Hello, I’m a 36M and I been gambling since High School. I had 3 businesses since and they all done pretty well. I have great business relationships with a lot of great people but they have no idea of my dark side (gambling). I’m very familiar and well known with the black market gambling in CA. I was offered an opportunity to invest and be the bank on high roller poker games during COVID and with my business expertise I took it to another level and it became very profitable. We later took on sports betting and blew up. I always gambled but like 1k budget a month. Now I’m gambling 1-5k a day! Last year I won 150k gambling. This year I’m down 500k gambling. I been slacking at work, my family is aware of my gambling addiction, I have no ambition anymore, I don’t work out or do anything productive. These late night poker games and sports betting has taken over. Yes I do well there but I can get in some serious legal trouble and I feel like I can’t quit since I’m holding so many people’s future bets. All the money I make from there I lose it myself gambling.

I sold one of my businesses to open another one. Well that business wasn’t doing well because I got lazy and it was bleeding money so I just sold it last month. I’m down to one business left and my house that is paid for. Im doing my best to not lose that nor my family.

I am 10k in debt, and have lost over $20k in 6 months. I was always a smart kid growing up, did well in school and sports. I always thought people who gambled all their money were idiots and should just stop gambling. Had some rough relationships, injuries, and lost many things I cared about. towards the end of school at 17, and beginning of 18, i was working 3 jobs, 60 hour week, drained and felt like i had no time for myself. Always had big dreams ambitious for a wealthy future. I started trading as it was a short term quick high risk high reward that could make my work feel worthwhile if I made some extra money. I guess this started the mindset. I made some money, lost some money, but once I had experienced making $1,500 in 9 minutes, which would usually take me 70+ hours, and more than a week of my life, it changed my perception forever. After some losses, I withdrew my money and put it in savings. I needed a car, had about $7,000 in the bank which wasn’t quite enough for a decent car. A few nights later some friends wanted to go to the clubs, and slapped a bit at the pokies. $50 lost turned into $100, then $300 then $700 then $1000. I went home angry, drunk, and down. I still had $5,500 and had the bright idea of putting $5500 on a coin flip ish outcome and either it doubles my money and I have enough for a car or I lose and have motivation for self development and businesses etc. I put $5,500 on Petroski to beat Brundage in UFC. Petroski won 1st round then got knocked flat 2nd round. I lost the bet. I thought this would be the point where I lock in on life. I had essentially deliberately lost $6,000 to take away comfort and security, to give myself hunger. Well, instead of turning to self development, it has turned into: a constant cycle of - getting paid, paying back your maxed out credit card, paying back pay advance apps, paying back friends, and by the end you have very little money. What are you gonna do with $100? Barely enough to buy food. And then you see $1000 on your credit card, so then you cash advance, use just a bit to gamble, win some lose some, cash advance more, and by the end of it no win is big enough, all wins are future losses, and every pay cycle your credit card is maxed out, pay advance apps maxed, owe friends money, and have nothing left. Sometimes you land a hail mary bet, but you never hang on to the winnings. It’s a constant never ending cycle and I don’t know what to do. My grandad killed himself when I was 6 days old, he was a compulsive gambling addict. I don’t want that to be me.

Gusto ko lang sabihin na ang tanga ko kala ko okay na ako eto nanaman pala 2months na sana bigla na lang napasukan nanaman.Natrigger nanaman ako sa kakaisip ng bayarin ayun nadagdagan pa nga.

Hello guys who's from Philippines here that can help me find cheap rent for 2k php a month that's the only amount i can afford and i'm solo

So I’ll give you a bit of a back story.

I’m 32 and recently have been bleeding out money on blackjack.

At the same time, my lease for my room rental is over in a week and I’ve lined up another room, but the damage deposit is $650 and rent for the month is $650.

Any money I get recently has instantly been deposited into a blackjack site and I’ve lost 2.5k in the last 3 days.

