[alloverfred123]

Hello, I just decided to take the first step in quitting gambling FOREVER. I recognise the warning signs and clearly I have finally to admit to myself I am a problem gambler before it gets worse. Today I just bet £1k in an almost casual fashion and lost. It was the usual attempt to make up for loses, This weekend has brought things to a head. I was up almost £3k for the month and was telling myself once I meet my ‘target’ will quit. As I was going on holiday I tried to make up some extra cash, then made on bet on football which was stupid, and then tried to make up for it when my backed team lost a goal by putting more on the team which had taken the lead. Of course my original backed team won in the end, so this panic induced action actually prevented a win. I only lost £400 by this, but this is when the spiral happened until the end of the weekend I must have lost over £5k. I decided tonight enough was enough. I am about to ‘self exclude’ myself from Betfair which I think is an important first step, I casually withdrew some savings to cover my overdraft -I now do not have much savings left, but I have to think on the positive side, I have not yet let serious problem become a serious catastrophe and as long as I pull back now then I think I can turn the corner. I will go on holiday with my family as planned – they will not know anything about my loses. I will not let this spoil anything for them.
Though I have messed up, on the positive side I believe I have a strong will and at least by admitting I have a problem I feel I have taken an important first step.
How did my gambling start – I read on he forum that often something drastic happens to someone that makes them start gambling. Well in my case i was diagnosed with leukaemia a while back. Then when I survived – I think again largely due to my positive thinking and will power, I thought to myself “Hey, life is risky, so why not take a risk on trading at football?” Plus I love sport and thought somehow I had some supernatural powers that always allowed me to predict outcomes and follow tends inplay. For a time I was moderately successful. But of course ultimately I was fooling myself. I remember one ocassion when Spurs were 3-0 up to Man City and also City had a man sent off just before half time – of course I thought I was safe to back Spurs, Guess what? Yes, Spurs lost 4-3. So in fact is shows what I knew deep down all along – football is totally unpredictable, who am I to say what will happen.
So as I said, tonight I have finally decided to pull back from the abyss. I am used to following chat lines and forums, when I was at my worse state with the leukaemia, and thought I might even die, they were a great comfort. Similarly I think this will be a great comfort as well. I managed to survive the leukaemia (though not cured) and if somebody had told me 15 years ago, when I was diagnosed, I would be as fit as I am now, I would have jump for joy. Every year I repay the treatment I have and also pay homage to those that have lost their lives to this horrible disease by running the half marathon in aid of the Leukaemia Research Fund. I should now devote the extra energy to training rather than gambling. Otherwise, I am quite clear the consequences will be very bad. So I have now to focus on the positives, I am alive, I do not hAVE MUCH money thanks to the gambling but I am not seriously in debt either. I am confident I can beat gambling just as I beat the leukaemia first time round. I will continue to love sport, but I will no longer gamble to ‘enjoy it’
I wish all others here great success with their own fights. I will post again to tell you how I get on. I am aobut to withdraw the remaining £300 in my account and then self exclude. Bye Bye Betfair, hello new world
AlloverFred123

[alloverfred123]

Well just a quick update, I have successfully taken the first step, I self excluded myself from Betfair. Now if i am tempted to gamble again, I can’t. And Betfair (or indeed other online sites) just make it so easy…I would never have dreamt of walking into a betting shop after all! As Betfair is really the only site that interested me, I know this is an important first step. I smiled when I read another poster saying they had not gambled for 2 hours. Well I can beat that, I haven”t gambled for 20 minutes! I am confident I can beat this thing – in fact I am excited by the challenge. I ‘beat’ my leukaemia (in the sense it did not kill me) and I can beat this thing as well.
I hope I can also offer some support to others on this line – as I said I am an ‘old hand’ at these help forums having used the leukaemia chat lines. If anyone can offer me words of encouragement that would also be most welcome.
Keep strong everyone, focus your mind on anything you like except gambling – this will help.

[Dunc]

Hi Fred
Thank you for posting on the Gambling Therapy forum. As you are a GB resident you are entitled to free online support through the Gamcare website at http://www.gamcare.org.uk/ .
You could also consider residential treatment which you can find out more about by following the below link:
http://www.gordonmoody.org.uk/
As Gambling Therapy are unable to support people from Great Britain can I suggest that you now copy and paste your post into one of the Gamcare forums where you will receive responses from others in a similar situation to you from all over Great Britain.
You can also access online or face to face group support through Gamblers Anonymous:
http://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/
We wish you well in your recovery.
Kind Regards
The Gambling Therapy Team

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