Lost nearly £200k in 48 hours

Never actually posted a story before, I've been on/off gambling for around 5 years though so have always found these forums useful when I've been in bad places in the past.... I hope this could potentially help anybody and I think I'll feel better unloading this off my chest.

So, I'm 23, probably been gambling since I was around 17 and before January 1st 2016 my overall career net-loss was probably around £4k - £5k (Still bad I know). After the usual Big Win - followed by - Big Loss just before Christmas I made a New Years resolution to not place a single bet all year.

Anyway, that didn't happen.... and as per usual I'm starting to place bets around February, when all of a sudden I struck my biggest Accumulator win and won around £4k off a £50 acca. This is where it all went a bit crazy.

In the space of about 5 months I managed (somehow) to turn that £4k into £70,000! It was a long process and there were a few scary moments where I could have been close to £0 but the more money I made the less those situations arose. I have to explain that by this point I'd quit my job, was focusing on a Music Finance and Marketing course I was studying and planning on using £45k to start a Music Events business. For the first time in a while my whole life was falling into place. I was quite content with the £70,000 and although I'd finished with 3/4 losses in a row (lost around £2,500), I was determined that this money was **mine** now and I didn't want to throw anymore away chasing losses.

This brings me to Sunday.... I'd been out with a few friends and on the Saturday night, and decided to put about £400 on Murray to beat Novak in the French Open Final. He obviously lost. and what followed was about 5 losses in a row. Suddenly I was £3000 for the day and instead of taking a T/O I went on a binge. What followed was me losing the entire £70,000 in about 5 hours. I had a £30,000 bet on a Mexico v Tunisia Volleyball game (don't ask), and at one point in their match Mexico had 2 match points and were 1/45 on to win... so when they went on to lose I felt physically sick.

So all my money I'd 'worked' towards had completely vanished in about 8 hours of madness, I was in turmoil, total panic and didn't know what to do.... Actually I did, dip into my savings. My Grandparents did okay for themselves and they left me and siblings about £100k each, although previously I wouldn't have dared dream of touching it until I was putting a deposit on a house, needing emergency funds or putting kids through University in the future, something in my brain changed; Hey, I could win back most of my winnings with that £100k! Easy right?

So without any sleep I carried on betting into Monday, I actually was at a stage where I recouped about £27k, and was close to calling it a day when I had an urge to put that £27k profit on a final 8/11 bet and be done with £50k (still would've felt like I was losing £20k from the original £70k I'd built up but that would be ok). That obviously went on to lose and in desperation I lost the rest of the £100k over about 7 consecutive losses. So from £70,000 profit to £110,000 down in 2 days.

That evening I was partly in shell-shock, I didn't know what to do and to be honest the whole experience didn't seem real. I'm living at home at the moment, so my first thought was to take the £500 cash I have stashed away and just pack my stuff and leave, or just take a long drive somewhere; I didn't.

So I woke up on Tuesday morning and although I was going to wait until my parents got back from work to tell them I couldn't wait, I came downstairs and absolutely broke down in tears and was a mess for about 30 minutes whilst I explained. Now I've had to explain gambling losses to them in the past for £500 or so, and that was usually met with anger; but this time it was different. They were unbelievably supportive and have been the last few days trying to turn me around.

At this point every single morning the reality sinks in even more..... I'm un-employed, I feel like I've ruined my life, the plans I had in place to use that money, the guilt/selfishness at the fact I've spent SAVINGS to fund this. I've had a fairly up and down few years recently and this was supposed to be a fresh start, and now I'm back to square one with absolutely nothing to offer. I just want to rewind time and forget any of this happened but I can't no matter how hard I try.

Whilst all of this is happening ALL I keep thinking about is 'IF' some of those losing bets would have come in (the Mexico game, another tennis game and a cricket match), I'd be in a totally different place. Before any of this happened, I had planned for this week I was going to put deposit limits of £500 per day as well (seriously!), as I was content with my lot.

I'm absolutely terrified of death but honestly the idea of just falling asleep and never waking up sounds wonderful at this point in time. I'm totally lost.

My Dad actually spoke with *name redacted* yesterday and they wanted to chat with me so they can review this with their operations team and see if they can give me some sort of refund; is this even possible?! I'm not holding any hope anyway....