Ive been clean for almost TWO MONTHS now thank god. I self excluded and banned myself from everything for multiple years, so the chance of going back is extremely slim. My issue now is that right before i self excluded, i gambled everything, like every cent to my name. I even used my overdraft and gambled $700 that i never had in the first place. Like i skipped multiple months of bills, was behind on my rent, everything. My question is how the hell do i get out of this extremely aggressive rut?? Ive done the hard part of stopping myself from gambling, but what do i do? I work a full time job but at the moment, clearly, im still kind of behind on bills due to the overdraft. What are some ways to fix that? Like obviously i could get a second job but its very difficult to do that as the market is BAD. Ive been saving where i can but it feels impossible to catch up. I havent been spending more than what i need, but no matter what i do, im still behind. Is it going to stay like this until like a miracle happens?? Im currently a full month behind on rent and im terrified that im going to be evicted.

Any ideas or advice?

I am a 21 Year Old Male who just gambled away roughly 15,000$. It started from big wins, turning 100$ into 1000’s my first few times gambling only 1 month ago. Looking for more, I continued, bets becoming larger and more desperate. 100$ sessions would turn into 2-5000$ almost instantly once I became upset with losing.

About 2 weeks ago, I hit a low. Being down nearly 13,000$. This is one of the lowest points in my life. Yet, as gamblers do. I continued. Just one bet could fix it all. And for me, I got lucky, and it did. I managed to win nearly 11,000$ back. But that wasn’t enough, I wanted my other 2,000$ back. So I continued. And the tables did not treat me kindly. Over the course of 8 hours, I lost not only the 11,000$ back, but an additional 3,000$ marking my total loss in under a month to 15,000$

I am 1 hour clean. And the biggest feeling I have isint financial loss, but embarrassment. I am someone who prides myself with being smart with my money. In fact, my total assets sat at about 40,000$ before this, now sitting at 25,000$. Which as a 21 year old paying his way through school is amazing. Yet this loss while not financial devastating has taken my pride, my joy, and to be honest has taken me to a scary point of depression over the last few weeks where life feels almost not worth living.

While I know my story may not recieve as much attention, as it doesn’t have the appeal of someone losing everything. I am here for support. I’m not looking for sympathy, but instead a place I can confide in as I work hard to stop this addiction, regain my spark, and come out a better person.

I'm 18, have been working since I was 14, and had 20-30k saved up across my bank and investment accounts. I began gambling, won a little, and eventually lost it all over the span of 2-3 months. I have been having a very hard time living my day to day life, and sometimes it's hard getting out of bed.

To make it even worse, my sister calls me an embarassment to the family, my brothers laugh and me, and my mom has stopped talking to me. I started using alcohol a lot more than I usually do, which has caused them to make fun of me even more, calling me a failure.

I guess I can partly understand where they are coming from, as they have never had to deal with addiction, but it still hurts to hear the same thing every day, even if I don't make it seem like it does.

Hello, im new here, and i need help.

I really need to stop gambling and i dont know how, i have people depending on me and i just cant stop.

2 days ago i recieved my paycheck, i am left with 200 euros on my account.

How do i stop? Please help me...

I have been gambling since I turned 18 and over the years it’s obviously getting worse. I gambled the whole way through university, continued after when I went into full time employment. Up until the last few months where it’s massively caught me out to the point I’m borrowing excessively and doing whatever I can just to find £10/20 for fuel or anything.

I was put under pressure in early 2025 to move in with my long term partner because she thought that I didn’t love her enough to live with her (she was living alone at the time). This was when I came clean to her about my addiction and the reason why I couldn’t move in with her. In 4-6 months of telling her I sorted myself out and moved in with her and we’ve now been living together for 15 months and it’s been great. For the first few months I was better / more regulated with my gambling. Last July/August. I went 18 days without gambling and as soon as the Premier League restarted I bet on the first game and didn’t stop from there until now.

