[richard2015]

Hi,

I’m writing here because i have ruined my “head start” to life.

I’ve always had money, never lived hand to mouth so to say however thats just changed for the worst. I’m 24 with a decent paying job (£40,000 a year). I’ve had a gambling problem since i was about 19, roulette is my demon. I had previously lost £15,000 of my savings then lost a further £15,000 of the banks. This was around april 2015. Since then i had been gamble free, i had paid my loan down & only owed around £6,000 so more than half way through when i decided to do something stupid. I had a spin of a roulette (this was online as i had previously self excluded from all the local bookies) I lost £100 which i was annoyed about so i kept chasing up to the value of £500 when suddenly i won £3000! Lucky number 29 dropped with just shy of £100 on it. I was over the moon & didn’t see what was happening at the time… the folllwing day i lost the £3,000 + another £3,000 i had in my bank + my £5,000 over draft. In my head i’d only lots £8,500 as i never really had that £3,000. I decided to get my credit card from my partner (she knows about my gambling habit & holds my cards) i did this on the sly & lost the full credit limit of £7,500. Distressted after loosing so much i decided to take a loan for £15,000 which the bank gladly accepted me for. I was going to use this loan to pay off my overdraft & credit card then pay it over the next 48 months… you guessed it…. i gambled the lot! i had to take another £15,000 which…. you guessed it i gambled the second loan too! At this point i almost ended my life. I recently got a new puppy & it sounds daft but the only thing that stopped me ending my life was her. I looked at her, so cute & innocent, it stopped me just for that one night. i decided that enough was enough. i was going to stop. I noticed that due to the high amount i had gambled i had been invited to club rouge (32 reds highest club ranking) which gave me £500 free if i sent over my passport & bank statements to verify my identity. I did this, over the course of 3 hours i managed to raise this up to £8,000 & cashed out. i had my best mate change my password & have sworn to never go on again. my current debt stands around £46,000. My girlfriend doesn’t know she will 100% leave me if she ever finds out. I needed to get this off my chest. I’ve found that a bottle of wine on a night helps me sleep & forget however she now thinks I’ve got an alcohol addiction coming on. I haven’t gambled for a week but i’m just devastated at the amount I’ve lost

[Fish face2017]

Hi mate,

Look everyone on this site being a compulsive gambler has been in your situation at some point. You’re not alone. First things first lose all access to money again. No money = No gambling which I’m sure you’re aware of. You can replay the weekend over and over again about how much money is lost/debts etc but you need to accept right now that the money is gone and you can’t win it back. Starting from today you will earn that money back I know it seems like a long task but you’ll get there.

That little puppy is a blessing in disguise by the sounds of things. Every time you have an urge to gamble/bet just look at him/her and hopefully you can relate to how you felt that time and stop you from placing that ‘first bet’ again. Yes it’s hard but it’s the only option to help you. Do not gamble.

Regarding the debts… are they manageable? repayments? Credit cards are they interest fee etc?

Put things into place which can help your recovery. There’s a lot of people on this site with plenty of knowledge and experience that can help you step by step. Keep posting and share things you need help with. Trust me you can get through this!

[charles]

Hi Richard and welcome to the forum. Well done on getting your password changed for that site. We have all sworn “never again” in the past and still gone back to it, there are a lot of sites out there. How about getting a gambling blocker for your PC?

Your girlfriend knows you ahve a gambling problem, to service those debts you are going to have a lot less money avaialble to you that she would expect. Likely she will suspect/realise there is a problem anyway. Trying to keep debts hidden can in itself send people back gambling.

Keep posting here, you stopped before so you can do it again. This time you have support to help maintain your recovery.

[Author]

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