Gambling

Is ruining my life and I hate it.

ARGH.

[edit on 1-11-2005 by John bull 1]

It's unfortunate that nobody's replied to this thread, so I will.

Dude, I know where you're coming from. I once had a gambling addiction. I had two or three bookies. I lived to gamble. I threw away tens of thousands on gambling with an income that couldn't support it.

Just so you know it is possible to stop. If you can get by a month without gambling it's all gravy from there. Instead of thinking about how much you could have won had you made a particular bet, think about the sure money you'll have in your pocket by not laying it. The old saying "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" comes to mind. You just have to get by the "I could of had" feelings.

If you want talk about it just U2U me. I've been there before.

Peace

[edit on 31-10-2005 by Dr Love]

Cheers for replaying,

Its not like I'm chucking that amout of money away, I'm only 18 so my disposable income really isn't that much, its just say if I get 30 pounds i'll go bet 20 of it without fail. Going to chill on it this week and see if I can not gamble.

I live in a small eastern town in Canada. VLT, Video Lottery Terminals, are very big around here and it is an extremely political issue. So many people are losing their children and homes over the money they are losing in these machines. In my town it would be rare to find someone who is not related to somebody with this addiction. My own grandmother has a problem with it, and i fringe everytime i watch her pop bills into the machine. Even when they win, they play it off and still lose. :bnghd:


I do not know you personally, but believe me I have seen much of my family go through the same thing. Cant smile without giving the machine a shot, but when the bill comes in crying because they do not have the money. It is very unfortunate and I can not understand the illness myself, but I wish you all the best.

Let me just say Blackjack is evil.

I don't bet on anything. Almost never....... :shk:

I'm probably not the best person to reply to this thread because the only money I spend on gambling is a couple bucks on the lottery. And that total might come out to $5.00 per month at the most.
I've been to Las Vegas and Reno, and I have casinos near where I live, but I have no desire to place a bet or play a game other than throwing $10.00 in quarters at a slot machine. (I think I did that once, about ten years ago...)

I feel for you because this is affecting your life, even though I don't understand the addiction.
Maybe this thread will teach me something. I live with other addictions, :w:
but gambling isn't one of them.

Good Luck To You.....
Try To Keep Your Money In Your Pocket......

[edit on 1/11/2005 by anxietydisorder]

Thanks for the replies...

I'm going to see how hard it will be to get through the week without spending any money in the bookies.

Here goes day 1...

keep us posted, I for one am keeping an eye. All the best too yah

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Let me just say Blackjack is evil.

dj,
That is my favorite game! When the casinos don't thow me out that is. I have a photographic memory and it is very easy for me to memorize the cards played in a 6 deck shoe. after the 3rd hand of a new shoe, i can pretty much tell you the suit and number of the next card to come out.
Example, went to the casino on Saturday and again on Monday. I used $80 for stake money, after giving the wife $2000 of the winnings (to keep her playing), I still came home with over $5000.

But I also know what the author is on about as my wife has blown thousands on the slot machines and once or twice even used our mortgage payments in her gambling. I finaly set down a rule that she could only go when I am with her not only to win money but also to control how much is lost.

Originally posted by phixion
I'm going to see how hard it will be to get through the week without spending any money in the bookies.

Here goes day 1...

How are things going?????

Hmph.

Ok well I got through Monday, got through tuesday, ended up going in the bookies on Wednesday because a few of my mates had something on a horse. Put a quid in the roulette and walked with a tenner, nothing amazing but better than losing another fifty or hundred.

Went in on Thursday, lost five quid and just walked out which is very unusual for me, I usually don't walk until I'm skint.

Today I lost 15, not going well lol.

So here we go again, another week, will I quit....

The only gambling that ever interested me is the horses.

I used to go to "Lone Star Park" in the Dallas Area.

I loved that park because you could get within 10 ft. of a horse before the race. (You have to understand that I paid my way through college with student loans and working on ranches in Texas. Anyone who knows horses can spot 2/3 of the losers at close range.)

I would tuck $30 in my shoe, and go for the Friday evening. It was a ritual. Cut work after a multimartini lunch, pick up the daily racing form, run my numbers . . . (I have a formula I used on the horse's stats.) Then go down to the track for the first 6 races.

Most Fridays, I had a net loss of $10 bucks in all races. The reason was, I won a little bit, but after you subtract parking, beer(!), a burger from the restaurant, etc, the evening DID cost about 10.

I'll tell you this though. I when Frau Dr. told me she was preggers for the first time, I've never played since. This father doesn't gamble when he is responsible for childrens' welfare. period.

****

See, I can say all that because it was a ritual, but not an addiction.

So we won't talk about opiates, which for a number of years were, to paraphrase Marx, the Masses of my religion.

Everybody's got their demons. What you don't master will eventually master you.

Carolina -3 1/2 over Buffalo Big bet of the day!

Gambling is great if you have the money to do it. If you have to win you need to stop.

I starting an online sports betting account a couple of months ago. I have built my original $300 investment to over $800. Having an online account is great because you can never bet money you don't have.

The key is to have fun and not go crazy. I have never betted over $50 on one game and usually keep my bets around $10-$20.

I also love Blackjack. When I do play I bring only $200 and many times I have left with nothing. But there are the times that I have walked out with $2,500 and 1 time $5,000!

I used to be a bit of a hold 'em player, just before it got to be the big thing. Never played for too much, maybe blew $80 at most on a bad night, most of the time came home roughly even if not ahead. Always played the friendly back-room games though, never in a casino and only one barroom tourney (which was still mainly with friends anyways.)

But I know what it's like to be addicted to it--you get that "one more hand" glazed look in your eyes, and that last deal only comes up when you're broke. It's great to see you're doing good with it--I think if you can just keep it in check like you have been.

One thing that always helped me keep from getting into the "one more hand" mindset was taking the cash I planned on playing--$20, $40, whatever--and thinking of it as gone the minute I walked in the door. I was paying to have a good time, like going to the movies or something, and I wasn't trying to score my rent money (and not playing with the rent money either.) Try to keep it as a game, you'll be able to walk away a lot easier I'll bet (pun partially intended.)

Keep it up man.

Good luck with the not gambling thing.

My dad is a compulsive gambler and now that he's almost 70 I can safely say that it has pretty well trashed his life.

My dad's an extremely intelligent man and a lawyer. He has declared bankruptcy probably 5 times that I can remember. He has two grown children that haven't spoken to him in years and never plan on doing so again. Gambling destroyed his marriage (all four of them), his career, his relationships with his children and many of his friendships. I can't remember the last time my dad had a home of his own; he lives off the kindness of people he hasn't screwed over yet.

Forgive me if I seem harsh but this is a very touchy subject for me. My father's gambling habit had an immense impact on our family and it wasn't a positive one.

If you are truly a compulsive gambler then you need to stop cold turkey. There is no 'just one more hand' because the next one is always the big winner. You're young, you still have time to get this under control.