[mutley]

Hi, everyone. I can’t sleep and I’m thinking of gambling AGAIN! it’s such a nightmare. I have tried a lot of things to stop myself from gambling but it is everywhere nowadays, every shop, every town, every device and so many adverts on the TV, it just goes to show how much money the gambling companies are making because there must be 10’s of thousands of gambling sites worldwide and they are all making money, mainly out of addiction as no right-minded person would be capable of losing so much money without pulling themselves up about what they are doing. When you are addicted though you just burn through the cash like it’s breathing air, until of course, the air runs out and you suffocate! I have signed up to Gamstop which is a very good tool but the gambling companies can get around it and don’t bother registering with the Gambling Commission so don’t need a UK licence but can still operate in the UK. I have been bombarded with texts and emails off of gambling companies that basically advertise they aren’t a part of the Gam-stop scheme. I have defaulted on all my loans so I can’t get credit anymore which is good. I started playing again last year after the lockdown in my local haunt but self-excluded again for a year after losing £900 in 3 hours. I was putrid beyond belief. I have a go on the bandits in the pub now and then but they can take you for £500 quid if you let them in an hour or two. I can’t do the lottery either as self-excluded from that site as well. I’ve heard something about asking the bank to stop payments to online casinos but not sure if that’s right or not I haven’t looked into it yet. I’m not as bad as I was once I would gamble every day but I go a few weeks now but then fall back into it. I haven’t got as much money these days so that stops me a bit. It is like hell on Earth TBH. I can’t understand why they let you do it so easily given how addictive it is, they may as well sell you crack cocaine if they say it’s ok to gamble. I’m ranting I know blah blah blah blah …….See you soon Mutley.

[Losingitslowly]

After all that you just said, why are you thinking of gambling again? You seem to be a victim of the online sites, the land based casinos et al, and you seem to have a good understanding of the disease and its effects, so why are you thinking about it at all other than to run screaming the other way? Gamstop is A tool but not the only one. I have gamban on all of my devices to stop me from being able to play at home. It’s not enough to trust gamstop if it is so easily breachable. Take your attempts one step further to make it easier to avoid the temptation when it hits and self exclude anywhere in driving distance so that you cannot go in. The urge starts to lessen after a while so give yourself some time gambling free by making it harder. I hope that you are gamble free today.

[charles]

Hi mutley and welcome back.

Several banks in the UK give you the option to exclude payments to gambling sites. Barclays, Monza and Starling Banks off the top of my head but I expect most do nowadays.

You’ve tried a lot of things? How about posting here regularly? Getting to GA every week? Restricting your access to funds so you can’t gamble?

Report your debit/credit cards lost/damaged. When the new ones arrive get someone else to open them and scratch opff the 3 digits on the back, then you can’t register them on any new sites.

Yep. you can lose £5oo quite easily in those pub machines – but only if you go into the pub with that sum of money available to you.

Keep posting and let us know the positive steps you are taking to avoid your next bet. Also the alternative activities you are doing to fill the void that stopping gambling leaves.

[mutley]

Hi, Guys. Thanks for the reply, it really does mean a lot to me and others to whom you have replied that you care enough to do so. I know I have a problem with gambling. ( I don’t like to use the term addict even though I know I’m addicted and I will be addicted until I leave this weird and wonderful place) I have put a lot of things in place to stop myself from gambling over time, trust me. I have in the past installed Gamblock on my devices but I was that hell-bent on gambling one day I went and spent £500.00 on a new laptop to circumvent the blocking software. I went on to lose 2.5K that day, a sole destroying amount of money (credit card) I self-excluded from 98% of landbased casinos in the UK under the Sense scheme about 7 years or so ago but I reversed it once the time was up, having said that I didn’t actually play on the day I reversed the exclusion as I had a 7-day cooling-off period I think it was or it might have been 24hrs I can’t remember now but I haven’t set foot in one since I first self-excluded, so that really helped. I have self-excluded from all the bookies in the town I used to live in and the nearest city which also helped but you can only self-exclude for a certain amount of time on all of these schemes, once it runs out and you give notice you want to be able to go back in, you can and it all starts again if you can’t control the habit. I think the slogan if the fun stops, stop is offensive because the gambling companies know that you are addicted and in many ways, they are just pacifying the Gambling Commission and the government as they know some of the people who have self-excluded will end up going back and losing their money which is basically what they want. I don’t think they actually care about the destruction gambling can cause in a person’s life, they just want your dollars! Try saying to a drug addict or an alcoholic (a person with a drink and/or a drug problem) you’re going a bit over the top there mate/miss. I think you’ve stopped having fun so you should stop, they’d probably try and rip your head off your shoulders if they were rattling. I do understand the other side of the coin and realise the sector employs a lot of people but not sure if it’s right given how many people are jumping under trains and taking overdoses etc, that’s all kept on the down-low as well. Anyhoot I have put a lot of things in place to stop myself from gambling and I am getting better. I didn’t gamble today or yesterday and I don’t intend to tomorrow either. I have gone back to work and been doing a lot in the garden to occupy myself and I’m enjoying that. I’ve got potatoes on the go tomatoes, green beans, raspberries, strawberries, chillies, peppers…allsorts TBH. Stay strong and never give up trying to give up!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by mutley. Reason: Spelling mistake
• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by mutley. Reason: Grammar mistake

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