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    • #7814
      Sharpyusa
      Participant

      Hi everyone. I’m new to this forum and in glad I found it. For the past 7 years of my life, I’ve realized I have a serious illness that can not be cured. An illness that haunts me and over shadows me daily. An illness that I can’t hide from and somehow find ways of supporting it. I googled ” my wife is leaving me due to gambling” and this forum popped up. I’m in serious need of help because I can’t find no other way. There is no other way unless I open up. And after 7 years, I think it’s time.

      I was introduced to online sports gambling by a complete moron in an AOL chat room back in 2008. This evil person was going around messaging people telling them “I have an easy way of making money”. And of course, being a 24 yr old, I was extremely interested. This guy showed me a website where you sign up and they give you $1000 free credit line in exchange for your ID and the promise that you will pay them if you lose. They were located in Costa Rica. I agreed and this person started telling me what games to bet. I had no interest whatsoever in these sports and didn’t understand what was going on. After two weeks, I started feeling the buzz of these games and the excitement/reaction from the fans/players and the TV etc. after a while, I told that random guy that I didn’t want his help anymore and I could gamble myself. He kept bugging me so I blocked him. Then the losses kept on coming in. Loss after loss after loss then a win or two, and then loss after loss after loss. It all became a chase in the end. For 4 years this was a constant thing. I piled up a bunch of debt and looked like a moron in general life. Hid myself because I had no money to go out. Made excuses to my cc companies and other debts on why I couldn’t pay them. This went on until 2 years ago when I hit the online sports book for $52k. And like an idiot, only withdrew $16k and post the rest. I paid a lot of my debts and was somewhat happy.

      Now, I just lost $2k a week ago and my wife has figured out my illness/addiction. She wants to leave because she feels betrayed. She’s hurt that she didn’t know about this illness of mine. I now know I need help. It may be too late to stop her from going but I understand how she feels and know she deserves better than a useless scumbag like myself with a horrible illness. I know this illness cannot be cured but I need help. I need to talk to people and see if I can slow this down. I know it won’t stop 100% because I’ve tried to quit it before and it lasted 1 week of not gambling, and then the urges keep coming back. It calls you to gamble. It calls you to deposit by western union with a click of a button.

      Has anyone else been through the same situation as me? Has anyone been able to app this illness? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

    • #7815
      Dunc
      Keymaster

      <

      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.

      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!

    • #7816
      charles
      Moderator

      hi sharpyusa and welcome.

      Firstly to answer the question you most want answered – yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

      Check out the My journal Forum, you will see a lot of stories similar to your own. You will also see the success stories – what things are helping others that you could apply to your own situation?

      Don’t try and do it on your own, there is a lot of support avaialble these days. This site and others, places like Gamblers Anonymous, counselling and more. Things you can do like, restricting access to gambling funds, exclusion from gambling establishments and online blockers.

      There are no guarantees what is going to happen with your relationship but the actions that will help you stop gambling are rthe same actions that might help rebuild trust. However your current relationship turns out you need to be stopping gambling for YOu, then you will be in a better position for whatever relationships are in the future.

      Keep posting but I would recommend copying your story to the My Journal Forum; it’s a busier forum and you will get more feedback there.

    • #7817
      Sharpyusa
      Participant

      Thanks Charles! I will look into that forum now. Appreciate the help

    • #7818
      Allums00
      Participant

      Hi,

      I read your posts, I am also a sports gambler. I understand your pain. I wager on sports and lose it all on online blackjack.
      Last year I turned $25 into 650 over two months, and lost it all playing blackjack. I showed my wife what I had won she told me cash out, and I was planning too. I just wanted to be on the Mayweather Paquio fight to double up my money, but I lost before the fight came it was only a week away. This is an illness.. Sports betting requires discipline human beings dont have. Your a winner you hit the book for 52k that is skill, but the losses the dicipline it takes to manage a bankroll. Im bot sure how this works but I would love to exchange stories with you. Im in a similar situation maybe we can support each ither through our habit

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