Disaster

I had my worst casino experience to date over the weekend....saw people winning at the slots all around me but I wasn't winning...this sparked a binge of ATM withdrawals, and when I'd max out my limit I'd take debit withdrawals from the tellers cages. Essentially I blew through 2 and a half months worth of living expenses. An original thought of *just* spending the $300 that I brought with me didn't last long. After getting to the casino in the afternoon, I took breaks from gambling for two "comped" meals...then went back to the frenetic pace of throwing bill after bill into slot machines. Even a win of $100 wouldn't phase me....I'd play it out in the hopes of winning a jackpot.

Jackpots have ruined me. They've happened several times over the last two months, so my brain is now programmed to think that the next random spin could result in the bells and whistles going off. And the fact that this didn't happen on Saturday night frustrated the heck out of me.

I have never spent so much money during a casino visit. Got home at 8:30 a.m. the next morning after a quick trip to the store where I spent a meager amount of money on groceries I needed to get through the next couple of days.

Ironically, I wasn't even planning on going to the casino last weekend. But we all know how quickly that can change. In an instant. Once I decided to go, that was it.

I woke up this morning hoping it was all a nightmare. And I expect I'll wake up the same tomorrow morning. What scares me is that this huge loss may repeat itself as I know how quickly the brain gets accustomed to the 'high' of gambling with loads of money.

TryingToStop54 wrote:What scares me is that this huge loss may repeat itself as I know how quickly the brain gets accustomed to the 'high' of gambling with loads of money.

I know you feel bad now but I'd expect that as soon as you get some money back your prediction will come to fruition. We always feel bad after a loss (and sometimes after a win) but we always go back. I'd like to say I wish you luck but unfortunately luck doesn't matter with us. Even if you win you'll just lose it back anyway. The only thing a win will do is make it a little longer until you come back and post something similar.

Of course you could actually self-exclude this time. When you came back you said that you wish you had the courage to do it. It's obvious that you didn't but if you did it now you'd be taking a major step towards never feeling the way you do now ever again.

You're right on all counts buster1969

TryingToStop54 wrote:You're right on all counts buster1969

So will you do it?

I think I know what is happening here, because this is how I used to justify not self excluding. I would tell myself that the massive amount of money I have just lost can only be redeemed by gambling even more! It was the obsession over my losses that made me very reluctant to self exclude, because if I did that then how was I going to win it back? For me I had to have a complete turn around in my thinking, not easy I know. I had to mentally accept the losses convince myself that gambling would never bring them back and I spent days reading peoples' posts on here. It was at this point that I systematically went through every site I had played on and hit the self exclude button.

gran wrote:I think I know what is happening here, because this is how I used to justify not self excluding. I would tell myself that the massive amount of money I have just lost can only be redeemed by gambling even more! It was the obsession over my losses that made me very reluctant to self exclude, because if I did that then how was I going to win it back? For me I had to have a complete turn around in my thinking, not easy I know. I had to mentally accept the losses convince myself that gambling would never bring them back and I spent days reading peoples' posts on here. It was at this point that I systematically went through every site I had played on and hit the self exclude button.

And now you're happy...

It is so true that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. TryingToStop could become Stopping if they would just listen.

Yes, that's me in a nutshell Gran. I know what I have to do...and soon.

TryingToStop54 wrote:Yes, that's me in a nutshell Gran. I know what I have to do...and soon.

There is no time like the present. At some point you'll have to deal with this addiction and you can decide whether to make your life much worse or you can do it now. I promise you that if you go and self-exclude today w/o placing a bet you'll be back here tonight talking about how great you feel. Then you'll be back here next week talking about how you can't believe it took you so long to do it.

There's a reason almost everybody on here with significant time away from gambling has self-excluded, it's because IT WORKS!

So whatever you're doing now drop it and go to the casino. Walk up to the security booth and tell them you want to self-exclude. I promise you they won't look down on you, they'll actually see that you're smart. They watch people lose their money every day and wish they could stop them, you'll be one of the few who actually lets them help.