gambling addiction - advice

Been gambling for a while now. Football acca's, roulette, poker.. you name it

Ive tried to stop by just trying to quit but i always spend spare money to gamble. My gambling has NOT affected any of my relationships negatively but it HAS caused financial stress. Some days i win some days i lose. Now control is starting to spiral and am seeking some serious advice.

I constatly tell myself that I will stop soon come but the factor of making quick money always somehow attracts me to the bookies..

Any ex-gamblers can you provide advice on how you overcame your addiction?

Please dont recommend going to seek help through some sort councelling

Cheers

 

Chris?
Joking aside, look at it in the long run. What if something you don't see coming happens? With gambling something unexpected can always happen, whether it be good or bad do you want to take that risk?
Do yourself the favor and way the outcomes.. Do you want to risk your money to make money, or do you want to put at risk what you've worked hard towards to only to lose it all.

If it's bigger than this, seek counselling. I know it says it there but people over the internet aren't going to be able to help you for a problem which lies on the internet. Professionals > Random people over the web.

 

Check out this http://www.sythe.org/personal-support/1692216-lets-try-out-171-days.html

 

I used to stake a lot, for me if I didn't put myself in the situation then I wouldn't gamble. If I wasn't in the arena then I wouldn't gamble.

If you really want to stop go up to a mate and say "if I gamble I owe you $100" and if you're honest you will not do it anymore

 

Gambling goes beyond runescape staking tho, I realized the reason that people enjoy gambling so much is because it gives you a rush of dopamine. People that are fairly antisocial and have nothing going on in their lives besides video games and weed are more likely to be addicted to gambling.

Dopamine can be obtained from many more activities such as going to parties, kissing girls, playing guitar in front of a crowd, jumping off an airplane, etc. The reason you are addicted is because gambling is the most exciting thing currently going on in your life. Go do something more beneficial for you. Lift weights.

 

Gambling is bad in general. Your putting yourself through intense stress everytime you risk your money. Just mentally what gambling does to you should be your main reason to stop. It can destroy you. Stop while your ahead. If your gambling all your spare money now imagine what you would do if you had access to more money. It takes 21 days to break a habit. Don't risk a penny for a few months and you won't even think about it anymore. You'll forget you ever gambled

Edit : this is coming from a person who thought he'd make it big in the poker world

 

You nailed it. This is great, I read up on dopamine and what it does. Now planning to do more activities that can release dopamine. Strangely diet and exercise does have affects too!

 

What he has done is very clever! Thinking to adapt my own style and tick off days. The problem with this method I think is that by counting days, you are waiting for a day where you slip up. If you are definitive about something then there should be no reason to count days?

Just my opinion though..

 

I mainly posted that for you to get in contact with a guy who has struggled with his own gambling addiction

 

I have PM'd him, thank you for that!

 

Just play runescape, runescape addiction will overcome your irl gambling addiction unless you make your way to the duel arena, LOL.

 

Let someone else in control of your money.

 

Find a site that allows you to only gamble small amounts or gamble "fake" money to try to at least get the thrill without the downside.

 

Give your mates your money, so while you're all hyped and losing money, they can control you.

 

Having seen responses via PM, there are a few people who have problems gambling whether it be irl or through staking or dicing.

It is not a problem on how I spend my money. Well, in a way it is. The main problem is overcoming the addiction.

Hope this makes some sense.

 

I had a terrible gambling addiction, committed alot of crime to feed this addiction.
After a while you may start to realise how much you've actually lost over the period of your addiction, that's simply how gambling goes man. I noticed people above this post have said 'give your friend the money to hold on to' etc. But trust me, as a gambling addict you will find ways around this. All you have to do is take your mind off it by doing other things and finding other hobbies and slowly but surely you will stop.

I wish you all the best, Good luck.

 

Thats it! I've realised how much i have lost and it is pretty shocking. Like you mentioned finding hobbies to keep distracted is a step forward.
I have decided to spend more time reading and also going to the gym. As one user stated, finding activities which release dopamine are a good way to get that 'feeling of good rush'.

Will update this thread in a couple of weeks to see how I've gotten on!

 

Since everything we do is run by money, it's only natural to crave more. This is where gambling comes in. It's easy to put some at risk to make some. But when does gambling become bad?

Losing isn't bad, but when you have a clear disadvantage and you continue, that's when it's bad. Just don't risk what you're not willing to lose. And make sure you're not the underdog.

 

You need to put your losses behind you, a big reason why people gamble is because they have the mindset of ' i lost 1000$ ' gambling, so i just got to make it back then i can stop. they might end up making back 1100$, and realize well i'm up 100$ why not just gamble it and try to get up to more, then they end up losing the whole 1100$ and their back to square one, the point is if what you lost in the past is what's continuing to make you gamble then you need to put that behind you and realize if you stop gambling you can eventually make that money back from normal living incomes [ job etc ]

Point of the story is just give up the gambling, try your best to not do it anymore and don't harp on what you have lost before if that is what's making you continue

 

I gamble primarily on CS:GO now. Just yesterday I won $450USD worth of skins, sold them this morning on OPSkins before heading out to University. I was addicted if you rewind back a year and it was effecting my grades and finances. When my University threatened to kick me out because of my failing grades it really hit home as to how serious my addiction had gotten. So, over the holidays I went over to the islands and spent a month there where I had no access to the internet. It was a refreshment period and allowed me to adjust, when I got home I still had temptation but by actively distracting myself by piling on study whilst in the library I managed to berid myself of that never ending urge to gamble.

I do gamble still. But not as often as I used to, and I actually cash out when I'm up. I keep about $80 in skins within my inventory so if I have free time I can simply just throw in a $20 bet (coin flip/CT or T side) and if I am having a good day I'll leave with 2-4x what I put in.