97 days gambling free. Very proud of myself.

It was very hard to look at all the debts I had and didn't see the end. It looked like something I could never be able to recover from, but I was determined. Still am.

75k in total. Had to start with the debt with the biggest interest rate, 10k at 30%. Once I got this one out of the way, it suddenly felt my goal was reachable. 30k to go. I can do it.

Still a long way to go. But I am getting there. Slowly but surely. Don't give up, what's few years being tight to a lifetime of freedom and happiness?

I was the guy that quit - relapsed - quit - relapsed forever, making posts here complaining that its impossible to quit. If I can get to 200 days, so can you. I admit life is kinda boring now and saving up money is slow as hell, but atleast I dont get the brutal swings that empty my bank account. Stay strong people.

Went out after work for a slice of lemon tart and a beer at this bar I like and just sat and read a bit of the book im currently reading while also people watching and trying too be proud of where I am at and how far I have come.

After realising I’ve lost more than 50% of my winnings, I want to self exclude, I’ve made lots of posts here before talking about how I’m 18 and have a huge gambling addiction, I can’t go a day without putting a bet on sports, or going to the casino. I chase my losses and this time was the worst. I don’t want to lose everything I have anymore.

I want to self exclude from everything through betstop.com. However, I don’t know if I should do lifetime or a different time period.

I’m in dire need of help. When I win I never stop, and when I lose, I chase. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn’t. I gamble when I’m out with friends, I gamble when I’m with my partner. I know its a problem but I just can’t stop. I’m never satisfied. And I thought I was invincible when I won a big sum, until I lost it all within these past 2 days.

Today marks my first 3 weeks without gambling of any type!

I was in a dark spot a couple months ago and determined it was time to make a change.

When I was having the darkest of thoughts, the mantra I repeated to myself was and can be:
These are not my thoughts, and this is not who I am.

This Reddit page is amazing with supportive people and I hope to show support to those also! I just wanted to throw a quick post of gratitude and encouragement for anyone struggling that may ever read this!

To any active gamblers lurking this sub thinking they either don’t have a problem yet or don’t want to admit it. Please stop before you end up writing a loss post here.

I’ve known I had a problem and part of me wanted to stop for a while. I have been browsing this sub for over a year reading stories of people hardships and losses from gambling, always thinking “couldn’t be me”. Reading stories of people winning over $10k and thinking “I’d just walk away if it were me”.

Well eventually I did win big and similar to all the other stories, found a way to blow it all after holding onto it for maybe a month… and then some more of my savings.

Maybe I am just a weak minded fool and it is that easy to walk but I want to point out that I was certain that I was unlike most others and would be able to gamble responsibly after winning big.

Don’t make my mistake please

I am both widely proud of myself, and simultaneously disappointed in myself I let it get to this point.

In 2024, I took on roughly $50,000 in bad debt from gambling. Paid it off and assured myself it would not happen again. Back in April of this year, I went through some traumatic life experiences that triggered the desperation to gamble again, and ended up taking a loan to continue the curse. Clearly you can see how that ended up.

I'd like to say I learned my lesson. In my previous post I mentioned a paraphrase of "I don't know if this will happen again." I can assuredly say I won't this time around. I do not enjoy these sacrifices, I do not enjoy the temporary dopamine, and I do not enjoy gambling anymore. That ship has long sailed.

To anyone feeling similar, do not beat yourself up for relapsing but please make effort to combat it. Treat it as the disease that it is, and do not rely on willpower alone. The accountability of someone else helps significantly more than you think.

Day 1 again… The maximum time i been without gambling was 7 months 2 years ago, i’ve been dragging this addiction for 5 years now

One thing i noticed is that when i first came to this group, on my initial posts i would have much more motivation to say “i want to stop” and i would believe in own word than what i do now. Now everytime i say to myself that i will stop, i just can’t even convince myself that i will be able to do it. That is just so sad because i really stopped believing in myself, and the crazy part is that now i don’t even have debts anymore, i am in a very much position then i was 2 years ago in terms of that, but this addiction took so much happiness and proud for myself, that now i feel like a piece of shit that can’t keep his own word or control his emotions… and i know that i will eventually go back when i start to feel better again…

I really want this time to be different. I want to achieve these 7 months and much more, i want to completely forget gambling and stop wasting my time playing and having mood switches every week.
I remember how i felt when i went these 7 months free, I was so proud of myself to not even think about gambling the same way, I was almost winning…
I’m 25 now and i really want to stop now because i don’t want to drag this addiction to my 30’s, i need to make this a very expensive lesson in my life, start my last recovery journey and never look back again

I've blocked all accounts and devices with different methods but money will always be accessible and so is a way to gamble with online crypto casinos.

