ex and would be ex-gamblers support thread

glenpud

Good day to you all.
Just a progress update for me...i am currently, i belive on Day 41 with no gambling. I am happy, and although my finances had taken a battering, i can see light at the end of the tunnel, and am looking forward to everything really Good luck to all of you and remember that you have to truely want to give up or you wont!
Have a great weekend.

happy_hour

I have been reading this thread recently and it has started to make me see sense.

I have had a problem with online slots for a few years now, i would be fine for months then one bad night and i would start again. I found out about matched betting which controlled my gambling in a good way. But recently i started on the slots again. Always chasing losses and losing more money. The other night i lost 2K in 2 hours! I now realise i have to cut all Gambling out of my life, i'm not in debt at the moment but my savings have taken a hit and i know in a space of a few hours i could end up in serious debt. This website got me out of my debts a while back and now hopefully it will stop me going back down that track.

Thanks for everyone that has posted, there are some great tips, i have just installed K9 on my laptop and hopefully i will stay away from the temptation.

cantcope

Well done Happyhour. K9 will help stop the matched betting. But you need to have a plan for the slots. Try to get someone else to look after your money for a while?

Madone13

I hope everyone has had a good bank holiday weekend - mines been great and much of that because I haven't had a bet. Almost had a moment of weakness on Friday night when I got an e-mail about a "risk free" (yeah right!) £10. I had to battle a few demons but managed to avoid it and instead I went ahead and closed the account! Felt pretty good about it the next day too. Rest of the weekend I've kept myself pretty busy and avoided thinking about it.

Anyway next Saturday will be a month since I finally (for real) decided to get my house in order and with the exception of one slip up I haven't done too badly.

Glenpud - well done on reaching day 41! Sounds like your doing great.

misskaytee

Thats Great you guys Well done :T

Still doing well here too

brian_723

I feel very strongly that like the government want to do with !!!!!! is you have to opt in to receive it i think this should done mores so for online Gambling .


I also think you should have to have a special prepaid card the all bookies accept and that you can onlu use and responsible limits can then be set .Those who wish to gamble can apply and set their limits with cooling off periods .We have the technology to do this .

Savetime

Hi all.

Have read and reread this entire thread 3 times and unsurprisingly everything said mirrors my own experience. My LBM (latest LBM if i'm honest) occurred last night. I was sat gambling online whilst reading this thread and thinking naively "well at least i've got my gambling under control". Cut to me at 3am wondering how i'll ever recoup the losses of the last few months and berating myself for not learning after the last time i had this panicky, sick, restless feeling. Why is it the realisation often seems to come in the night? I think for me it's the loneliest time of the day and there's no available distraction technique to keep me from having to face up to the reality of what i've done.

I now know that i am unable to engage in 'social gambling', can't allocate myself a budget and stick to it. Hearing the stories of everyone on here makes me realise how sick i've been (originally wrote stupid but as someone said before we're not stupid-it's an addiction).

No longer want to sit on the sidelines and rely on others to keep this thread going, i want to get actively involved in its continued success. No... I NEED to get involved for the sake of myself and my family.

Thanks to everyone that has posted so far. I respect each and everyone of you and hope to emulate the successes of some of you from this day forward. Day 1 of a life of no gambling starts now.

Sorry to hijack the thread it's just taken me so long to pluck up the courage to write that i didn't dare let myself stop for fear of chickening out.

Lets keep this thread going. Hearing the stories of others struggles and successes gives me the inspiration and encouragement i need to win this battle. Sorry for the ramble.

misskaytee

Hi Savetime,

There will be a fair few people who are struggling with gambling reading this thread, who have not yet plucked up the courage to post, so well done :T

I read this thread over and over, long before i ever posted on it.

So, how are you planning to stop yourself from gambling?
Youv'e read the others messeges so im sure your aware that putting steps in place to protect yourself from any moments of weakness are highly recommended!

Don't worry about rambling on this thread, rambling and getting it all out in the open is helps


RE: ME.
I've been having a few thoughts of gambling lately to be honest, im not sure why??
ive not gambled since January, I feel so much better in myself and feel im beginning to get myself back on track.

I haven't gambled though, its just strange how the thought can just pop into your head sometimes

Hope this messege finds you all feeling strong

samorgo

Hi everyone,

I'm back! I had a lovely holiday especially having eased some of the guilt burden before I went. I still haven't fessed up completely but feel better for having finally realised the extent of my problem.

I turned 30 whilst on holiday and realised that I need to finally become an adult and to lead my life the way I would like to. For about 12 years I thought I was a sensible gambler - I now realise there's no such thing - the debt I have accumalated is mostly from gambling and the most ridiculous thing is that it's taken me 12 years to realise that - I've always kidded myself that our debt was from my husband overspending but the reality is I have lost more than I ever realised.

Since coming home I have been tempted to give it one more go but I'm determined that gambling withdrawals will never appear on my bank statement again and the desire for that stops me from betting. And if that isn't enough I will definately come on here because the support is amazing - knowing you're not alone is so important.

Welcome everyone who have had the courage to admit their problem on here while I've been on holiday and congratulations - joining this post and deciding to quit is one of the best things you will ever do.

I feel so much better for having got on top of my problem and I am determined to change my life forever - one day at a time.

Finally thank you everyone for your support I'm certain I wouldn;t have done this well without you - so thank you x

cantcope

Welcome to the thread savetime. Hijack it whenever you like. It's theraputic, you get a buzz reading that you aren't the only person in the world to have lots a !!!!!! load of money on something like gambling and not know why. best of all, its FREE!!!!

same advice i give everyone who gambles online. get a block on your pc asap. you can pay for one like gamblock or you can get a free one, i use K9. you'll need someone to set a password. My dad came over and did mine for me. If you dont do either of these then i hate to say it but you arent quite ready to give up. Read back and you'll see what i mean. post on thread, say want to quit, advised to put block on, post on thread few months later in worse trouble.

its true. i did it myself plenty of times before i finally did it.

after youve done that the initial temptation is gone. so find something to fill your time. i'm over 4 years off a bet and i wonder how i ever fit it in now!!! i barely have time to scratch my butt let alone gamble every spare second i have!!!

finally, keep strong everyone. I'm off to a meeting tonight. I intend on telling them all i'm bored of the meetings and feel i have become a little complacent. Hopefully i'll get enough backlash/advice to keep me going