[Ricky123]

Hello everyone, im ricky. 19 year old student currently living in amsterdam.

I always had doubts about these kinds of forums, whether they actually help or not, I thought to myself why not try it out.

I’ve been introduced to gambling when I just turned 18. It started with me obviously winning „big money“, close to a thousand which was CRAZY for me. I thought to myself „this is free money“.

I wasn’t in a particular need of money, I just always liked to have it. I mean who doesn’t.

That’s how it always starts, isn’t it. You win some money, you repeat you lose that money you try it again to win back losses you lose again and the process repeats.

You’re probably thinking, you’re young you’re not in too deep just stop it’s not that hard. It actually is, I just can’t get myself too.

When I lose the money I tell myself, no more I’m done. I self exclude myself for all sites, to after 2 days just make a new account on another gambling site. There are thousands out there, I can’t self exclude myself from all of them.

Even at this age, I estimate my total losses to be over 3.000 euro’s. Which is an unimaginable amount for me. 

Just before turning 19, I really took a hard look in the mirror and made a REAL effort to stop this madness. I did everything I could, downloaded anti-gambling software I self-excluded myself from all sites I could think of and I punched

myself everytime I even thought of gambling.

I decided to take a part-time job and work the days I was not in school or studying. To earn some money and make up for the money I lost. Something I wouldn’t have done quickly, I was always more of a lazy person. Prefered my xbox

over a job. Atleast something good came out of it, I learned work discipline and got off my ass. But also this happiness didn’t last long, when I started to make money and my bank started to full up again little by little, I told myself 

„look at that money, whats the harm to just take 50 euros and play a little for fun, I wont redeposit anyways“. I think you can guess what happened, I gambled away all the money I worked about half a year for. All gone, again.

I walk around the streets with barely 20 bucks in my pocket, unable to join friends with fun activies, going out because I simply dont have the money to. I refuse to start borrowing money from people, because I hate debts. I hate the feeling. 

I literally started to punch the wall, wounding my hands I punched myself in the face numerous times because i was literally going insane. I said to myself, „how dumb are you, you idiot just stop“. I don’t understand why the hell I keep depositting money. This is when I truly realized that I had

a serious addiction to gambling and I decided to write this post on this site. I will make an effort to stop this when it hasn’t gone too far yet, the damage is minimal. I feel like if I keep this up, by the time I turn 30 my life will be full of sadness,

debt and family problems, lifes of some less fortunate people I read about on this site and really feel for. I wish them the best and I hope they turn their lives around, I think everyone deserves this chance.

I just wanted to share this, maybe some of you can relate. Maybe the responses I get will help reflect on my situation and maybe you guys have some tips I can use to just stop this once and for all, because nothing seems to work.

Thanks for your time.

[RedBerry]

Hi Ricky, Gambling is a vicious cycle that goes on and on. As u can ready my journal I’ve been through the same as you are and your situation is almost identical. Winning money is the most dangerous thing that can happen to all of us. We think we can beat the casino’s. This is a big fat lie. Only the house wins and we get in debt losing our hard worked money. I’m from the Netherlands too. So if u like to talk I’m here for you. The best this for you is find another acitivity that will keep your mind away from gambling. Try to find other ways to earn your money don’t recoup your losses and try to win back the money u lost. U will find yourself at the same position losing even much more not only money but also your friends and family. You still have a great life in front of you as you are still young. Stop gambling now and live life. Enjoy it. Don’t throw your life away money will come and go but the time you won’t get it back.

RedBerry

[dunc]

Hello and thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy forums

Here at Gambling Therapy we pride ourselves on being a caring and diverse online community who can help and support you with the difficulties you’re currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if you’re new to recovery, so come here as often as you need to and participate in the forums, access online groups and connect to the live advice helpline if you need one to one support. We’re in this together!

Here on the forum you can share your experiences in a safe, supportive and accepting environment. The beauty of writing it all down is that you can take your time and you will be creating a record of your progress that you can look back on if it ever feels like you’re not moving forward. So, share as much or as little as you like but do try to stick to keeping just one thread in this forum so people know where to find you if they want to be updated on your progress or share something with you.

As well as the forums New Members are invited to join Charles in the New Members Practical Advice Group On Mondays at 21:00 (UK) and Thursday at 19:00(UK)

And on that note….

I’m going to hand you over to our community because I’m sure they will have some words of wisdom for you 🙂

Take care

The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

[Ricky123]

im truly overwhelmed with the feedback guys xd keep it up
dumb site, i knew this wouldnt help

[Ricky123]

i just lost gambled away another monthly salary, i feel great

[RedBerry]

Stoppen is niet makkelijk voor niemand niet. Wanneer je gestopt bent. Is gestopt blijven is nog veel moeilijker. Ga niet verder je graf graven je hoeft jezelf niet meer te testen of iets aan jezelf te bewijzen. Ga verder ook een gokvrij leven verdien jij ook.

Sterkte.. 

[Steev]

The tips for stopping gambling are elsewhere on this site and if you read other people’s post on here you will see them re-iterated time and again. So here goes:
1) Ban yourself from all the places you might be tempted to gamble at – both online and off.

2) Get as much support for yourself as possible – usually through a self-help group such as GA – http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/mtgdirNET.html or similar. You can also see if there is counselling available via your medic.

3) Carry as little money as possible with you and if you can hand over your finances to someone you trust – even if just for the early days.

4) Keep as busy as possible with things that are not going to make a dent in your finances – and that will take your mind away from gambling.

My personal opinion is that you have to work your recovery as hard as you work your gambling. I went to meetings every evening and found things to do at weekends (courses etc) that took up ALL my time so that I could not go out and gamble. I was not an online gambler.

You are young and you can see where you are headed if you don’t stop – a great insight – I wish I had had it when I was your age. I have seen people go to prison, lose their homes and families and even their lives to gambling. If you can stop now you will change your life for the better … I wish you well.

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