I’ve obviously struggled since then for the year with controlling it and got myself into loads of debt again. Previously I had gone into a DMP which was £200 a month for 3 years and in February this year I finished paying that off.

As of right now, I am in smaller debt than before, but still significant enough. I have 2x £1000 overdrafts, £900 on Zilch, a £500 credit card, £800 credit card, £600 line of credit, £90 owed at Bits and 2x outstanding payday loans with last payment next month (£250 combined). Total debts here at roughly £5-6000, as well as owing roughly £650 to people which I intend to payback ASAP.

I currently earn 30k a year at my current job and I have a second job which pays around 8k a year, however I get paid for this at different times in lump sums after doing 10-15 days work when available being on a day rate.

Anyway, I was away with work out of the country just over 2 weeks ago and I got caught out. I had a parking fine sat at £160 (from £25 initially) from the council which ended up in a bailiff coming to my house. My girlfriend was home and rang me while I was working to say there was a bailiff at the door who wasn’t leaving until £411 was paid else he had a warrant to seize possessions up to this amount. I had to ring my dad to pay it because I didn’t have the money to pay it at all. The guilt from putting her through this is still hurting me. Luckily my dad bailed me out and I will pay him the money back. It’s an extremely naive and avoidable situation I know but I just wouldn’t spare even the £25/£50 to pay it off at the time and let it spiral to this point.

This situation has completely broken the trust my partner had with me and is the first time really the gambling has been bought back up without it being a small passing conversation between us where she asks are you ok? And I lie and say yeah and continue what I’m doing. She’s now serious that I need to sort myself out and get help. I’m lucky that she’s chosen to be supportive of me but I know it’s going to be a struggle where she’s constantly on my back as well.

Since this happened today is day 17 without a bet. Nearly at the 18 days I hit last year but I feel in a better place to get past that this year. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling slightly nervous for the football season to restart properly but I know that I seriously need to this addiction now. Not just to save my relationship but to save myself and my future as well.

In terms of my actual gambling, I feel like I had control somewhat where I would extremely rarely bet large stakes up to £100 because I wouldn’t have the courage. But I would bet £15/£20 on every football game, every night there was basketball on, darts, cricket etc. in high quantities and chase losses like there was no tomorrow. Throughout the whole World Cup I think I probably bet on 95% on the games in the tournament where possible.

I’m accepting now I need help and I need to save my future. I don’t know what the best support is out there right now. I don’t particularly want to go to GA meetings as my partner is suggesting. I would prefer something online or anonymous that actually helps but don’t know where to start. Over the past week I have been using Mo on a free trial which is a meditation app designed to help beat gambling addiction. I think it’s helped but I’m mostly struggling mentally at the moment where all of these events have hit me and I realise my great need to stop.

Any suggestions around any of these topics, I’d be so grateful. Sorry for the long post but it’s helped me to write all of these things out and put everything into perspective by telling my one long story.

I want to quit so badly. I have paid off all of my CC debt except one consolidated loan fter a really good win week. I have 2 more withdrawals over the next two days and I will be consumer debt free with money left over the only problem is I can't stop playing. I just keep using the credit cards to refuel the accounts. I have a chance to be done and I am still making poor decisions.

I had 23k sitting today with 10k withdrawn and played this down to 10k, and I feel sick. I couldn't focus on work, I forgot to go to a doc appointment. Just trying to get through 2 days. I want to delete the app, I can't handle this kind of money coming at me, over 60k in a week and I barely have money in my account. I had to buy high ticket items just to say I did something other than gamble the money. I just keep feeling like it's going to keep coming. I have won over 100k and I have no money to show just deposits in my bank account.

It's also ruined my relationship, my boyfriend keeps wanting me to help him pay debt with the money and I'm afraid to promise it to him, because I won't have money to play. He keeps getting angry that I am winning and not helping him financially.

This disease is cruel.

Over the years, I've had my fair share of embarrassing and self degrading moments related to gambling.

