Who has a gambling problem ?

MARKB said:
I hope you all get through it. It sounds really tough. Luckily never had the inclination to do it myself, it seems quite a lonely recreation.
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I played blackjack in a casino once, and slot machines maybe 2 or 3 times.

Lost around 100 pounds at the casino. About 5 pounds on the slot machines. That's about all I needed to realize the idea of unnecessarily losing money is not something I relish!
 
Morbyd said:
I played blackjack in a casino once, and slot machines maybe 2 or 3 times.

Lost around 100 pounds at the casino. About 5 pounds on the slot machines. That's about all I needed to realize the idea of unnecessarily losing money is not something I relish!
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Ditto.
 
About 2 years I started out of boredom and decided one night when I was on the net to give it a try. Won a bit and kept going, was made redundant and spent almost all of it on the slots, won it back and put it back in. At the time I was also into coke big time and the thrill of winning and being high was ooh so addictive....

I felt disgusted at myself and it was not until I was really in the **** that I came clean to my boyfriend, cue big massive arguments (he was also a cokehead at the time) and lots ot talking it through etc etc. I hated lying to my family and friends if I was too skint to go anywhere - I couldn't tell them I had no money til next pay as I had been gambling. I also already had debt problems which obviously escalated - at the time I could easily feed 5 x £50 a night into my account, sometimes more sometimes less. I never thought about self exclusion from any sites - thought I could just "give up".

I don't know why I did it - cos I could probably. My boyfriend working away, I was temping in sh*t jobs and already had debt problems, couldn't see my way out.

When boyfriend found out we decided to move away from the city and move to nearer his family he was still working away but I stated working at home - and didn't stop playing the slot machines. I got a new job which was back in the city and I lost this due to being ill all the time cos of the coke and too much travelling and depression. I really hit rock bottom and was freaking out. My boyfriend then said we should move back to our parents houses to get our acts together (especially me) - I did, got debt advice and set up a payment plan when I got a job, did not hook my computer up at home and obviously couldn't use my dads to gamble.

it was crap being back at mums but it did go along way to stopping the gambling and have cut right back on the powder - only once a week now.

But then I got on the computer and had a few goes and for a month or 2 recently I was playing again- pissed of that I am still skint and stupidly hoping I could win enough to make things a bit better. But I set limits on the amounts - £10 a day etc. Then I closed 1 account, and then the rest.

I felt good about that. Boyfriend didn't know I had dabbled again and I won't be telling him again.

I do still gamble but this is bingo only. I try to stay away from the slots in there as you can feed money into them like theres no tomorrow. My boyfriend although not a gambler as such has also admitted he has spent thousands in the slots machines in pubs over the years and when he goes to the bingo he can't stay away from them.

Now a couple of years on I look back and I am so gutted about not just the money but the lies and self loathing that goes with it. I understand I was unhappy at the time and now I am getting there with the issues I had at the time, slowly but surely but I am certainly not cured.

I would just like to encourage anyone with a problem to speak to someone - anyone, as it is a relief when you share the problem - not matter how angry the person gets (if it's someone close). I would seek professional help if I fall back into my old ways. I guess I have an "addictive personality" (if there is such a thing) as for the last 15 years I have had issues with drugs and then the gambling and also bad choices in men.

Anyway sorry for going on - good luck to anyone who tries to give it up and please tell yourselves yous are mugs for gambling as IT IS A MUGS game.

Going to keep putting the lottery ticket on though - you never know.

If anyone needs to talk you can PM me x
 
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chewie_oo7 said:
it is. VERY. but when you're "in the zone" nothing matters, time flies, and you lose all sense of everything... which is when you start to rack up huge losses.

the horrible thing is, you're on a loser either way. if you lose big, you go back next time with the sole purpose to chase the losses.

if you win big, you go back and think you can win more.

theres times ive had a decent win on the footy... £800 once... did i go on hol, treat myself? nope.

like polack says. when you are a compulsive gambler, you just cant justify spending 40p on a twix. yet can justifying lumping on a 3 legged horse in a 2 horse race at 1/3 on a ****ty grade G claimer ridden by a blind woman, cos at 1/3 its bound to win!

its all about numbers.
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You are spot on Chewie x
 
No real comments to make except for...yeah, all completely agree and your story is a good one Smokin, as you say, all this is just talking and letting out etc. which is all good and this is helping alot, I feel really good at the moment about being a "reformed gambler" haha, even if it is only for about 3 days now. Of which, everyone has been occupied so havn't really had the opportunity, but hey ho. As I was saying, this helps coz gambling now, I couldn't do, as I couldn't come on this thread and say it tomorrow, because you'd all think I was a tit. So even though this is all a virtual world and I don't know any of you, it stops me.

I think I'm far from like having a bad quality of life due to it, but I know this had always been a road I could easily go down, so it's best to stop now. Everything you say is right Chewie, it's what I know but it's good to hear it from someone else. Except the thing about me deluding myself on my card skills - I'm the tits at poker. Haha. And I LOVE the game so much, it's gonna be hard giving that up, and I'll be fooked if I'm playing fun money.
 
i think you all deserve applause for being in a position to talk it through. There does seem to be a dislocation between the percieved actual value of money. I mean I can spend, but SP your phrase 'So I lost £250 the other night, which relatively, is not that much' - shocked m=e really - surely in any context a quarter of a grand is a significant amount of money to lose in a night even for a millionaire?

anyway, sorry i'm not trying to preach, just thought maybe that was a symptom - good luck to y'all. One positive for me is that this thread has focused my own mind on my own little indulgences.
 
