gambling getting out of control

pe1998

Hi, new user name for an old poster for obvious reasons

Firstly, I'm not addicted to gambling, I regularly go weeks if not months without doing it, but when I do to quote a phrase "I'm all in" I'm very much a binge gambler

I have been gambling a lot recently, and as the title says, it's getting way out of hand. one of my problems is this: A win of £100 means less to me than a loss of £20. So it doesn't matter how much I win, as soon as I lose any of it I throw more money at it.

Wednesday night is a perfect example. I started out with £300 in my Bet365 account and on thursday morning checked the balance (tend to bet mostly on american sports played during the night) it was £382. But from looking at my bet history I placed 2 bets late, was a bit drunk as it was a night out, for £300 and £224 respectively. They both lost. So without those bets my balance "should" have been £906. As other bets I'd placed had won. I couldn't get past the £524 I'd "given" them back and chased it, I lost the £300 and then over the past few days have lost substantially more.

I have just analytically went through my bank statement from 1st october till now there are 27 separate deposits and 26 credits.

From this I can see I have won money but all I can think about is trying to get back what i've lost.

Despite being up this level of binge gambling is unsustainable and I can't keep doing this.

This may sound like I'm in massive denial, but if I didn't have a almost pathological need to be right and could actually accept losses, I'd be a pretty good gambler.

I have self excluded from all but one of my online accounts, although in fairness it only takes one to do the damage and I've limited my daily deposit limit to £100


Any thoughts or similar experiences would be massively helpful as I know this could be/will be massively destructive if it goes unchecked.

thanks,
pe

Tropez

It's probably time you paid a visit to http://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/

You've identified you have a problem and you need to fix that problem. The only thought I have is that you need to get out of the mindset of thinking that you need to chase losses and that you could be a pretty good gambler otherwise. You're how the gambling companies make their money.

BitterAndTwisted

Your gambling isn't "getting out of control", it already is. If you can afford such an expensive pastime, then all well and good but I can think of much better uses for hard-earned than p!ssing it all up the wall. Maybe you can, too.

tea_lover

pe1998 wrote: »

This may sound like I'm in massive denial, but if I didn't have a almost pathological need to be right and could actually accept losses, I'd be a pretty good gambler.

There's no such thing.

CaptainAmerica

People have no will power nowadays......just stop doing it simples.

pe1998

Thanks, I have looked at a lot of the organisations that are available, and I just don't see myself in the stories people tell in the various forums. Maybe that's part of the problem.

I went a year without really gambling at all, apart from a £10 football coupon on a saturday and saved about £8000 towards the cost of our wedding.

I do think that learning to accept losses rather than abstinence would be better for me and there is nothing on any of the gambling problem websites about this.

The example I gave about Wednesday, if I didn't feel the need to win back a loss, I'd have made £82 profit. rather than a big loss.

I'm going to give gamcare a call and see how it plays out

pe1998

tea_lover wrote: »

There's no such thing.

of course there is, what are professional poker players?

Tropez

pe1998 wrote: »

I do think that learning to accept losses rather than abstinence would be better for me and there is nothing on any of the gambling problem websites about this.

Well you could always try and seek professional help; psychology, CBT etc.

But really, speaking as someone who gambles, your whole attitude towards it is out of whack. Gambling should be treated as nothing more than a bit of fun to do from time to time; if you're chasing losses and stating that you're otherwise a "good" gambler you do have the incorrect mindset to gamble safely.

The moment you go from a quick punt on a football match to attempting to chase hundreds of pounds of losses, any facade that you are or could be a "good" gambler has long since passed.

Tropez

pe1998 wrote: »

of course there is, what are professional poker players?

Generally they're pretty clever. They have a basic understanding of psychology as well as usually possessing a reasonable knowledge of mathematics allowing themselves to make educated decisions on whether to play a hand or not based upon formulaic outcomes. Clearly, it isn't an exact science but there is a lot more skill involved in being a professional poker player than the vast majority of other bets out there.

Pro poker players, when they get to the stage that they can call themselves pro, aren't actually gambling. Their sponsors buy them in to all the tournaments so it isn't their money that they are playing with.

tea_lover

pe1998 wrote: »

of course there is, what are professional poker players?

So do you want advice on stopping gambling or becoming a professional? There's a lot of denial in your posts.

peachyprice

pe1998 wrote: »

Firstly, I'm not addicted to gambling.......... I'm very much a binge gambler

You are addicted to gambling, and like most addictions you won't get better until you stop denying it to yourself.