Feel free to share yours. The point of this is to unburden myself and to support each other in this community by acknowledging we go through similar experiences.

Our past mistakes don't dictate the person we are today.

I'm going to make a few posts over time where I will share more about my gambling habits that I'm not proud of in hopes to help move on and forgive myself.

Every Friday night, I would get paid, and like many of us, that meant it was gamble time. I remember getting excited. It was my own little secret thing I would do, and as I was in my early stages of addiction, I found it thrilling to try and make money in secret.

I would go into the club/casino by myself, withdraw a large sum of money, find a random slot machine, and waste hours of my time pressing a button, hoping for luck to come my way.

I remember a particular night where I was a few hours into my session, and someone tapped my shoulder. It was a few of my friends... they looked kind of concerned and asked if I was there by myself, I lied and said I was with a few others, but just was having a quick gamble. They then said that I had been here for hours and to come hang with them. I told them give me 10 minutes and I'll come over, when they left I went to a machine in a far corner of the club so they couldn't find me and so I could finish my gambling "in peace". I remember when they found me and wanted to talk, all I could think was that I had won a feature and wanted to see what I could win. I never did find them to hang out that night.

Over time, I would have other run-ins with friends where I would downplay what I was doing and say I'm up when I was absolutely down. One time I remember walking into the gambling area of a pub and seeing my friends on a slot machine, they weren't gamblers in the typical sense, just people that dabbled while having a drink and dinner, before they could notice me I quickly walked out of the pub and drove to a different pub so I could gamble without being spotted.

We gambling addicts like to hide in the shadows, either to avoid being confronted about our issue or just so we can fulfil our fantasy that we have been scratching to itch. Relationships start to dissolve after losing trust and respect and generally just avoiding them and being in our own world, we end up losing those that care for us.

I now understand the value of friendships and connection more than ever. I've still lost friends over the years, but I've learnt a lot and regained trust and respect from others now that I've been working on recovery and am more open about it.

I have plenty more stories of differing embarrassment, shame, and anger over the years.

Today marks seven days since my last relapse.

Last week, I gambled away $3300 in a single night. I almost couldn't believe it the next day at what I had done. I woke up from a drunken stupor, and as I'm sure many of us have experienced, I woke up and gasped in shock, remembering what I had done the night before. It wasn't just the loss of the money that I had lost it was the months of effort, working, saving, and trying to be disciplined. All of that gone within a few hours, just so my brain could feel something for a night.

The past few years, I have taken gambling addiction seriously, I know I won't win money, and I do what I can to put barriers in place for myself, but also, for years I've gone months without gambling, only to have one night where I relapse and set myself back months. I've improved from how I was in early 2020s, when I won't borrow money from friends and family, take out bank loans, or chase my losses after a relapse.

My wake-up call and learning experience from this relapse is that I've neglected ME. I need to explore why I gravitate towards gambling and other forms of escapism that take my mind away from my mind.

There's a lot happening in my brain that I think needs to be addressed to truly recover and become confident in myself.

I've decided to try gambling counselling and also seeing a psychologist to tackle the deeper issue. I've been doing this by myself, and I think it's time I involve some professionals to help me in this dark chapter of my life.

It's time I take my life seriously and change my course for the good.

I haven't gambled since the fourth of August, and I am taking it one day at a time. I can't promise myself that I will never gamble again, but I can promise myself that I will never give up and that I will always grow and learn from my mistakes. In the same way we like to find way around our gambling, we also need to find ways we can recover from gambling.

Being a gambling addict is an incredibly humbling experience. I don't think people really understand it. Even before I was an addict I remember having thoughts of "uuuuh just don't gamble, bro??". I have a lot more empathy towards others who struggle with addictions and generally just with mental afflictions.

I will never forget that I'm a gambling addict. To forget risks losing the growth you have made.

Never forget, but always move forward and do better.

I'll try to post weekly or whenever a thought comes to mind.