I don't know what I can achieve from posting this but I guess any advice would help, and if it scares anyone from placing another bet then that's great. Just remember that throughout my winning period I would regularly check up on these kind of stories to 'scare' myself, and it would remind me that if you play with fire eventually you'll get burned; which happened!

Trying to take things one step at a time but I don't know how it's possible to live with the self-loathing, pity, anger, guilt - especially considering the amount lost. I'm not angry with Beway/betting companies, I'm just so frustrated and disappointed with myself, which feels horrible.

Sorry for the long post, any advice would be welcome...

Thanks

I've been through it myself too many times to list; it's about greed. I have lost money and chased and chased, repeatedly drawing money out of my bank account, thinking the next large bet will make me well, thinking if only I could win the next bet I would quit forever. Sometimes I would even win that next bet, but I didn't quit like I told myself I would. You have lost all your savings, and that is obviously not good, but believe me, it could be worse. You could continue to think that you could win it back, and start going into debt deeper and deeper. Recognize you have an addiction, and get help. It's good you have told somebody for accountability, but you need help for future deterrence.

The feelings of misery, despair, and guilt will lessen, and you will live through it; but I am telling you that the urges to gamble more will return as well............that is what you need to prepare for.
I always recommend going to a GA meeting as a start.

Your story is really heartbreaking and confronting to others on this forum.

I would like to give you the next tips for the coming weeks.

Get in contact with a therapist, because traumatic events are not really applied to money usually, but in this case I would suggest you treat this loss as a traumatic event because of the magnitude. This can break you down over the coming weeks, years if you don't treat it with care and talk about it a lot. Also because it is not of a gradual nature and came more like a 1 time thing. Your parents can only help you to a certain point and the therapist will help you go beyond that.

Secondly I can only suggest you never gamble again. I can most certainly say you want to win back the $100k and this will never happen again I will tell you the hard truth right now. Also If you start gambling again and win some back you will consider the gambling as your SAVIOR and lose all back eventually, but you want to see gambling as the NEMESIS for the rest of your life.

Great job on telling your parents, I for myself still lack the willpower to tell my parents about my addiction and you did it right away so that is a positive thing and you can be proud of yourself for coming clean straight away.

As for the coming days, try not to think about money in any way. Just do something fun and don't look at your bank account for some weeks, because it will most certainly ruin your day if you do.

But seriously go to a therapist, you should give this a place in your head and be at peace with it and we on this forum can only help with our personal experiences and tips on stopping.

Wow,

I'm not sure what to say ... I'm shocked ... if I can firstly tell you "thank you" for sharing this story, then by all means, thank you - I'm sure such a story like yours should and must be used as a warning sign for any gambler who is thinking or planning or considering risking money in order to win more .... you can "work" and work "so hard" to gain money through gambling and lose it all within 48 hours - wow ... I'm not sure what to say.

Now I know any words we, the members here, will tell you, probably won't get you the money back, but you can get better, and must realize the money you lost is gone, and I know it's not an easy thing ... I'm still shocked from reading your story. There is one thing I'm thinking about so please keep on reading.

One thing I have to tell you - you said your dad is talking to the operations team who are looking for a possible "refund" - I doubt it, I honestly doubt it ... at best they will throw $500 - $1000 at most as "good gesture" if they care so much ... and if they do - please REFUSE it ... instead ... if they actually want to refund something back then take it to court ... I assume you're British, based on the currency you used to describe the loss (GBP symbol) ... I used to live in the UK for so many years ... I still think there is a potential possible case for lawsuit .... and I will explain why.

What I couldn't understand is how did you get to bet at such high stakes?
Usually bets are limited to 5,000 GBP max per bet ... sometimes bookmakers raise it to 25,000 GBP on extremely big events like the NBA Finals, NHL Playoffs etc.

However I still find it difficult to understand why the bookmaker allowed you to bet and lose so much money in such a short time span ... I mean ... in the UK there should be some type of responsibility from the bookmaker's end as well .... and taking large bets seems to me like a very harsh thing to do ....

