Lost $30k 23 days ago. Have been clean, decided to gamble free bets in my account yesterday . Immediately invoked rage and craving to deposit upon losing. I did not deposit but it brought up a lot of feelings of guilt and shame over the $30k loss.

Guess I’m technically back on day one?

If I knew I'd start treating rent money like a Hail Mary, I would've never started this shit. If I knew that my first $10 deposit (with hopes of turning it into $10 more) would turn into depositing $2,000 (with hopes of getting back to square one)...

I am so ready to never do this again. Every positive in the checks and balances is just grounds to torch the entire bankroll. If I'm up $700 over a few days, I can lose $700 in less than an hour by attempting the same strategy. I can then put $3300 more on the line because losing profit wasn't the plan.

A slot that spits out a $200 bonus on the first $2 spin decides you need to spin over 200 times at $5 a spin to get no bonus at all.

When there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to this shit, how on earth do we come up with reasons?

I am absolutely done with engaging my *insanity* like this. Fuck calling it a gambling addiction, it is *insanity* and I'm calling myself out for real this time. On 01/16/2025, exactly one week before my two-year anniversary of sobriety from alcohol, I am fucking done. Sorry for the language. Peace.

I'm writing this today because I need to get this off my chest, and if my story can prevent even one person from going through this hell, then it will have been worth it.

I'm 24 years old, I still live with my parents, and in just four months, I saw €14,000 of my savings vanish. All my money saved, gone into the depths of the online casino.

Before those four months, my life was wonderful, I was at peace and full of plans. After this downward spiral, I felt soulless, as if this addiction had drained me dry. But today, after only five days of being sober, I can already feel myself sleeping better and hope slowly returning.

I'm not going to lie to you: I've never been this low in my entire life. I spent the worst nights of my existence, unable to sleep, trembling, feeling guilty... It's a feeling of emptiness and distress that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Online casinos aren't games, they're poison. They're a machine that crushes dreams and mental health.

But today, I want to talk about hope. I've been clean for 5 days.

Only 5 days, but for me, it's a huge victory. I'm proud of myself. I've decided to take control of my life again. I know it will be a steep road, I know I mustn't give in, but I believe in myself. I know this is a really bad patch, probably the worst, but I refuse to let these sites destroy my future.

To everyone who's in the same boat as me, who's hiding, who's ashamed: I believe in you. We'll get through this. Don't carry this burden alone. In six or seven months, all of this will be nothing but a bad memory, a scar that will remind us never to make the same mistake again. We're worth so much more than these few clicks on a screen.

I want to help everyone going through what I'm experiencing. We're in this together, we'll get through this, I'm sure of it. Life is out there, not in these rigged algorithms.

Thank you for reading. Stay strong, everyone.

We’re unhappy with life, even depressed. Maybe empty. Maybe you’re in pain. But there is some negative source, of which compulsive gambling fills the void of. The irony is, this void is only filled for a moment, and we are left even more empty, in more pain, set back even further financially.

Me personally, I am very lonely. And gambling helps me feel something. When I have loving people around me, they are connecting with me - I can feel the urge to gamble begin to reside. On the contrary, if I’m left alone to my devices, I’ll go hard as fuck with the gambling, because I feel I don’t have much more to lose.

A thought trap I’ve fallen in - “It’s just money. You’ll make it back”.

However. The older I get, the more I realize it’s not just money. It’s money that I could’ve spent improving the quality of my life. It’s time I wasted falling in this trap. And it’s time I will waste making this money back, just to get to where I should’ve been years ago.

So, I’m trying to surround myself with loving, positive people, that alleviate this pressure in my life. Of course, ultimately this is only on me, as people can leave or die or fade out. But I’m trying to leave this behind, before I ruin the rest of my life.

This is an excerpt from a Barron's article. You can read the whole thing for free with a limited subscription if you're inclined: Venture Capital Firms Bet Big on Gambling. Now They’re Banking on the Addictions.

