I read your storyand its similar to mine. It is better to start for solutions and get rid of your financial limits and cards which can be a barrier for u. Since u attended to GA meetings and u were successful to stop this i see that u can do it and u really want it. You can write me anytime, i am also coping with this addiction at the moment, i wish u good luck! And believe u that u can control this..

Yes i?ve posted my story. I started to fight gambling addiction in 2013 and after a big win in 2015 i started to take it under pressure however i could never control it. Things i have done;
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n- self excluded from almost every casino
n- self excluded from almost every well known websites
n- had new hobbies
n- gamblock software
n- and sworn many times
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nHowever, this thing beaten me all the time, but in 2013-2014 i was going to casino everyday and smoked weed to ease pain after every loss. During that time i lost my friends, lost thousands, got weight + 20 kilos, and my mental health was almost gone.
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nIn 2016, i decided to take therapies and started to continue my education this helped me a lot. During that period of two years,
nI smoked twice and played 4 times but all was limited and didn?t had any financial issues. After all;
n2018 played two times (2 days)
n2019 Played 3 times (3 days)
n2020 played 2 times (2 days)
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nThe most important thing is that in the last 3 sessions i lost a lot and depression that i faced was so high. After all i admitted myself that i have a problem.
nI don?t play often but in 2 days i play with high amounts and facing severe emotional effects.
nOn july 1,2020 i said to myself that is enough and now i decided to join weekly GA meetings, contacted a therapist and closed all bank accounts except one.
nEven i stopped weed for a year, i never drink and smoke and as a charachter i?m a strong one but against gambling i am defenseless..
nSo my advice is that if you play again you will probably lose becaue for a gambler money is not the priority.. besides odds are favor of the house.. if u don?t feel like this again take the first step.. by the way i reduced and controlled this habit with help of 12 steps guide.
nMy last advice is now enjoy the recovery and wait for good days, i know u can do it and we can heal only by time.
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Hi there, sorry to hear that but you can give another try. As i wrote you i was able to stop this for a long time but what i learned from GA meetings is that recovery lasts last time.
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nOur brains always finds an excuse to play,i will write you my personal experiences below, however what i learned is those excuses are lies but nothing else;
nSome if mine excuse and results;
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n1) i never play online, i don?t trust websites so i go casinos (i lost in maybe 25 online casinos)
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n2) In the real casino i feel money and i can immediately withdraw so better go there, online casinos pending transactions makes me lose (i could withdraw only 3-4 times all this time and self excluded after every loss)
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n3) In side bets i can win more in online casinos so lets register and see
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n4) I will play with only 500 as a hobby and never reach this..
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n5) I lost last times but this will change now, i can?t be losing all the time
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n6) after a long sessiom with a losing streak;
n I lost because this person was there
n I lost because my phone rang
n I lost concentration and lost because of my family is looking for me..
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nAfter all, since this addiction is progressive, i start to lose every session that i played and found that this addiction was even organizing my holidays througy my subconsciousnes.
nI played in Vegas, Brussels, Zurich, Venice, Monte Carlo, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Budapest, Helsinki, Prag, Wien and many others and in the end there is no single win.
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nSo my advice again; Decide not to play, fight with urge and quit all credit cards and reduce to only one bank account. Use gamblock and gamban, self exclude yourself from the both online and offline casinos.

Buy yourself a small present after every successful month to motivate yourself. But take your decision and say yourself that you are done with this addiction.

Hi Ed, You gambled Saturday and you gambled yesterday. It’s done, can’t be changed. Now what would have stopped you? It sounds like you had very easy, fast access to funds with which to gamble. What are you going to do to change that?
nI think we have established that none of us are the type of person who can walk away when winning, that’s why we are here.
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nWords, promises and intentions never stopped anyone gambling – so what actions can you take?
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What’s to understand? it is an addiction. Now you either continue acting like the addiction wants you to act or you take actions so that you can have a great gamble free life. Maybe pop into a group here.

Hello, just wanted to let you know I am in same position. I had stopped gambling for month, I paid off my credit card and had savings in my ac***** for the first time this year. This week, I had a very good week at work, i felt on top of the world and thought to myself I have some extra money… I can’t treat myself to just a little bit of online gambling… fast forward to now (friday night) my Mastercard is once again maxed out and my savings are gone.? I too suffer .. I too do not know how to stop… I’m addicted to losing…. BUT feeling sorry for myself never got me anywhere except trying to chase the lose with more betting….. the best thing I can do for myself is surround myself with family and friends this weekend, ***** my blessings and start fresh.?

And YES you do need a support system, admitting my problem to those closest to me was the most embarrassing thing I ever had to do, But it helped me having someone to support me who isn’t online…. the fact that you are scared of worrying them tells me that you have a very caring family. They will worry more if you have a problem and dont get help.?

Hi Ed,

your addiction has got to the point of not allowing you to keep a penny of what you earn.

its time to admit that you are out of control when it comes to gambling. you need to accept that this is a path of destruction for you.

1. lose access to money. Cut up cards and let someone you trust handle your money for now

you are betting big like I did and as a result lost large amounts rapidly. Think of all the opportunities that money could have brought you and say to yourself you won’t let that continue. you are the one losing out here buy buying into a false dream.

you Need professional help and no access to money.

please make a change today for you own peace of mind and happiness ?

You wrote: „obviously im not capable to handle this by my own …“

That is correct.? I have never met anyone who was able to stop this behaviour without support from someone else whether that be from family or a support group or a professional like a doctor or a counsellor.?

It may worry your parents.? It will worry them more when you come up against the inevitable consequences of continuing to gamble – bankrupcy, homelessness, prison, possibly even suicide.?