Yes, the decision to bet was yours and they would claim it for their sake ... but they took EXTREMELY LARGE bets from you - I think your case of losing £200,000 (almost $300,000) within 48 hours, online .. is a case that needs to be examined in court, yes, an English court....

It doesn't sound like Graham Calvert's case who lost it against William Hill ... here you lost so much in such a short time span ... so if you have betting slips, anything to prove it happened in the shortest time span - please save it ... I think in your position you got "nothing to lose" already but like someone said above me ... you also need to clean your mind ... also a lawsuit is not 100% guaranteed to win but if you can claim a strong case maybe they will offer you some "refund" that is more appropriate ..... I mean your case can definitely pick highlights in the media ... I'm serious....

Now....

Regarding gambling itself ...
Please
Please
Don't get back to it...

I have to ask you - how did you get to bet with such large amounts?
I mean you can't use your credit card to deposit such large amounts so did you use your debit card? Made a large bank transfer?

I am not sure how can someone deposit so much and bet so much ... yes, I know some websites that have extremely high limits but these sites are not open for UK members so I'm not sure who exactly allowed you to bet so much ...

I would consider any further email or communication with this bookmaker, and you said you are not upset on the bookmaker but on yourself ... I'm feeling quite angry with the bookmaker ... in the end of the day they are the ones who designed all these machines / websites etc. to make people go broke ... they say they care about "responsible gambling" only because they have to but in practice they prey on anyone ....

I have so much more to say ... will take a break for now.

Okay, a few more things I would like to tell you.

First, if you ever, ever think about gambling again - please read what I wrote to a 19 years old who was thinking about sports betting, please read my response to SYC (post #2), always go back and read it if it ever comes across your mind, and I sincerely hope it won't:

gambling-addiction/topic175977.html

Okay,

So I re-read your post ... and now I feel even remorse and understand how gambling hurts all of us ... you said you lost £400 betting on Andy Murray to beat Novak Djokovic in the French Open Final ... I actually had a bet on Djokovic to win ... feel like the money I "won" is your money ... maybe not directly ... but it's annoying me now even more ... making me feel like gambling is not only bad financially but morally it's even worse ... taking money from someone who doesn't want his money to be taken away ... the bookmaker just cuts profits from both sides anyways....
Now...
You said you lost "the entire £70,000 in about 5 hours" ... I'm still shocked which bookmaker allowed you to bet so much (!!!)

This is crazy ... a bookmaker took a £30,000 bet from you on Volleyball (and with Mexicans I wouldn't be surprised if your bet made them rig the game, I'm honest about it ... !!!)
A bet in your size could have turned the event, I do believe in games being rigged ... that's why a bet of this size on the NBA Finals might not change the outcome of the match but it doesn't really matter what you placed your bets on ... there are no "lessons" to learn from here how to bet more wisely - there is no such thing as "betting wisely" - anyone who claims he can bet wisely is just lying to you ... the wisest bet you can have is not betting at all, period.

You said "in desperation I lost the rest of the £100k over about 7 consecutive losses. So from £70,000 profit to £110,000 down in 2 days" - can you please describe what were the bets on?
I'm still puzzled and cannot understand which bookmaker allows somebody to bet like this???
This is not ethical by all means whatsoever ....

You mentioned you had a loss on a Cricket match, I read stories before about such matches being fixed ...
Were you not worried large bets like yours can actually change the real outcome of the match?

Well, you probably couldn't see it because you were in such a desparation mode that only gamblers are familiar with ...
Wow...

I still don't understand which bookmaker can allow you to bet so much, this is not ethical and it's immoral ... or in another word - this is unscrupulous!

Welcome to the forums. All I can say is wow that is an incredible and deepenly saddening story.

It is difficult to emphasize with losing such a large amount over a short period (the most I've lost in one session was around 20k AUD in about 20 minutes (probably "only" about 10k pounds at the time)), and I can only imagine the amount of mental and physical anguish you are going through.

Like one of the above posters said you should treat this as a traumatic event similar to the loss of a loved one. You will need to grieve this loss. It will not be easy. I can guarantee you will find acceptance but I can guarantee that the longer you don't gamble and rebuild your life, the more distant/faded the current negative emotions you are feeling now will be.