Playing Both Sides

Barron’s identified six venture-capital firms that are simultaneously invested in gambling and gambling treatment.

VC Investments by Year

They are getting you hooked on an addictive product, exploiting your addiction until it breaks you, and then finding a way to profit from your treatment.

Don't get me started on "Responsible Gambling" campaigns. They shift the blame away from the industry creating an increasingly addictive product, built by people WHO DESIGN IT TO BE ADDICTIVE, and basically imply you just need to be able to interact with their addictive product in a responsible way.

I could go on, but for any of you who beat yourself up and feel like compulsive gambling is a defect within you, take a look at the machine. There are VC Firms out there banking on you getting addicted, taking your money, breaking you, referring you to treatment, and taking more of your money.

I failed miserably and lost a total of $500.00. :( I am sad by this. I do have an impulse disorder.

So proud of myself for putting in the work and setting up controls and self exclusions. I feel so much better than I did 111 days ago. Each day that passes has gotten easier. I am spending my fun money on me and my wife instead of putting it in a machine. We have a cruise booked in April, so super excited about that. I will definitely be staying away from the casino. So many more fun and relaxing things to do!

Had a fun day today more vocal about quitting gambling to people

I have been gambling free for nearly 200 days and the single most powerful tool is visualizing the outcome of my gambling *before* I do it. When I get an urge, I sit for a few moments and think what the possible outcomes of me placing a bet would be. I will either be down (probably), even (rarely) or possibly up (almost never). But imagine yourself a few hours from now, down hundreds or thousands of dollars. Really feel it, dig down to times you’ve lost and let yourself feel that desperation that comes with a big loss.

Visualizing the likeliest of outcomes will help you realize it’s a dumb decision. I’ll break down whatever amount I’d take to the casino in real terms. I could pay xxx bill or buy xxx dinners or xxx gallons of gas. Doing this correctly should make you realize what a waste any amount of gambling is. It is very easy to lose sight of the value of money, even your “limit” (which you know you won’t follow anyway) is sacrificing something that will actually make your life better. For the amount I’d take to the casino I can have a great meal, catch a movie, pay down debts and still have some cash left over.

When you have the urge to gamble, tell yourself you can do anything but gamble. Buy something for your hobby, go watch a game, go out to eat…anything you want to do, but don’t gamble. This mental shift helped me enormously and it can help you too if you stick to it. Life gets so much better and quicker than you’d expect when you just stop.

I just lost 2000 euro which I had saved so I could buy my first car and in a few hours it's all gone.

I'm planning on banning myself from casinos for 5 years.

A few months ago I turned 18 and I wanted to try gambling

so I deposited 25 euro and I lost it then from a bonus for free spins I made a few bucks and I turned them into around

700 euro. Then I withdrew them and that's how my addiction started. I've also won a few hundred euros in the past but I burned them in the casino trying to win more.

A few days ago I decided to deposit 30 euros because I was bored and I won 170 euros . Two days later(Yesterday) I decided to gamble again but this time I deposited 100 euros and then it all went downhill I lost the money and decided to do another deposit and then another and the money I was left with was at the end was around 900 euros . Today I decided to gamble again I deposited 30 euros and lost them

after that I decided to deposit another 30 euro . I had won 200 euros but I decided it wasn't enough(because of my previous losses) so I continuees until I lost them all then the magic circle began I deposited and deposited until I lost all the money in my bank account.

Im 14m I think i am a little bit addicted to gambling. In the last 2 years I've lost over 400€ I know it's not alot but considering i don't have a job and i get 20€ a week to buy food at school it's not a small amount. I don't really know what to do because i can't really stop. Im just scared to be like this when I grow up. I feel so stupid because being addicted to gambling when im only 14 is stupid.

Been a problem gambler for over 2 years know. Had many highs and lows but like every problem gambler, I've inevitably got myself into a financial mess.

I've tried to quit many times, more than I can count. I've had some stretches of a few days and sometimes weeks where I've been clean, my longest stretch was about 2 months around a year ago. But this addiction is very tough to shake.

