I just read this post on gamcare.org.uk. Everyday new people join and all the stories are very similar. I have been gambling for over 30 years. I made it pay for almost 20 of them. These days it's no longer my primary form of income and I have winning weeks and losing weeks. The time wasted studying form and the stress involved make me wish I could just pack it up. Then the next good thing comes along.
Bob has stopped for 14 months now. I stopped on Monday !!! Anyone else wish they could just give it up?
Below is the sad story I read this evening.
Hi there.
I've been addicted to gambling on and off for the past seven years. It started with occasional trips to the casino with the boys at uni but stemmed into me betting on tv roulette by myself. Late night I'd be awake gambling, to tired to go to uni the next day. Whenever I got paid I would wait up until the money had came through and had sometimes lost all my wages by the morning. With this led to a vicious cycle of payday loans to fund my habit as well as working a lot more to pay them off, neglecting my university course. This came to a head when I stole money from my parents to help pay off a debt. They discovered this and helped me out like any money and father would. My mum kept hold of my money for me but as soon as I was trusted again I was straight back to gambling online again. This lasted for another 3 years, in time which I flunked out of uni but I was too ashamed to admit this to my parents so pretended I was still going, all the time still gambling. My dad caught me out on occasion and I promised I would stop and he agreed to help me.
My gambling stopped after I had to admit that I was no longer attending uni, it had got to the point where I was due to graduate and I had to come clean. At this time I went cold turkey, no gambling, and I was happier for it. I never really thought about it. I was doing well. This all changed when I got tempted to put on a couple of football coupons, nothing major. Went on for a couple of months with nothing major, thought I was controlling it well. Then one weekend I won £1500 playing roulette online, I couldn't believe my luck. This got more amazing as I went out on the Sunday night, and with not being able to remember it though drinking, I had won 15 grand. It was brilliant, I paid for my pals to go on holiday, took my girlfriend to Amsterdam, but some things. Thought that all the grief gambling had caused me had stopped right here. But I couldn't stop. The nets just became larger. This money yoyoed up and down, I'd lose it all, win it all back, at one point incredibly I had 130 grand through playing online blackjack. It should have been enough to buy a flat but it all disappeared and I was left chasing what I had.
At this point I was trying to get my life together, had moved into a flat with my girlfriend, went back to college to try and do something with myself, but I couldn't escape the gambling. I had a student loan for the first time and all it seemed to provide was extra money for the bookies. I meant to pay off my tuition fees with a lump sum I received but that all went on roulette. I managed to get by but the money never seemed to be enough. I started dipping into the bank account my girlfriend and I used to pay our rent, getting lucky that I was able to win the money back in time but it has now all came to fruition after I lost it. In my desperation I stole from my work to help pay the rent. I have been caught and now I am facing losing my job.
It's all out in the open which is a relief, and my girlfriend has been amazing, but I'm just lost with what to do. I know I can stop because I've done it before but I now have the financial burden of losing my job as well as the embarrassment of having to tell friends and colleagues what has happened. I'm not really sure what to do from here.
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