I do also agree that it's insane how the casino/your online wallet or your bank allowed you to deposit and lose such an incredulous amount over just 2 days. I've had my bank block my card after 10k AUD of transactions. I've had an online casino temporarily suspend my account when they picked up on me going from losing a few hundred a day to 5-10k in a single day (and call me to discuss). This really feels irresponsible and potentially negligent by both the bank/online wallet (no fraud suspicions? No transaction limits?) and the casino. The casino will no doubt dodge your request to refund with either a laughable credit or a insulting "bonus credit". As for legally I'm really not sure but unfortunately precedent cases indicate that as long as the casino did not "take advantage knowingly" of your addiction, they are generally not at fault (legally, morally of course).

Hey guys, appreciate all the help/comments.... feeling better somewhat this evening, trying not to think of money like you've suggested. As a family we've just been through my Sister having Cancer recently, so although this money issue will likely be something I'll take to the grave with me, I have to be grateful and look at life positively. At the end of the day the only person that will be affected by this is me so I can live with that.

Just want to reply to you @gamblingstories:

Unfortunately they suggested today that I close my account: which I have done. so there's no way of looking back through my account history/previous bets.

The largest bet I placed throughout the final 'binge' though of my £100,000 was around £39,500 on a tennis player I'd never even heard of but was 1 break down in the first set and still 1/2 odds on to win: she lost in 2 sets (please don't ask; it sounds absolutely moronic to think I'd have thought that's a good idea but at the time I was mentally gone). I also had £34,000 on Sussex to beat Essex and finished off with a few bets on Basketball points over/under. Panic had set over and I just wanted to re-coup losses ASAP so I could forget about it, hoping that a big win would change everything I suppose... I was just in meltdown.

This was about 8 hours or so after i'd lost my entire original £75,000 'winnings' I'd made previously.

I spoke with the bookmaker today and although the operations team seemed desperate to help me in regards to a refund of sorts, apparently senior management dismissed it because I'd made several 'large' bets in the last few months that got me to £75k in the first place.

I only realised this evening that my Dad however had an hour long chat with a lady at NatWest (my bank) and went through everything that's happened. Firstly (and rightly so) she wanted to stop me having access to all my acounts which is absolutely fine, money can come in but it will be me going through my parents to get it. Next question she asked: was this fraud? - No. But she really wanted me to get in touch with a certain division at the company and query how this could be allowed to happen. Wouldn't the bank have flagged up such large deposits consecutively over such a short period of time and stop transactions? They have a duty of care I suppose.. I don't really know.

I mean from June-December of last year my largest deposit would have been around £100-200, with the deposits usually being somewhere between £30-75 each time. I think throughout February the bets were definitely going up as I was earning a bit more through work (I was still losing), but after I accumulated the first £4k I just carried on going and upping bets until I got to £75,000. I'm not sure if that helps anything but just thought I'd let you know how quickly things spiralled both up/down.

The absolutely last thing I'd want is being on the News in any way, the embarresment/guilt/shame from all my friends/extended family/colleagues finding out would be horrible. If there was chance to gain some money back however from any avenue I'd obviously like to follow it up (although I don't want to seem like a cry-baby). I can accept the fact that I made some horrificly awful and rash decisions over a short space of time whilst I was in an absolutely meltdown.

I'll see what NatWest say, but if ''Bookmaker in question'' have refused to do anything I'm not sure what I can do...

I've only told a few people so far and everyone has had the 'shocked' reaction. I try to tell myself it happens to people but in actuality I can't imagine many other people losing so much, especially when I'm young and seriously couldn't afford to .

I'm a top top top top idiot, but I'm determined for it to not ruin my life.. I should be grateful I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge.

not_surewhattodo1 wrote:when all of a sudden I struck my biggest Accumulator win and won around £4k off a £50 acca. This is where it all went a bit crazy.