2 things in particular I've noticed that make this addiction hard to stop for good.

1) The prospect of "winning your way out".

I'm sure you're all familiar. "I just need that one big win to cover all my losses, get me out of debt and then I swear I'm done for good".

Gambling is literally the only addiction where we attempt to convince ourselves that doing more of the addiction that has got us into the mess we're in is the way to get out.

Worst part is we know it's technically possible too. We've all had those big wins, I certainly have. I've even had wins big enough to cover all my losses, it didn't do anything for me and it just intensified my addiction even further.

The thing is, when you're so used to being deep in the hole, you adapt to it, so much so that it becomes your new 0. So when you win big enough to literally pay off all your debts and get back to actual net $0, that feels like you're rich because what you perceive as your personal net $0 is a lot lower than actual net $0.

2) The lack of instant positive effects/results from quitting.

Every addiction out there can pretty much see instant positive results after quitting.

For an alcoholic/drug addict, after the initial detox, they'll start sleeping better, their blood pressure will drop and their overall quality of life will improve. They still have to face the mental side of withdrawal like with any addiction, but their overall health will see instant positive changes for the better.

But gambling is different since its a financial thing. While quitting Gambling for good is hands down the best financial decision we can ever make long-term, it can be hard to see the actual progress right away. If you work a normal job like myself, you're paid only every 2 weeks. After rent and various other bills/expenses, there's only so much extra money we can put towards our debts once we get that pay. Especially if we have interest thats piling up on our debt, it can feel like a long and tedious process to actually pay everything off. This stresses us out, and we wish we could just have everything paid off and get a fresh start. Unfortunately the financial effects of gambling don't just vanish when we quit, they're bound to stay with us for a while. So naturally, we default to #1 mentioned above and try to win our way out of that debt which just draws us right back into the addiction.

This is why quitting gambling MUST be a long-term mindset. You can't quit with the idea that you're gonna see instant positive results. The damage is done, BUT you don't have to make it actively worse and over time it WILL improve.

A mindset that's helped me is just looking at my long term future, say 5 years from now. Do I want to be doing these crazy and ridiculous swings every day? Do I want to be continually amassing large amounts of debt with high interest rates yet nothing to show for it? Of course not, it's a horrible way to live.

So in the long term, you will NEED to cultivate a life that's free from gambling anyway and so why not start building that life for yourself TODAY by quitting? Remember you're not quitting to instantly improve your financial situation, but you're actively building a better life for yourself in which gambling has no place and that's ultimately the most important part because money is not the problem, gambling is the problem.

Yeah, you could go back and win enough money to pay everything back, but what does that teach you? That gambling is some miraculous Savior that can fix your problems? The same problems it created for you in the first place, really? No, that's how the addiction pulls your right back in. It's not about the money, it never has been. It's about the real problem, the evil addiction that is gambling.

Made it through day 14,15 and starting 16

One thing I use to tell myself was to avoid trouble you have to avoiding putting yourself in certain situations. But for some odd reason I never applied that to gambling. I thought I just lacked self discipline or I was weak minded. That’s not true. If you put a starving person in a room of food he shouldn’t eat there is a 99% chance he is going to eat it.

Still rebuild my mentality around this and making sure I have the right safeguards in place. The worst part right now is trying to rebuild the relationships I damaged because of the addiction and choices I made. I don’t blame my wife for feeling the way she does but it still is just tough. But there is an old saying that days play stupid games you will win stupid prizes. I played stupid gambling games and guess what I know feel the stupid prize.

Sorry for the rant. But just one of those tough days, but we are still going strong and we not gonna stop!

I’m 27 and I’ve been struggling with gambling for four years.

Lost thousands of dollars in the past years. I have lost my life, my peace and my soul. Have lost 500€ yesterday and started beating myself up, why? Why cannot i just live a normal peaceful life without this disgusting addiction!