Get help now.? Read through the posts in this forum to see what others have done and do the same.? Loose access to money, access to gambling sites and find other things to do with your time.? And beyond all else get the support you undoubtably need.? I wish you well.

it shouldn’t ?matter if someone lost the same amount or more than you ed. Focus on recovery steps and read some of the stories of others on this forum?

Ed I think that?s a really good question – I think what you are asking is are there others who have sank as far as you feel you have or are you completely out of control and beyond hope?
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nI often had big wins – most of us have- and one day I realised that I would never ?win? again because I had lost the ability to withdraw no matter how much I won. I would stay playing for hours and hours until the balance eventually reached zero.
nI would promise myself when I reached a certain amount I would withdraw only to ignore my promise once I reached that amount.
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nI also realised quite quickly that by not gambling those amounts built up in my bank anyway … ok a lot slower than with a win but the money is in my bank rather than in my dreams!
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nI needed a lot of support to stop gambling but I have been stopped for almost a year – it sometimes is a battle still and I guess I will have that temptation for a long time.
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nI would suggest you talk to your doctor or an organisation which offers support such as counselling. GA is a good start but many of us need more than that. I could have gambled for 24 hours until my money ran out but I managed to stop with the right support.
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nSo in answer to your question the answer is yes , there are people similar to you who could not withdraw no matter how big the win, who felt they could never stop but who are now living happy gamble free lives. You can do it too and you deserve to be free from this as much as anyone else.
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n
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– i also lost the ability to withdraw whatever the balance it took me a lot to realize this. I would love to share an experience to show how strong this addiction;
nIt was 3 years ago, i went to a vacation and of course around evening i visited the Casino. I played for an hour, won around 400 hundred and left the casino, bought some souvenirs etc. But after a while i came back again..
nI played like crazy like 5 hours and i lost around 5K usd. I was faraway from home, got only 20 Usd and 10 km to hotel. All my cards and accounts are cashed out. I was crying, having pain in my stomach.. then i started to play Baccarat with my last 20 bucks. A miracle happened in an hour and from 20 to 6 thousand, i made it!! I got rest, ate, gave tips etc. and i sat again , i promised myself, u can lose until 1.000 because you are up.. when i was down to 4.900 i lost control.. that night under the rain i walked to hotel 10 km.. survived eating last 4 days with hotel breakfast and ruined my trip…
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nAs a summary;
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n- You can promise to yourself as much as u want, but once u sit on the table, you will be always losing control
n- This is also maths, in the long run house always wins because of the edges.
n- cut the funds and go cold turkey with this. I could do this for a year but what i learned from here Is that we should do everything one day at a time..

Ed, you are not unique. The lack of control you speak about applies to pretty much everyone here. None of us could stop when we were winning, none of us could control things and most of us kidded ourselves that we could.
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nNow 2 out of 3 sites banned you? Goon, not it’s time for YOU to take control and YOU can ask that 3rd site to ban you – choose the permanent/longest option available.
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nKeep posting

I agreee with Charles

Blocking is a fabulous way forward, sure there are loads but the more you exclude from the higher your resolve. its not juts about blocking its reinforcing your own desire

2 other options?

If your uk Gamstop?

Blocking software please see our Blocking page?

Its easy to come up with multiple reasson why something wont work, so fall bacl on the reasons you need to try?

GA Zoom meetings will help you?

I’d strongly recommend getting yourself banned from that site Ed. they only give those credits for one reason – to tempt you back.
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nIf I stepped off the kerb with out looking I would probably be ok, if I kept doing it then sooner or later I would get hit by a truck. Hopefully see you in a group soon.

Hi ed, how come you were triggered after 5 months of not gambling? You seemed to be doing so well

Hi Ed,

Read previous advice. Get yourself banned from those sites. If you lost 4k in an hour t sounds like you have easy, fast, unaccountable access to funds. How can you make yourself accountable? What barriers are you going to put in place? What extra support are you going to connect with? I look forward to hearing the positive steps you are going to take.

hi Edhavana,
the past has happened and no way to change it. what you can change is what you are doing now and what you will do to prevent it from happening again. this is what is important now. don’t give up, you have done really well by staying 5 months free of gambling. check what went wrong.. what caused this relapse and plan on how to prevent it in the future.
I know it sucks, I been there many many many times. but we have to start over and learn from our mistakes.

I have been exactly in this situation many times, if I got unexpected money, as a bonus check, or if I applied for a loan to buy a car or something, as soon as the money is in my account the urges will start and will not stop until I give it up all to gambling…., I have relapse 12 days ago and I have received my salary before 2 days, the money came in and the urges started with it. our drug is the money so don’t keep any extra money with you.

for credit\debit card you can just scratch the 3 digits in the back then you can’t use them online, or bock them and order new and scratch the new if you have it autosaved or if you still can remember the 3 digits.
put a web blocker, I am using coldturkey blocker it is hard to switch it off.
and the main thing is to limit your access to money, the easiest way is to give control to your partner or to a family member.

one more thing I can really relate to in your post is doing well for few days and losing everything in few hours, my analysis to this in my case that my brain was screaming I need a rest but the addiction was keeping me in the game until a point where my brain figure out the solution to this situation is to lose everything so he can rest and survive.

Hi edhavana,

Sorry to hear that you have slipped and went back to gambling after a few months.

Charles asked some great questions back in December last year after a similar slip that seem just as relevant to this recent slip.

If you lost 15k in 3 days, it sounds like you have easy, fast, unaccountable access to funds. How can you make yourself accountable? What barriers are you going to put in place? What extra support are you going to connect with?

Answering these questions will be very important to reduce the chances of being able to stay gamble-free. If you give them some though, and provide your answers here, the community can provide feedback and advice on any additional steps you could take based on their own experiences.