Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
A bit of a problem
#1
Hi everyone,

Firstly, massive congratulations on your success on stopping gambling. I've today decided to look up gamblers anon after finally admitting I have a bit of a problem. It may seem a fairly small problem in comparison to others; I'm not losing my house or my husband, but I'm still spending money on on-line bingo sites that I shouldn't be spending. Just the last two days I've spent nearly a days' pay in a matter of minutes, and we absolutely don't have that to spare. I've spent money that could have been used for days out with my young daughters, a bit of extra food money, etc etc, and I feel dreadful. This has been going on for years, many years, and although I've never gone silly and spent large amounts of money, it's always been when we don't have the money, which is basically always!!

I've tried all sorts, husband changing the password on the computer (but I also work on-line so need access when he's not around), tried restricting gambling sites, but then that restricts google, hotmail etc and I don't know why, I've tried simply stopping gambling and that NEVER works and I'm now at the end of my tether. I'm sick of hating myself for spending stupid money again, I'm sick of feeling I've let my husband down and sick of spending money that could have gone on something so much better. The problem is I've also won too, having won several hundred on slots in the last couple of months, only having spent a small amount of money, so I've got the 'bug'. I used to do bingo but now I've come across the slots not only do I spend more money but I spend it quicker, so it's not even enjoyable really as it goes in minutes.

I don't know what else to do. I work 30 hours a week and my husband works nights so I can't attend meetings, and by the looks of it the phone number is chargeable isn't it? And I can't afford bigger bills!

Any advice most gratefully received, I seriously need to do something about this as my morale is so low right now. Thanks x
Reply
#2
Hi there

I am in pretty much the same situation although I have lost thousands on bingo, slots, roulette... etc.

You said something in your post which smacked me in the face like an anvil. I WON. It happened to me too. I got hooked after winning and then falling into the trap of believing I was different to the "losers". Of course now I am a loser. Anyway in terms of things you can do.

Have you contacted the sites you've been using and asked them to suspend your accounts?

I'm not sure whether this is even possible but one thing I always considered doing was contacting my bank and asking them to block transactions I make to certain accounts, the sites will be on your bank statements so I'm sure they'd be able to identify which ones you mean. Might be worth asking them, although like I say whether it's possible, I'm not sure.

At the end of the day there is no easy way of stopping yourself from gambling online. It's too easy, right? You don't need to travel to a casino in the wind and rain. You don't get see the cash you're losing in real terms, i.e a pile of bank notes in your hand one minute and gone the next, the scary way. Nobody even knows you're there, in a virtual world, so how can anyone drag you away from it? My favourite trick was to have another browser window running behind the casino site so with one click anybody who looked at the screen would see I was only looking at Ebay or amazon or something similar. It's all TOO EASY!

Anyway I hope you can find a way of stopping yourself, if not for your sake, for your kids. You may not think that you're losing too much money now, but you will. You've gotten on the merry-go round and you're already justifying it by saying I'm not losing too much money. ANY LOSS is a LOSS, no matter how big or small. It's YOUR MONEY in somebody elses pocket! You really do sound like you're where I was four or five years ago, and I hope this sums it up for you... I'd give ANYTHING to be writing this to myself, back then.

Anyway keep in touch and let me know if any of those ideas worked.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)