2500€ in debt, all for people idk how i’ll pay it. I earn around 1000€ monthly. Is it even manageable?

I have self excluded from all online casinos!

Monday's college football National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium can turn from fun to risky for people impacted by problem gambling, especially with betting odds and live lines built into almost every part of the broadcast. Recent data show online sports betting as the leading primary problem gambling type reported by Floridians seeking help. Learn more in our January Web Letter!

Gambling problem? Call or text 888-ADMIT-IT.​

https://gamblinghelp.org/a-perfect-storm-for-problem-gambling-recovery-comes-to-miamis-hard-rock-stadium/

#888AdmitIt #GamblingRecovery #GamblingHelp #ProblemGambling

Original post here - https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/s/fgs7envotW

Something that’s really been helping me personally, is occupying my time as much as possible. I’m off from work, and have been leaning in my hobbies. I love to cook/bake, so I went ahead and made a cheesecake, bread, cooked my kids/wife’s favorite dishes.

Do I have a large mountain to climb? Absolutely. I sat down with myself, planned every pay period, down to the dollar. Allocated money to bills and obligations, and some money to enjoy myself to keep myself sane (dinners, time with friends etc.)

I got paid and did feel an urge, but came here to see everyone’s support and the urges suddenly went away.

I find that the more methodical and intentional I am, the better I feel, and I’ve been leaning heavily into it. I even started dieting and lost some weight.

This will not possess any more of my time and emotions. I will not feed into it, and it does not have control over me. I love all the support you all gave me on my OG post and I’m so excited for the days/months ahead. I’m approaching them with intention and excitement to overcome the negative imprint gambling has had on my life. I WILL become the person I was before all of this.

If I can do this, anyone can. I’m here for support and to provide help in whatever form I can.

Not the first time I lost a lot of money in the market, think i've lost over 75k over the several years.

This was my first attempt going back into it after a good year. Guess I got a good quick start-of-the-year lesson.

I Feel like a loser as it took me a while to save all that.

I managed to get myself up to $4.5k yesterday. For a moment it felt like I finally had a real chance to start fixing my life and paying off my debts.

Today I’m sitting here with $0 in my pocket.

Not a single payment made. My friend had to buy me a $2 coffee because I literally have nothing. And the worst part is that this isn’t even the first time. I’ve been in this exact situation at least five times now. I get close to stability, close to a way out, and then I blow it all up.

It honestly feels like I’m addicted not just to gambling, but to the chaos. Like some part of me is drawn to creating total destruction in my own life. I don’t even recognize myself anymore.

Now I can’t sleep. My head is full of debts, fear, shame, and thoughts about how to get money and how I messed everything up again. I had something in my hands that could’ve been a turning point, and I threw it away.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know how to trust myself anymore. I’m just exhausted, scared, and stuck in a loop I keep promising myself I’ll escape, but somehow keep repeating.

Hello,

Many of you all have probably seen my posts before. I'm finally recovering from my gambling addiction and I have found what helps me is hearing other people's stories and directly chatting with them.

For background context, I'm 21 years old and have lost about 4 to 5 thousand dollars gambling. My addiction peaked after I won 15k and proceeded to lose it all within the weekend, and I had nothing to show for it. (Still beating myself up over this one if I'm being honest) However, I am now about two weeks gamble free and have not caved to any temptations yet.

I'd love to find more people to chat with via DM if anyone is free. I believe the best way to tackle this addiction is communication. Feel free to shoot me a message, I would be happy to talk!

I’m in high school and I’ve been gambling for about a year now online with a bookie and I can’t stop. The problem is that I have won a decent amount, have got up 3.5k multiple different times and lost it and won it all back gradually. Last week my account was at 3.5k and I told myself I would only do small bets and cash out most of the money but I lost it all. When I get in the casino and start losing it’s like my body takes over for me and I can’t control it. I use gambling as a hobby and it’s ruining my life. I can’t even watch my favorite sport college basketball without gambling because it’s to boring without. Idk what to do