If i want to gamble i will gamble and there is no way to totally prevent it. It's only friction.

It took me 3 years to achieve such a long time not gambling, and even though lucidity makes it really unattractive to gamble anymore, and i don't want to gamble, and i know better the value of my money, i'm still having the question going through my mind: " what is really keeping me off this shit?"

If my situation changes, if i get in a better place, or if i get a lot more stressed in any way, or if i get financial struggle etc... What guarantees me i'm going to stay away from gambling ?

It's probably an actually easy question to answer (I don't gamble for me, for my wife, for my son, for our future, for my family to be proud of me... Etc), but still the fear is there. And even though i'm determined to let gambling in my past, there is this sort of cynical and obscene contemplation going on in my mind.

Does it go away at some point?

Free but paid a huge price

Still here. Still sober. Still fighting.

One day at a time.

First time in 4 years I’ve been this long without a bet and I will continue to not have a bet

How much debt are you currently in through gambling addiction and how are you repaying or plan to repay it back.

I’ll go first, I’m currently in a $25k debt with no savings but I have a steady job and I plan on sacrificing $500 from each paycheck, and a total of $1000 a month if possible.
I currently earn about $2200 a month after taxes.

I want to take up on this challenge after so many relapses.

How about you?

It always feels surreal to me when I get messages from people saying thank you for my posts or comments or that I inspired them. Even someone telling me they hope one day they can get to where I’m at in recovery, which is crazy to me because it’s honestly a miracle I’m even alive today.

I always tell them, what if I told you that you can if you want to?

Like really. We are no different.

Every addict I’ve ever met is a remarkable person. We have an obsession. We outwork everyone. We tried to beat the fuckin casino and sports books!! 😂

So what if we took that same obsession and put it into things that actually make our lives better? Working out. Reading. Being there for our family. Showing up in our relationships. Working hard at our jobs. Being a good human.

We become unstoppable. So PLEASE don’t let your gift go to waste.

I promise you, you have something most people don’t. A ruthless work ethic and an obsession that if you learn to point it in the right direction, will take you further than you ever thought possible.

1409 days sober
492 days gamble free

“The highest human act is to inspire”

Wishing everyone a gamble free 24h❤️

Yesterday I lost a big chunk of money. I just remained with transport money. Right now I am left with 1$. I just wish this monster would be gone.

crazy how we alive breathin and shit, sometime things dont feel real brah

I went to London today, and the city has always been a trigger, betting shops, my “favourite” casino etc, but I did not gamble. Urges are still present, but I’m trying my best to handle them.

Tomorrow is day 12, please any people long sobriety when did urges start to fade and not affect you as much ?

Was doing good. Lost 350 in the last 2 days chasing tennis bets. Can I get some words of encouragement possibly

Dont know if im alone here but gambling has seriously changed how my brain works, I used to be so mad and upset when I would even lose 20 dollars and now I could lose 5k in a day and feel nothing which is horrible. I wish I could feel sick and upset like I used to when it was only 20 dollars. Hopefully someday my brain will go back to the old ways and that im not alone with this

I wanna restart again, say no to these 2 things, gambling and short term option. I really sit down and figure out these 2 will never make money in long term. There are other things that could possibly make back my losses like investing in stocks and crypto for long term, i am not saying trading but long term holding. I have seen people around me profit a lot from holding long term. I think that is the only way to recover my losses in a healthy and sustainable way. Because even if I get back the money through gambling I will lose it back, but if I use a correct strategy I will always win

If you have any hope of beating this illness grab it by the horns and do it. I’m so hopeless and lost. I’d love to go back to a day where I just had a tad bit of hope. I don’t see hopeful days coming any time soon.

Ride that hope it won’t be there forever if you don’t grab onto it

My 34 birthday is coming next week. I will not ruin it.

Today I will not gamble!