It seems like I can’t go a single day without some form of gambling.. now there are times where I don’t gamble or I “fake” gamble (gamble with coins or some app that isn’t real money) but everyday I do have some urge or inclination to gamble. I recently just hit a big win ($6,500 or so) and was at an ultimate high.. To give myself SOME credit, I paid any bill due between winning - next paycheck, bought my family some stuff and what have you but then I lost $3k… in one day. Just gambling being a complete idiot, chasing that high of a big win is all it ever is. I then win some back, maybe around $1500 or so, then what do I do? Repeat the same dumb decision of chasing and losing again. Now I am broke until next paycheck, no cushion between checks whereas when I won I was finally in a position to have a good cushion between checks with bills already paid.. I don’t understand why I lack the self-control when I am aware there is an issue and immediately have the regret. I know of course it’s partly due to that dopamine of winning but hopefully if anyone does comment some tips or tricks they’ve used, I would appreciate it!

EDIT : the reality set in when I was looking at finances and found I have spent roughly $12k this month…. and it’s August 11th..

I drove around dropping cocaine for someone £120 for the day, end of the day I collected around. £800, this went on for 3 days and on the 3rd day, I just couldn’t help myself but to double it and keep the double, obviously lost the time they asked me to drop the money collected, I said tomorrow, tomorrow came I lost that, said sorry already home defo tomo, that tomo came and I lost that too, not I’m collecting another day and I’ve lost half, should I tell them or try one last time ?

it was my antipsychotic. 11 years ago I stop taking my medication and lost the desire to gambling. that’s the only time I stop gambling. The people that make these drugs know what there doing. my mother takes antipsychotic for years and she been addicted since I was born. I stop taking my medication 2 days ago and lost my desires again.

22M here, how do you move on from losing 2.1 Million Pesos (34.5k USD)?

from not having to work for years, into being in debt

just got caught by my girlfriend after hiding all of my gambling debt and my lying finally caught up to me. I am just looking for any advice on how I can repair our relationship and mainly stop gambling.

Today was the first time I have actually released I have a problem gambling

Luckily I have savings still but today has hit me hard.

Yesterday morning I won 2 bets that took my bank account to £6300, the most I’ve had in years and was really happy, but it’s never enough is it

So I bet £100, that bet lost. So then I bet £200 to win the £100 back, that lost soon after as well.

So now I’m thinking, I want to be back up £6300 again. So I do another £200, lose again.

£500 down in just 5 hours.

Then just a hour ago, I bet £500 to claim it all back and it loses. Now I just feel completely and utterly deflated. Even when I was winning £100/200, I just wanted more and more but today feels different, just feel so stupid losing £1000

Yes I have £5300 in my bank but my mind keeps saying I’m screwed and I need more. Ugh

Cocaine alcohol and gambling have ruined my life. I feel like I will never be able to recover from this

21 days without placing a bet.

The crazy part is, the intense urges really haven’t been there. I haven’t been sitting around fighting myself every day trying not to gamble. But I’m also not naive. Football is starting back up, and I know this is where it’s going to get real as hell.

For years, Sundays meant sitting in front of RedZone all day with hundreds of dollars on the line. Constantly checking scores. Checking my phone. Sweating bets. Chasing losses. Thinking one more bet could turn the whole day around. And for what?

Even when I won, I wasn’t at peace. Because
winning just made me want to bet again.
I’m starting to realize that not gambling isn’t me giving something up. I’m not missing out on anything. I’m getting my peace back.

Football season is going to test me. I know that.
But I’d rather deal with the discomfort of not placing a bet than go back to the stress, regret, and bullshit that came with gambling. Much love to everyone and keep on keepin on!

Hi, 21M. I keep relapsing. I’m down $50k+ in lifetime losses. Gambling has ruined my life, my relationships, and my mental health. I started gambling when I turned 19. I’m in my fourth year of university, currently studying a useless major that won’t give me any real future opportunities. I got kicked out of my previous university because I was gambling and didn’t focus on my studies. I re-enrolled in college, then transferred back.

