[38andstillruiningmylife]

Hello to anyone who reads this.

I’m 38 and two months, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if I don’t stop gambling now, my life will never change and it will continue to go downhill. I remember saying all of this at 19, 21, 25, 27 and so on. Before long, I’ll be the old bloke in the bookies, that has been in there far too many times, talking about how i’ve lost enough money to have bought a house twice over.

Been gambling since the age of 15 and I’ve finally hit a brick wall. Need to change before I hit 40. Total mugs game and so destructive.

Currently in Greece and I’ve just returned from their version of a bookies after losing €300. It has to stop today: 9th March 2016.

[monique]

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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.

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!

[maverick.]

Great share and never a truer word spoken, I am a compulsive gambler and like you I have promised to stop hundreds off times only to keep carring on down the same destructive path, you are right my friend we have to stop because if we dont I beleive we will be in the bookies old men talking about our mansions we could have brought I believe we will be six foot under sooner then we thought!

I wish you well in your recovery and please remember there is always hope, if nothing changes then nothing changes (not my words) but so very true, keep trying and I hope you can start to build a better life for yourself, when we stop gambling it is amazing how quick things start to get better.

All the very best.

Maverick

[38andstillruiningmylife]

Hi Maverick,

Good to speak to you. Ages since I’ve watched Top Gun! I dread being the old guy in the bookies passing on my useless wisdom to the next generation of compulsive gamblers.

Been gambling since 15 and I’ve seen it all. From the good old days of bookies being open from 11am to 6pm when I could only gamble £300 a day, to today when it may as well be open 24/7 and I can lose as much as I have in my bank accounts. Shocking. I’ve been in a branch of Coral and watched the fallout of a guy who’s bunged £12,000 into a roulette machine. Bear in mind i think you can only win £4000.

I used to use the same bookies as ********* and I would regularly watch him put £2500 into a roulette machine every 30 minutes.

It is a total and utter mugs game and only 1% of gamblers will ever enjoy a HUGE life changing win. What’s the point in winning 10k when you’ve lost 30?

Hopefully I can stick to this and enter middle age with a future. Do you have a diary that I could read?

Regards
Tony

**Hi Tony, in fairness to the person concerned I have edited out the name you mentioned. I think we can all relate to your post. Charles.

[charles]

Hi Tony, welcome to the forum. You are not alone with this problem, you will see many similar stories when you read the other threads here. You will also see the success stories; what are they doing that you can apply to your own situation?

How long are you in Greece for? Can you self exclude form the bookies there? Have you someone who could look after your money for you or help you with accountability?

Amounts are all relative of course but I think you sum up how we think when you use the word “only” in relation to losing £300 a day. I can certainly relate to that as well.

I think you realise yourself that if you carry on gambling then thigns will continue to get worse. Start putting things in place today and the only way is up.

Keep posting.

[38andstillruiningmylife]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I understand what you mean. It’s rather vulgar talking about losing huge amounts – almost like showing off. Sorry if anyone thinks i’m giving it the Billy Big Bo**ocks.

I was simply stating that I wish I could go back to the good old days when losing £300/day was a luxury. In reality it doesn’t matter if you lose £10 or £10,000. You’re still losing and it’s still money which is hard to come by. If you’re a millionaire and you lose £100,000 in one day it will hurt, but you’ll think I still have plenty of money left – until you’re down to your last £100. Losing that last £100 will hurt more than anything else especially if the cupboards are empty.

I have had moments in life when i’ve had, say for instance, £30 in my pocket, no food, no electric and nothing else to sell. I’ve then lost the £30 in the bookies and literally wanted to top myself. Losing that amount has hurt more than when I’ve had £10,000 in the bank and lost £2500.

Alas, I can’t exclude from the Greek bookies as I fear that asking such a question would result in the staff looking at me as if i’d just taken a **** in their shop. The majority of Greeks gamble only small amounts and i’ve already had enough dirty looks for betting on every dog race like a demented fool. I’ll be in Greece for approximately eight months.

I just need to be strong this time and draw a line under all this foolishness. I want to turn 40 and be in a position to live a normal healthy life.

Thanks for the reply, Charles. I shall look for your story and have a thorough read.

[Author]

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