In the space of about 5 months I managed (somehow) to turn that £4k into £70,000! It was a long process and there were a few scary moments where I could have been close to £0 but the more money I made the less those situations arose. I have to explain that by this point I'd quit my job, was focusing on a Music Finance and Marketing course I was studying and planning on using £45k to start a Music Events business. For the first time in a while my whole life was falling into place. I was quite content with the £70,000 and although I'd finished with 3/4 losses in a row (lost around £2,500), I was determined that this money was **mine** now

This is the trap of winning money. It is not like earned money. When a person wins money, there is a distinct thrill. The mind is set up in a way to want to repeat that thrill. Gambling has no natural end, as in "OK, no more gambling forever." Not many people who turned $50 into $70,000 would have the discipline to say, "I am done gambling forever." Because you never know, right? Someone could turn $70,000 into two or three or more times that amount. Also, another theory I have read is that all gamblers have subconscious guilt when they win, because all gambling is a form of theft. Thus, some part of our psyche considers the won money "dirty" and we want to discharge it.

Regardless if the guilt theory is true, virtually all gambling is a losing proposition in the long run. The gambler's chase of a thrill leads to ruin. I am sorry that you had this experience.

In the future, invest your money into projects where you actually can come out ahead.

not sure what to do.....


i hear your shock, the pain, the shame. it is awful. we get it. you are writing and hearing from people who GET IT.

you are not stupid. you are an addict. this addiction has shaken your world. i hope you heed the warning. NOW is the time to get help -- professional, go to GA, get people who UNDERSTAND gambling addiction.

this addiction features tolerance -- which most do, which keeps increasing the amount bet needed to get the same high. the same feeling in winning. the rush. the crush. I too, could no longer play small. I had to feed the beast in my. NO LOGIC helps. You are not stupid. You won, you got sucked in. If we had bet and lost miserably and walked away this might not have taken a hold of us, but we won. And we got caught in the vortex.

You had a line, you were not going to touch that inheritance. I too had a line, I sold my home to pay off debts (most from gambling) and had 230K in the bank. I even told my therapist "I am NOT going to touch that money for gambling". Ha ha. jokes on me. I didn't go full force fast, but it was all gone within 2 yrs. and then some. Numbers don't matter --- If i had 1M from sale I would have blown thru that too. No brakes. If i had 10k from sale I"d have blown that too. Number didn't matter I needed the rush, the action, chasing the high.

I found in GA rooms -- so much more catastrophe than the money. People lost marriages, children, even threatened or went to jail. This disease is NO JOKE. Please please heed this time you've gone thru and do everything you can to stay gamble free.

EVEN if you gamble and get up you KNOW you'll be mentally obsessing and want to get back into action. IT WON'T END till all your resources and who knows what else is gone.

I sense from your post you still care. You have loving parents, a sister in need, you have connection with people who matter. Take care of that. Take care of yourself. Get help.

We are here. It will take TIME for you to get your brain back. It has been misplaced by all this commotion. Give it time. Stay clean. Go to meetings. Get your business activities of school going. Get a part time job in the industry you love. Do something. You have to fill your time and go to GA.

Your only job is not to place the first bet. Simple but not easy at first. BUT IT DOES GET EASIER. I promise. If you put it down, and walk this path, you will enrich your life beyond any understanding.

All of us have seem to have combination of competitive nature and optimism. It has destroyed many who walked before you.

Keep posting. Stay close. Stay close to your loved ones. Your brain is not to be trusted right now.

Read through your post. The amount is pretty staggering, especially in the short period of time. It surprises me you even had access to that much? Where I live you can't do instant bank transfers like that normally you have to wait a day or two.

I have lost a similar amount, so from that perspective I know how you feel. I also know when your in that full on binge mode, all reasoning goes out the window - and this is exactly how the industry exploits people. The fact is it doesn't matter if you had access to $10,000 or $1M, you would have blown through it all to get that initial money back.

I just wanted to add to the other replies - right now it's painful as hell. But you need to look at the positives. Your only 23, and in a space of 48 hours you have discovered what it took some of us years or even decades to understand. You cannot win at this game. It wont just rob you of your money, there is no end to what it can do. It's a progressive disease and will take everything from you. Also it doesn't look like your in any real debt. Look at it this way - you put 200 grand into an investment, thinking you would make money but you lost. Write it off and start again. Put some rock solid controls in place, make sure you don't have any access to anything other than living expenses for at least 6 months. Trust me by the pain from the loss will start to fade by then, but use this experience to stop you from ever giving them once cent.

Remember the best lessons in life are often the most expensive. Good luck.