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Well…it’s depressing that I’ve gotten to this point in my life but I’ve officially hit rock bottom. I’m 31 but have been gambling for the last 10 years and have lost small amounts until this year.
In the past 3 weeks, I’ve gone from being up $15,000 to down $120,000. I’ve worked so hard to build a better life yet only to throw it away.
I’ve always been a sports gambler betting at the books in Vegas and this time my binge has turned my life upside down.
Today is day 1 of turning my life around. Football starts in a month and it’s going to be very, very difficult to fight the temptation. I hope with support and me writing in this journal frequently, it will help me face the biggest battle of my life.
Thank you for reading and I will continue to update my journal.
Eric
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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 youre currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if youre 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. Were 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 youre 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….
Im going to hand you over to our community because Im 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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Hi Eric and welcome.
Read the other stories here, you will see many that you will relate to. You will also see the success stories – what are they doing that you can apply to your own situation?
Football will be a temptation for you? Ok, now use that knowledge. What barriers can you put in place before then?
I used to think I was a sports fan. But hey, I used to only want me team to score so many goals, sometimes I’d want them to concede, sometimes i even wanted them to lose! What sort of fan was I?
As you say gambling gives us some amazing highs but also devastating lows. The decision we all have to make is whether what we love about gambling is worth the ****that follows, unfortunately we can’t have one without the other.
If you are in Vegas then of course you will be surrounded by gamling, the good news though is that you also have a lot of support available to you. I’ve heard that there are Gamblers Anonymous meetigns pretty much every hour on the hour, why not check one of them out?
Keep posting and let us know what positive steps you are taking.
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Hi Eric, You have to cut your losses! We have to forget how much we have lost to gambling and move forwards. We will never recoup our losses. It just snowballs into another big loss. It is difficult to not gamble but if you put barriers in place it can be more manageable. Try to limit your access to money and credit cards. Have someone you trust hold them for you. Use only cash for things. GA meetings might be helpful also. Use any tools you can to help work for you. Things will get better. ODAAT!
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Hi Eric
Yes you are lying to yourself. I have said the same thing many times over. If you are a compulsive gambler. If you win as much as you think that wont be it. It will spur you on more and build the desire more to keep going. Chasing chasing and more chasing the losses just leads to bigger losses. Have you left with your winnings so far? I understand the insanity. Ive lived it for years trying to stop and Im currently on day 2. I would have been in a much better place 1 if i had not gambled and 2 if i had not chased the losses. It just gets deeper and deeper. Looking back i think why didnt i stop back then and each time the loss is now greater. I had the exact same thoughts if i can just get a really good win i will stop. I had some wins, didnt stop… its just the same crazy cycle. The only way we win is to stop. Its a progressive addiction, believe me, it gets worse and worse and worse the longer it goes on, the bets get higher, the money goes quicker, our minds get more damaged. Get out while you can… this addiction is a killer
Pea
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In the short run you might win or you might lose but as Vera has said a number of times CG lose in the long run and lose allot more than just financial. I’m right there with you, I’m struggling with finding some money to gamble with to make back my losses thoughts. Quitting while down feels a bit depressing because we’re always “one streak away” etc. But once you go down that rabbit hole and lose, now you are down 60k and probably feel worse, where does it go from there? 70k 80k 100k? Just some thoughts.
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Hey Eric I know the feeling of just wanting your money back every gambler knows that feeling and says that if I get even I will quit but we never ever quit even if you do get even. As far as betting sports goes it’s going to be hard to watch games at first because they seem boring as hell without action but that is because you don’t care about the game your just care about gambling. The best advice I can give is stop looking at the lines because that is always a trigger you will find a “good game” but guess what if you win you will look for another it’s a vicious cycle. I am a action gambler as well main game poker but I did bet sports for a long time as well. My friends dad is a bookie and he has been doing it for close to 30 years and he even said in all his time of doing it has met thousands of gamblers and anyone who thinks they have a edge or is handicapper always goes broke I asked him if he knew any long term winners and he said nope not in his book they all lose big eventually and that’s why I haven’t worked in 30 years. After hearing that it help me quit sports betting but I still played poker I just recently admitted I am CG and I can’t make bets because it doesn’t matter one bet leads to another no matter what the action of choice is.
Bet free is the way to be
Ps take that 10000 and pay debt if you have any or give it to a loved one you trust who you know doesn’t need money and when you find a better use for the money go retrieve it.
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Hi Eric,
A couple of points spring immediately to mind.
First of all stop researching those football picks. You are just teasing your addiction and making things difficult for yourself. If you are a sports fan then enjoy watching your football. If you can’t then maybe you aren’t so much a fan as just someone who likes to gamble on it?
The second point is that the amounts you are contemplating gambling tell me that you have too much easy access to money. How can you limit that access? How can you make yourself accountable?
A final point would be that you realise youself that you are an addict. In the unlikely event that you won that 50k back would an addict really stop then? You have found yourself in a financial hole, when in a hole the best advice is to stop digging.
Keep posting.
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If you do that, try to win back the debt, you might succeed BUT what if you lose that first bet? Now you’re down 110k and you will wish you were only down 100k because you had accepted that number. So you beg borrow and steal and do another 10k and so on and so on. If you were that good at betting you likely wouldn’t be in the spot you are now, so the likelihood is for things to get worse instead of better.
Only you can decide what to do here BUT if you are a CG, you likely won’t stop even if you win back the full 100k. CG’s almost always end up in worse conditions if continuing to bet.
I think it’s time to make some hard decisions here. Are you admitting you are a CG in recovery and actively seeking support to stop the chase and help the addition OR are you actively persuing more gambling to fix your problems?
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