[Sentinel]

hi. I am 50 – married no kids.

i started matched betting about three years ago and did quite well but discovered online casinos as part of it. When the matched betting profits dried up I found that I was making small profits on the slots and did that for a whole -. I managed to keep it under control and then about this time last year I won 8k on a slot. It was great -I paid off a loan and had some money in the bank. I felt really good.

but then I kept dipping into those winnings to play again with some success but I started to worry I wasn’t controlling it. I spent a lot of money on my hobby [hoseriding[ and took out another loan and did some financial jiggers pokery to 

[Sentinel]

It’s not working that well with this forum.

To continue – I created more debt but it was still,well within my means and I took a timeout on all the gambling sites. It was fine.

Then my timeouts expired in October and since then I’ve just been spending more and more. I opened another credit card to transfer some balances and pay off with a better interest rate but have built them up again. I topped up my loans so now I have two and tonight I’ve just spent all the money I had left that should have covered my loan payments due on Monday

I just kept trying to win and pay things off ad it just got worse and worse.

I now have just over ￡30k in debt across all my loans and credit cards and I will owe paypal 1k as I used it to deposit then cancelled the DD on my bank account so the payments don’t go out.

It’s a mess. My husband has no idea and I am so ashamed. I want to be debt free and enjoy these years now I’m earning a decent salary but I’ve totally fecked it all up. I may be able to cover the minimum payments for everything but there will be nothing spare and I will never get ahead enough to pay it off.

[Steev]

Hello Sentinel, good to hear from you at this difficult time. It sounds like you have a problem with gambling and need to stop. No more chasing losses, you need to put a line under them and find other ways to pay your debts off. This won’t be easy, you need good financial advice and lots of support. Cut yourself off from credit. Bar yourself from gambling sites and premises – put the time into your recovery that you put into gambling. Look at ways of spending time profitably to help ease the debts and give you less time to gamble with. If you have no time and no access to money then you can’t gamble.

Get good support for yourself. See if there is a group local to your area – GA or similar. Come to groups here. If you feel you can, share your story with a loved one or trusted friend, it will make the journey easier. I wish you well.

[Jezi]

I understand that you feel ashamed, i think all of us compulsive gamblers do. How do you think your husband would react if you told him?

Could you maybe ban yourself again to start with to make sure you dont gamble? I know its hard and that there probably are other options to gamble depending in where you live but it could be a start maybe since you didnt gamble before when you had blocked yourself. 30 k is a lot of money but if you have a decent salary im sure you can pay it off and be fine if you stop now. I wish you the best of luck and that you are feeling a little better today.

Jez

[dunc]

Hello and thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy forums

Here at Gambling Therapy we pride ourselves on being a caring and diverse online community who can help and support you with the difficulties you’re currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if you’re new to recovery, so come here as often as you need to and participate in the forums, access online groups and connect to the live advice helpline if you need one to one support. We’re in this together!

Here on the forum you can share your experiences in a safe, supportive and accepting environment. The beauty of writing it all down is that you can take your time and you will be creating a record of your progress that you can look back on if it ever feels like you’re not moving forward. So, share as much or as little as you like but do try to stick to keeping just one thread in this forum so people know where to find you if they want to be updated on your progress or share something with you.

As well as the forums New Members are invited to join Charles in the New Members Practical Advice Group On Mondays at 21:00 (UK) and Thursday at 19:00(UK)

And on that note….

I’m going to hand you over to our community because I’m sure they will have some words of wisdom for you ??

Take care

The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

[Muallif]

Xabarlar