Quitting for Good

I came to visit this site after a period of "not being online that often".

Hope things would resume back to being normal soon. I had stayed GF throughout the month of December too, which is a period I get tempted to make quick bucks.

Came in to give my updates.

Last day I placed a bet: 24th Aug.

Hi RicardoG , looks like you're still doing great !

Wishing you a safe , happy gamble-free New Year . We're getting your 6 month victory cake ready for the oven .

Thanks for the update !

Hi NSR,

Thank you for the New Year wish. Yes, I want to have a gamble-free Year this year.
Wishing you continued success too.

Life has so many challenges, and I don't want this addiction to ever creep back into my life.
I remembered advising my nephew not get excited with the innocent card-gambling during Christmas, as that will sow the seed of gambling.

136 days of GF including today. Today, I will not gamble.

Last day I placed a bet: 24th Aug 2022.

Hello all, I lost 17,700 euro in the last 6 months. laying horses not to win on the betting exchanges. You would think backing horses to lose was easy money but if you bet 50 euro on a horse not to win and it won at 10/1 you would lose 500 euro on that bet. If the horse didn't win you would win 50 euro. Anyhow these horses I would be backing to lose would somehow win and I would get cleaned out. The last straw was last Tuesday when I was caught for 2300 euro. I self excluded for life on the online exchanges and markets. It was a shock to the system because I had to let go of the idea of easy money forever. The false dreams I had in my own head were over. I am 46 years old now and have been gambling since I was 19. Before this 6 month gambling binge, I was a compulsive gambler on soccer games, mainly the English Premier league and other leagues in Europe. The amount of misery it caused me Is unreal. Games would somehow go against me, and I was done for 12 thousand euro with the last kick of the game on one occasion. Other times so called certainties would let me down. I lost count of what I lost overall but am guessing its between 120 and 150 thousand euro. I only started keeping track of what I was winning and losing in the last 6 months when I thought I had found a goldmine on backing horses to lose. It was remarkable how often the one horse I had backed to lose in a race would somehow get up to win. It was a sure sign to me that I am not meant to profit from gambling. It was like the universe was trying to tell me something if you believe in that kind of thing. I am 7 days gambling free today and all the other stories on here give me hope. Its like I have crossed a line and am starting a new life. When I think of the damage that thieving demon has done to me, I can never go back.

Thank you Aries, much appreciated. Like us all here, I have tried to quit gambling on many occasions and failed. However I feel this time the outcome may be different for me. I quit when I had a considerable amount of money still in my account. All the other times I had hit zero euro. The 17,700 euro I lost on my latest binge or system was seemingly the last straw for me. I knew in all possibility that these remote long shots would keep winning from time to time and in 6 months time my losses would be double the amount or more. I have reached a point of hatred for gambling that couldn't be possibly imagined. This thief will rob no more of the money I worked so hard to save. If a pickpocket or thief robbed us of thousands in money or even our life savings how would we feel? We would be furious at the thief and demand justice and rightfully so. We should treat gambling as the thief it is. Anyway 10 days gambling free today. Onwards and upwards. There is some great posters in this forum. Keep up the good work everyone.

Hi Sconced,

Glad to see that you had made the decision to quit gambling and have managed to quit for more than 10 days.

It is a sickness or disease that will always try to creep back into our lives, and we need to take solid measures to prevent it.
Taking the first step to realise that we have a problem is always the hardest step.
I feel that we need the support of others. I reached out to my sibling, my spouse and some strangers (in the gambling support group) for help. And I'm glad I did so. I remember this being my lowest point in dealing with this addiction.

Stay strong, keep you focus on other areas of life, and knock off that gambling thought AS SOON AS IT STARTS to mess with your mind.

5 months of gamble free.
Today I will not gamble.

Last day I placed a bet: 24th Aug 2022.

Thank you RicardoG. Yes its a tough battle indeed. I was surprised that the urges for gambling crept back as quick as they did in spite of my recent losses. It was a good job that I excluded myself from all the online betting exchanges or there could have been a risk of a disastrous return to gambling for me. When I gave up I also signed myself up for betting exchanges I hadn't previously signed up for and then immediately excluded from them. As a result I am no longer in a position to place bets online. It would be too much hassle for me to ask someone I know to use their identity and bank account to start up again. The exchanges also make clear that they will forfeit all money in an online account if someone uses a false identity to set up an account. I have lost enough already to risk losing even more. So I have effectively locked myself out of the online betting world which can only be a good thing in the long term. Interestingly I no longer have a problem with the bricks and mortar shops, the shops you have to walk into to make a bet. The last time I placed a bet in a shop was 2008. They don't offer the betting to lose odds that the online exchanges do. Thats what lured me in. As I said in my first post, you would think betting to lose was easy, but that's the time your selection will win. Its called lay betting, betting for something to lose. As another punter said to me, if you back them they will lose and if you lay them they will win. If there was 20 horses in a race and I one of them to lose, that one horse would get up and win, believe it or not. Even if he was a huge outsider at long odds. It happened more times than you'd believe. There is never any luck with gambling money, even money won gambling. Its only used as further ammunition for more gambling. Its the devils money. Anyway its 2 weeks today since I placed my last bet. I am feeling a little better now, but there's a long way to go. Each day away from it is a win. I haven't told anyone close to me. I feel it would do more harm than good in my situation. Every person is different though. If you feel it would be good for you tell them, its something you instinctively know whether to confide or not. I feel coming on here and reading similar stories is sufficient for me.

Sconced wrote: Its the devils money.

It is ironic for you to say this. In fact, I feel and I know that gambling is not of God.
Anything that is not of God, belong to the evil one.

Sconced wrote:I haven't told anyone close to me. I feel it would do more harm than good in my situation. Every person is different though.

Yes, everyone is different. GA might not work for some. Pick the methods or ways which works best for you.

Sconced wrote:I feel coming on here and reading similar stories is sufficient for me.

Yes, there are a vast resource of real stories here. You will feel the plight very much as your read them since all compulsive gamblers think the same. Use their experiences and advises to your advantage. Wishing you success in your journey of being totally GF.

Last day I placed a bet: 24th Aug 2022.
Today, I will not gamble.

It will 6 months of GF on the 25th Feb 2023