[Bill118]

Hi guys, I never thought I would end up here but something has obviously led me here before I get to a point where I believe this will get out of control.

Before 3 years ago I had never gambled in my life (I’m 27). My first gambling was on some football matches whilst round a friend’s house, signed up to an online gambling site and everything was fine, lost less than £100. A few days later I was bored at home and for some reason decided I would play some online roulette (I used to play roulette a lot on MMOG’s online. I lost £2000 within an hour, anyways told myself I’d never do it again and ended up doing exactly the same thing but some 8-12 months later.

Anyways I haven’t touched any online fixed odds gambling since to this day i.e. roulette etc.

More recently within the last 3-4 months I saw a lot of people following this tipster guy on Facebook who had made a lot of people money by his 25-1000 pound challenges. I then started following this challenges and in my head I thought it was a no brainer, I mean this guy had won approximately 95 out of 100 tips. It was just a little bit of fun whilst I was working.

The problem then came when I started lumping on large bets on sports games (between 100 and my highest being 2500 pounds). Needless to say a lot of the tips were of odds of between 1.3 and 1.5, when I lost I felt the need to replace the losses but needless to say this just didn’t happen as I started following tips from all different tipsters!

I’m know in a situation where I know I have lost over £20,000, £12000 of which I spent on a credit card! What also hasn’t helped is I haven’t had a lot on my plate at work recently thus have more time to spend following tipsters etc.

Luckily I earn a reasonable salary (£40k last year with a lot of overtime) but I have a lot of outgoings – leased car, high rent etc. I just feel sick to think I’ve lost £6k in the last week, I haven’t gambled for 2 days now and have mentally told myself enough is enough and if I carry on I’ll lose more!

One good point (if there is any) is that although I’ve lost a lot of money I still have credit of around £10k available on my credit card, the fact I didn’t spend all of it is somewhat of a comfort to me – I could be a lot worse off!

If I’m honest my problem is with trying to re-programme my brain to understand that I need to WORK to repay these stupid losses, but the amount of times I’ve worked out how long it’s going to take to get back to where I was is putting me in a terrible mental state. I’m in that state where I keep thinking I could make back a month’s salary in one bet which in my head has around a 90% winning chance.

Do you guys have any advice on how to stop overthinking in regards to winning back my losses, deep down I know I can’t but I just need to block out the thoughts.

Many thanks for reading – I never thought I would be writing this all on the internet!

[theone12221]

Hey Bill,

You’ll find that your story is a very common one on these forums. Many 20-30 year old gamblers didn’t get introduced to serious online gambling until only in the last couple of years when the market has just exploded.

A gambling addict is not one that gambles a lot but rather someone who cannot control themselves when they gamble. A person who cannot gamble in moderation, within limits or just for entertainment. A compulsive chaser of losses and always wanting just that “one” more bet.

I think you’re well aware now that you are indeed an addict (you became one after that 2k loss on roulette). You must accept that you will not recoup your losses through gambling…and if you continue you will only dig your hole deeper. In the back of your mind your addiction is telling you to “just give it one last shot” to win it all back, to immediately dissolve all your financial and mental stress. When you try to fight back with rationality it will bargain with you: “Bill, let’s just win a little bit and we will call it a day.” I am sure you know where this ends up if you listen to it. This is a trap for you to reach an even lower rock bottom. Whatever you do do not get into any more debt!!! Cut up or close that credit card. Self-exclude and download gambling blocking software (eg. Betfilter). Attend GA or confide to loved ones. You must stop gambling otherwise you will keep falling deeper and deeper into the hole and at some stage it will be too deep to crawl out from. Right now you can cut your losses and count your experience as a life lesson to never ever place another bet again, even for fun. It will not be easy…it will be a long road…but you can overcome this addiction. Keep posting and the people on this forum will support you on your journey, no matter how smooth or rough. Good luck.

[charles]

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Hello Bill 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!

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