I don't think I've ever met anyone who thinks they're anything other than amazing at poker.

Moreso online poker. From what you'd hear, it's any wonder they bother turning up for their 9-5 job.
 
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agentundercover said:
but SP your phrase 'So I lost £250 the other night, which relatively, is not that much' - shocked m=e really - surely in any context a quarter of a grand is a significant amount of money to lose in a night even for a millionaire?
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I do alright for myself and yeah £250 is alot of money but I meant like, usually £250 would not shock me into stopping as I have lost alot more previously. So in terms of gambling losses, it was relatively not that much, although obviously alot of a money.
 
Dan x said:
I don't think I've ever met anyone who thinks they're anything other than amazing at poker.

Moreso online poker. From what you'd hear, it's any wonder they bother turning up for their 9-5 job.
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I didn't for six months due to poker. My friend who I "grew into" the game with is now fully professional with a bank roll of around 5K - 10K depending and regular withdrawals to fund general life.

This statement may seem irrelvant but just showing the other side of the story, and poker is not an addictive form of gambling I feel and I would say is about 70 / 80 % skill.
 
I used to do a a lot of Sports betting and used to win some and lose more!
My weakness was chasing losses, I could never have the discipline to bank the winnings and hold back on chasing those "nearly won" bets.

I stopped altogether apart from 1 samll bet for the division winners across 6 leagues for the year,that keeps a bit of interest.

I think the only way to stop is to just stop altogether and break what is a habitual thing, I used to spend hours on a sat morning studying the form, I now look back on that time as such waste of time and think of all the other tings I could have done instead.At the time though it seemed perfectly reasonable to do.

Betting on sports certainly adds a huge edge to the action but I now see the action is as enjoyable without money riding on it.

I never played any online poker or similar so have no idea on that.
Controlled sports betting can be profitable as long as you have the knowledge and highly disciplined strategy, playing computer generated games just seems to only ever take the money one way.Why else would there be such an explosion of these sites on the net!

Good luck guys
 
not sure why i didn't respond to original thread but yes i'm defo a gambling addict, altho i can control it sort of. i go through phases of gambling and then stopping, it all depends on opportunity really. i think throughout my life i'm probably up a grand or so at best and about break even at worst.

recently, however i have started again and am a few hundred up in the last couple of weeks. the reason for my success is simple - cutting out all the impulse, crappy bets that are very unpredictable. e.g. how many runs scored in cricket, how many goals in a game, horse racing, etc, etc.

i go on instinct, do my research and nearly always bet on european domestic football, bets for teams to win or laying teams to lose. always on betfair.

highlight of the last few weeks was bayern munich 2 late goals to snatch it 3-2 away at red star belgrade.

oh yeah, gambling is a mugs game, don't do it! 8O;)
 
I could be here all day talking about the subject. I hardly ever gamble as there's very few fields these days where my measure of 'imperfect knowledge' is significantly better than the market. The only days when I really have thrived is on Fruit Machines 1999 to abotu 2003 ish, though I honestly can't think of a more embarassing thing to be good at!

It's all a numbers game. And as I said I could go on about markets, imperfect knowledge, risk, utility theory, and all sorts, though I frankly can't be bothered, and hearing about other peoples gambling habits is about as interesting or desireable about them talking about their sex lives (for men!)!:lol:

The last thing I bet on was Lewis Hamilton to win the BBC sports personality, and I'll have a trip to Australia funded if I win, though the unmitigated tw@t's decided to f*ck off to Switzerland to dodge paying his taxes like a fair and decent citizen. I did not see that one coming!
 
Anyone listening to the Jimmy Carr clips on Radio One this morning?

"...my wife left me because of my gambling problem - how can I win her back?"


:lol:
 
grego said:
not sure why i didn't respond to original thread but yes i'm defo a gambling addict, altho i can control it sort of. i go through phases of gambling and then stopping, it all depends on opportunity really. i think throughout my life i'm probably up a grand or so at best and about break even at worst.

recently, however i have started again and am a few hundred up in the last couple of weeks. the reason for my success is simple - cutting out all the impulse, crappy bets that are very unpredictable. e.g. how many runs scored in cricket, how many goals in a game, horse racing, etc, etc.

i go on instinct, do my research and nearly always bet on european domestic football, bets for teams to win or laying teams to lose. always on betfair.

highlight of the last few weeks was bayern munich 2 late goals to snatch it 3-2 away at red star belgrade.

oh yeah, gambling is a mugs game, don't do it! 8O;)
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How can you tell people on one hand that you are winning money through gambling - and then on the other hand tell people not to do it...


...unless you are not doing as well as you are saying..
 
MrMambo said:
How can you tell people on one hand that you are winning money through gambling - and then on the other hand tell people not to do it...


...unless you are not doing as well as you are saying..
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?? :?


my last comment was ironical wonnit m8. ;)
 
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