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  • This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 4 years ago by HPT.
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    • #53156
      igor1984
      Participant

      Gambling has destroyed my life, here is my story.

      I started online poker when I was 16 than I transitioned to everything. I always had an entrepreneur mind and when I was 16 I was already making money selling goods on Ebay. I was making couple thousand a month, not bad for a kid in highschool, so I stopped going to school and focused on the business. That was the same time I started playing online poker and was winning for a while than started losing but not to serious. As I gradually started making more money through my online business I started depositing more into online poker and started visiting underground clubs in Nyc. When I was 20 I started a marketing company and started making real serious money. By 21 I was a millionaire.

      That’s when my dad took me to Atlantic City for my 21st birthday and I was never the same since. After that I would go to Ac every single week, play casinos online and would drop mostly everything I made with my business. I didn’t care because I knew I could make it back the next week. But then came the 2008 recession, since my business directly dealt with loan officers my business went bankrupt in the matter of days. I had very little saved even though I made over 1.5 million dollars in the matter of 2 years. Most of it lost to gambling. That is only the beginning of the story. Instead of just sucking it up, I wanted to keep gambling and living the miserable life so I started committing ATM fraud and kept going to casinos, playing poker and playing at online casinos. Shortly after I was arrested by the fbi and was offered a 27 month plea, so I took it. But after contemplating my options and wanting to keep living this miserable lifestyle I went on the run. Money ran out so I once again resorted back to atm fraud and after being on the run for almost 5 years and stealing over 1 million dollars I had nothing to show for it. Therefore I couldn’t afford a good lawyer and got 11 years in prison. The story doesn’t end there either.
      Apparently it is just as easy to chase your high in prison as it is on the street and it is just as easy to get drugs, gamble or whatever you’re into. So I continued this in prison often blowing all my commissary money on gambling and couple times I could not pay my debt and had to go into protective custody otherwise it would have been a serious problem for me as when you do not pay your debts in prison your life is immediately in danger. I finally sobered up and did my last 3 years in prison without placing a bet. I am now out after 8 years, 35 years and got nothing to show for it and am struggling to get on my feet. I had ambition, the drive and it was all ruined by gambling, this is a terrible disease and no better than heroin. I often times laughed at people and asked how they can stick a needle in their arm or a cigarette that has ammonia and other harmful chemicals. But gambling is absolutely no matter, because with heroin there is only so much you can do before you od, with gambling you can sit there for 72 hours and gamble everything away and put yourself in debt. This is my story and if you are steering down the same path its never too late to stop before your in my shoes today and your life is forever tainted as mine is right now.

    • #53157
      igor1984
      Participant

      Also forget to mention Working out really kept me sane in prison and I traded the very negative hobby of gambling for the very positive hobby of working out. I now eat very healthy workout 6 times a week even on the outside and I am not there yet but I am rebuilding my life. I am in good shape for 35 and people always think I am younger. Just rebuilding my life 1 day at a time. Although what scares me is that since I have been away Gambling is no longer secluded, casino’s popped up everywhere, so I hope I do not relapse. All I can do is take it one day at a time and not dwell on the past because dwelling over spilled milk is the worst thing you can do guys  I can sit here and dwell after being a millionare both legally and illegaly and now not having $10 to my name and begging people for work at minimum wage but I choose not to because I put myself in this position and once I get back up I will never let this disease destroy me again. Just get over how much you lost(you won’t get it back so stop trying, you will never break the casino but the casino will break you), the people you hurt(the only way you can make it better is by never doing it again), etc. and move foward and make sure you never repeat the same mistakes again. This is a tough disease but its beatable. Please stop now while it’s not to late.  Unfortunately it took me absolutely rock bottom to stop, hopefully for some of you, you can stop before hitting your absolute rock bottom.

    • #53158
      MurrS7
      Participant

      I have read 100’s of stories on here and I can say this is one of the hardest ones I’ve ever read. It sounds like a movie. I’m sorry man, I am truly lost for words on this one. All I can say is I commend you for having the courage to keep going with a positive mind set. Your story makes me feel like my gambling addiction was so very small compared to this, however we have all felt the wrath of this addiction and felt some of the same emotions from losing all of our savings, maxing out credit cards, going bankrupt, stealing , lying, the list goes on.. all to keep our addiction alive. I’ve never been a millionaire so I do not kno what that’s like, I think I’ve wanted to be a millionaire so bad since a young age and drive a Lamborghini, wear a Rolex , live in a mansion with a supermodel wife that gambling gave me false hope that it could get me there lol.. what a joke that was. I can’t even say I know what you’ve been through but again man I truly salute you for being able to stand here today after what you have been through in your life and preach positivity to us and it’s a real eye opener how this addiction seriously has no bottom, everyone’s rock bottom is different and can always get worse. I truly believe with your entrepreneurial background you will be a millionaire again before the age of 40, clearly you know how to get there, if you can do it once, You can do it again bro… this time you will never make the same mistake you did. If I was you I would see if you could ban yourself from all casinos in your state.. apparently they’re pretty serious and you will actually get charged if you try to go back to a casino you are banned from in some states. You can even do it online so you’re not tempted to gamble if you had to go in. I am rooting for you to overcome this and continue the rest of your life gamble free. You have just shown me that even when people have millions… it doesn’t matter we still want to feel that rush of gambling .. thank you for sharing this .. again… this one got me choked up.
      Take care brother.

    • #53159
      igor1984
      Participant

      Thanks for the encouraging words, bottom line is addiction is terrible and it can hit all people from all walks off life. It doesn’t discriminate, I have seen many people in jail who were good people and upstanding citizens their whole lives, some prominent people in their communities, and than they got addicted to something and wound up in the same place I did. If you got a gambling problem or any other addiction please join GA,AA or some other group because very few people can do it alone. If your thinking you can chase your losses and get it all back you are fooling yourself, please seek help immediately because you it will be never ending torture for you like it was for me, and you will wake up when it’s to late like me. THe only solution if you are addicted to this crappy disease is not to gamble at all, because if you start again you can be up a million dollars, but you won’t stop till you lose it all and than a million more. And than the next day you will think you can get it all back again, it is sickening the grasp it takes on you.

    • #53160
      dunc
      Participant

      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!

    • #53161
      HPT
      Participant

      Last year after a few years of good winnings, I Borrowing Money, lied to banks, to “invest” in the high probability options trades (HPT) that I understand that work… in the last 3 weeks I lost a lot of money, maybe the gains of 2 years, and some of the borrowing money… I have reduce positions hoping that will recover the money, but I’m sick of this game, and want to stop…

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