My standard trap ...

Ok - 19 days GF and feeling very positive.

Just wanted to tell you my experience of my usual betting pattern, obviously I've tried everything from Football, Horses, Dogs, Tennis to online Casinos - it was the Internet gambling on my phone that really notched up my gambling habits. No longer needing to go to a bookies when it was all there on my phone!

So here's how I would feed a gambling urge.

Wake up on a Saturday, weather is nice and sunny, I would go for a Run and feel good, come back, have a shower and look at the football fixtures, I would place a bet on a televised game and lump big on one of the games, anywhere between £100-£300 on a single team - would get a buzz looking at form and injurys - come the afternoon, id be excited for the match with so much at stake. Could I really afford to lose this much ? Not really, but that added to the excitement and there's always ways to make up for the losses right ? And if I win ... I can pay back some money I owe, I can buy my girlfriend a new dress etc

The game would kick off, strangely the buzz I experienced pre match has worn off a little but still, I watch and tell myself how great this all is, my team wins, YES !!! I have now £400 in my account. I'll take this out and spend what I told myself pre match. But hang on. Is £400 really enough ? Why should I stop now when I can make another £2-400 so easily, in fact, I'm already loads up, how about spending just a little in the online Casino, doesn't matter if I lose £50.... I would place another bet on a football match... meanwhile I wouldn't go in the Online Casino ... ok, lost that £50 in minutes but I'm sure if I do a different game I can win it back... so I play some more... I win... I lose ... I check my football match that's losing aswell, sod it ..let's try some Tennis ...place a few bets... I win, I lose, I win, I lose...eventually all my money in the account is gone.

What started as a one off bet spirals into loads and I always end up losing.

How many times I went through this I can't tell you - each time promising I'd walk away and feel sick I didn't.

That's about pretty much how my addiction worked . Giving in to it's first urge to be fed only intensified its need for more , until all the " food " was gone . Once I had any kind of money at all , it started all over again .

For me , breaking that cycle meant keeping myself broke until I had a solid plan for distracting myself from the urges and enough gamble-free time to be confident I could do it . It was so hard in the beginning , the compulsion was screaming in my head almost constantly .

I gambled in a brick-and-mortar casino . I shudder to think how bad I would have gotten if I'd been hooked on internet gambling .

Day 19 is a brilliant update ! Stay strong and don't let down your guard ...

Yep this is the whole awful picture of problem gambling.
Bet win bet lose bet win win bet lose win lose lose lose!
What a dreadful cycle we find ourselves in.
I used to tell myself after losing huge amounts, not to worry because I would have a winning streak next time, in other words I had already consigned myself to gambling even more money in the delusional belief I might win something back.
Absolute madness!

MTlondon wrote:The game would kick off, strangely the buzz I experienced pre match has worn off a little but still, I watch and tell myself how great this all is, my team wins, YES !!! I have now £400 in my account. I'll take this out and spend what I told myself pre match. But hang on. Is £400 really enough ? Why should I stop now when I can make another £2-400 so easily, in fact, I'm already loads up, how about spending just a little in the online Casino, doesn't matter if I lose £50.... I would place another bet on a football match... meanwhile I wouldn't go in the Online Casino ... ok, lost that £50 in minutes but I'm sure if I do a different game I can win it back... so I play some more... I win... I lose ... I check my football match that's losing aswell, sod it ..let's try some Tennis ...place a few bets... I win, I lose, I win, I lose...eventually all my money in the account is gone.

What started as a one off bet spirals into loads and I always end up losing.

How many times I went through this I can't tell you - each time promising I'd walk away and feel sick I didn't.

Gambling isn't about money, as we initially think. If you watch the adds for gambling on tv, they show usually feature a person in ecstasy. I have seen lotto ads with a person pulling a wagon full of money in delirium and laughing maniacally. Gambling is promoted as a way to elation. And yes, our brains experience a "high" when we win. When we achieve a goal of being victorious a particular bet, the experience can be perceived as an "ending" and often we don't want it to end. We want the thrills to keep coming, which is why we are not content to walk out.

Congratulations on 19 days gambling-free! You are truly a winner when you stay away from this pursuit.

I had similar traps... and then there was this huge problem that I faced... time!

That was one of the reasons why I ended up so addicted and hit rock bottom. Betting used to take "so long"... i need a quicker "fix". Slots and Online Casino did it, but then live betting started and i can say that there were times where i just completely lost it.
There were times that I would be betting in itf Tennis, live on players I had no idea who they were, with rankings as high as 1000 because he odds were higher, and I would bet so much more than i could afford to loose. I was so so so lost...
Online gambling made it so accessible made me turn into on hooked gambler, and at the same time so much harder to quit.
Another thing that really made collapse, was the fact, that deposits were immediate, but withdrawals kept there...pending for (sometimes for 3 or 4 days) waiting to be cancelled, and wagered again.

I'm glad that I found the strength to quit. 42 days now, and i feel very confident that this number will grow.

I've always been a football/soccer fan. I've regained the taste to enjoy a good football game, and it feels great. Now i only care if the teams I like win, if they pay well, if my favorite players score. No money involved, no more sorrow if they lose. Now it is just a game again.

regards

lookforward wrote:I had similar traps... and then there was this huge problem that I faced... time!

That was one of the reasons why I ended up so addicted and hit rock bottom. Betting used to take "so long"... i need a quicker "fix". Slots and Online Casino did it, but then live betting started and i can say that there were times where i just completely lost it.
There were times that I would be betting in itf Tennis, live on players I had no idea who they were, with rankings as high as 1000 because he odds were higher, and I would bet so much more than i could afford to loose. I was so so so lost...
Online gambling made it so accessible made me turn into on hooked gambler, and at the same time so much harder to quit.
Another thing that really made collapse, was the fact, that deposits were immediate, but withdrawals kept there...pending for (sometimes for 3 or 4 days) waiting to be cancelled, and wagered again.

I'm glad that I found the strength to quit. 42 days now, and i feel very confident that this number will grow.

I've always been a football/soccer fan. I've regained the taste to enjoy a good football game, and it feels great. Now i only care if the teams I like win, if they pay well, if my favorite players score. No money involved, no more sorrow if they lose. Now it is just a game again.

regards

Absoulutly the same. In play Tennis gave me the real buzz - would bet on whoever has the highest ranking to whoever has the biggest serve! Complete bollox but always loved trying a new system. Would be many times I could go on a 4/5 match winning run but eventually you hit a 4/5 match loss.
I would have bet big on a couple football matches today and it's a nice feeling knowing they lost.
No major urges to be honest and enjoying this challenge.

Day 22