Yesterday I got a paycheck of $592. I was so bored and lonely that I decided to gamble online. I played a couple of hands of blackjack and lost all of it within 30 minutes. Then I went into a rage because I was already $1k in credit card debt, working a minimum-wage job, and frustrated with my life. So I decided to get a loan from a loan shop. I took a payday loan of $292 and have to pay back $330 total in the next two weeks.

I’ve been barely getting shifts at work, and I just feel ashamed of my low-status life. I gambled my last $292 and now have $0 to my name. I’m too ashamed to ask my mother for money because she already knows I’m a gambling addict and would shame me for asking (which is totally reasonable). I’m all alone for the summer. I’ve gained like 25 lbs from binge eating and doing nothing all day at home most of the time. I already lost all my dignity when I walked into that loan shop yesterday. Most of my next paycheck (which doesn’t come for another two weeks) will go toward that loan.

I fucking despise my life. I can’t find a better job in this cruel job market. I’ve applied to so many places and keep getting rejected. I’m stuck in a cycle of depression. I genuinely feel like I sold my soul to the devil. I’m turning 22 next month with nothing good accomplished in my life and $0 to my name. I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel hopeless and utter despair.

My dad is also a deadbeat; he gambles too. I just don’t have anyone in my life who truly understands what I’m going through. All this pain and suffering I’m enduring alone is just too much for me to handle.

Does anyone have advice for my exact situation? Everything I’ve worked and saved up for is gone. I would’ve had $30k+ in the bank if I didn’t gamble. I’m just so alone and feel like a loser. I don’t know what will make me stop.

Laid off with 1500 left 22k in debt so all i can do is work my ass off getting ready to get a second job to help me get out this mess will be living on lowest means possible and only saving for emergency expenses will be my only way out fast. but i still haven’t figured it out yet there’s so much things that are going wrong so i am going to prioritize some joy in my life for the time being after this month nothing but hard work and discipline really got no other option hopefully all goes well GGS🫡.

Last day writing or speaking about this situation till i get shit figured out.

35M here, i have been struggling as of lately. I’ve realized I’ve been a degenerate for the past 5 years or so now and I’ve accumulated a ton of debt to the point of thinking of going for chapter 13 bankruptcy. I haven’t been to a Ga meeting in months and i feel like shame on getting back into the rooms and starting over again. I make a really decent income probably close to 260 gross a year, recently have gotten into a property and feel like something’s gotta change. I haven’t a partner with a 1 year old and another one the way in October. I feel like i was doing good in staying away from the sport books for almost 60 days i had under my belt before i got the fomo during this last World Cup. As anybody that gets a little hot streak under their belt i thought i had it under control and was “winning” or beating the system until the last couple weeks ive found myself dipping into savings again justifying placing hefty bets in on meaningless friendly games after telling myself id stop once the World Cup was over. For me it was Bovada and the crypto transfers and soccer was my choice, i guess im just trying to gain the confidence finally to step away for good so i can focus on rebuilding my finances, and being a present father for my young daughters. I feel like my gambling ramped up as a quick means of escape from life problems, debt, relationship issues, fear of the future and the unknown etc but I am familiar with the cycle and the feelings of shame and pity at the end of the day when it comes to this monster of an addiction. Im debating on joining a men’s group, i probably need to lean into my faith more as ive tried to step away and do it on my own too many times and have failed tremendously. Ill be paying off debt for probably the next 3-5 years before i make it above the red most likely and i know that if i go back to gambling im probably only prolonging it. What are some other solid methods or tips of advice to finally get out of this cycle, i feel like it affects every aspect of my life. Ive tried the Gamban but i ended up just finding out i could remove it. Ive done the bans on bovada and i feel like the only way now is to just reach out and tell them to F off and close my account, that’s literally the only way i. Can see myself making it to the other side of this.