closing my first account. I stated that any losses I made after shutting my first account should be returned. 

I'm not sure of the replies and the back and forth but eventually I took it up with the financial Ombudsman who looked at my case and ruled in my favour, due to the fact they had not been a responsible lender. 

As I said with purely crypto companies I'm not sure if the financial Ombudsman will be of much help

I would advise to focus on your saving goals and don't expect any refunds as it can eat you up knowing there may be a chance. 

Have a good day, I'm away for a week so apologies if I don't reply.

All the best. 

Hi Stphn, 

My story is that I was just like you and I concur with the others that you have come to the right place. I did spread betting and CFD's from around 2007 through to 2015. I would bet on indices, oil, gold, currencies - whatever really. I  use to trade at all times of the night. I would dream about charts. I would prop the computer next to the cooker when cooking or on the toilet when I was taking a shower. It was completely nuts. 

I tried everything to quit including will power, blocking software, self exclusion, the rest. I would gamble for a bit then have a break then forget all that pain and move some money around and gamble again. Its the merry go round from hell. I eventually went to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting and I am still going to weekly meetings now. Don't for one second think that betting on crypto is different than the horses or the machines or anything else. Its not and its the same as all gambling - take it one day at a time and get to a meeting. A meeting gives you accountability to someone and that's how you make progress and push forward in a non gambling journey. You have to write off those losses no matter how large because you will NEVER recover those through gambling. That will only make it worse. Your pay and your steadfastness in abstinence  will get those debts paid off and more. 

Nowadays I am good, I have property, a good job and I have actual investments. I still like to buy shares but nowadays there's zero leverage and I'm using my own money. But at the start I didn't have any kind of investment exposure for about 4 years. You can do it if you take it slow, get to a meeting of GA and stop gambling on anything including sweepstakes an lotto. You will thank yourself as the days turn into weeks.