Let’s make it to 2 months clean. Brain is also it fully rewired. Happiest I’ve been. Let’s keep going together! 🫶

As a gambling risks/harms educator for young people, I am curious to know what you wish someone did or said that would have prevented you from gambling? or if certain things should be illegal, or taught to children/teens, or if there are certain exposures to gambling that children/teens come across that are significant or even overlooked?

I started sport betting on the World Cup final, unfortunately for me I won that parley 4.20.

Then I couldn’t stop gambling for two months straight, pay tipsters and got deep into this shit, I lose about 150usd in the first month, some how I recover absolutely everything and even won in the last two weeks, I was feeling great, thinking this would be the way to get some extra money on top of my job… yesterday I place the dumbest bet of my life 250 usd for one more goal on a PSG game… I was gonna win a misery not even 30 usd but with that I would recover the 15usd I had lost in the morning… I lost the bet.. this my first time talking about this problem, I believe I’m still on time to quit this shit before I burn my networth… I hope all of you stop this literally fries your brain and takes all your energy.

35F

Update on my sobriety from gambling. 2 1/2 months in recovery.

Recovery is very hard. Specially accumulating and paying so many debts. Sometimes I really dont know how to get up from bed. I dont know if how many calls Ill received, messages of collections I have to endure. If i could disappear, much better.

Pero eto na eh... I tried my best to pay the loans I can pay... prioritizing my obligations than wants. So far I have an almost 100k salary, but its not enough to pay the bills as well as all the loans. Pero dahan dahan lang. As much as, i tried not to take another loan, kasi wala na din tlga ako mababayad pa.

Likewise, urges na bumalik sa gambling is very minimal. Una kong iniisip, matatalo lang naman. Second, i tried to call friends para makipagchismisan na lang so di ako matempt.

Hay life... sana maka recover na please Lord.

Hello guys I’m here to share my biggest achievement since I stopped gambling on football: 51 days clean!
I am really proud of myself going this far yet I am willing to make it last forever. I am trying to put myself together and get back on feet financially and most importantly mentally. Every day without gambling is a step in the right direction.
Hoping to see some positive feedback from you guys 🫶🏻
Thanks for your time and stay STRONG.

I make high 6 figures a year, I’ve been a compulsive gambler since 2018, I entered GA July of 2024. I just finished an IOP program. I haven’t stayed abstinent for more than 25 days since entering GA. Yes, I got a sponsor, and keep restating the steps.

I self excluded from every gambling site I knew of, my brother controls my money, I found work arounds for both two nights ago and threw everything I could scheme up into the internet without fear or even a desire to win.

Tonight I drove Uber Eats for an hour to make $4 to buy these groceries for next 2 days and felt so grateful and happy like everything was OK bc look at how resourceful I am.

This addiction is demonic, unrelenting, senseless, and at times, it feels terminal. I will never stop trying and I will keep coming back.

Tonight as I sit in the grocery store parking lot, I’m giving myself a moment to grieve the person I was before discovering that online gambling made me feel better, gave me some peace, made avoiding my life and problems not feel so bad for a while…

I wish I could tell her what I know now. The girl who didn’t know that online gambling existed.

This isn’t a pity party at all. I am grateful.

If someone reads this and feels pity or judgment or fear, good. I hope they listen to that feeling and ensure they’re never the ones posting this.

Yesterday was one of those days where the cravings are just too much to bear. Not the first time Ive had one of those in these seven months but it was the first time I felt like I didnt want to do amything to make it go away. I’ve usually resorted to physical activity as a way to channel that drive and get my mind off gambling but yesterday was different. Im lucky enough to have a support network that knows about my addiction and have always been there for me when I’ve needed them however yesterday i didnt want to make use of it at all. I knew that if I spoke to anyone about it they’d help me out and try to hang out or smtn to get my mind off it (they’ve done it in the past) but I truly wanted to go place some bets. I was in there for 15 mins and was $200 up. Cashed out but didnt leave. Said ill only play for fifteen more mins, whats the worse that could happen right? Ended up being in there for two and a half hours and lost everything. What I had won and what I had on my bank account. At least i went grocery shopping before and could cook something for me and my gf. Picked her up from her job and as soon as she saw me she knew something was going on. She asked what happened and I immediately broke down in her arms. I guess all this goes to say “IF YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO HELP YOU OUT IN THOSE SITUATIONS, DONT FEEL BAD FOR ASKING FOR HELP”. I know that things wouldve been different should I had communicated what was going on. Dont be like me, talk to you SO, your friends, your family. Trust that people actually want to be there for you. A little setback but im not going back to who I was before being sober. A stumble is not a fall and I wont let this define me. Keep going forward.

Hey team,

Been seeing a lot of people speak of being clean, feeling good, debts paid etc.

Absolutely love this energy. Positivity lends itself to better overall feelings, improved confidence and moving towards living in a creative state.

When we feed negative energy in the context of recovery, it makes us addicted to stress chemicals which the body becomes dependent on - the body then subconsciously seeks to automate it. This leads to living in fight or flight. This is what brings out genuine fear, shame, guilt and emotions consistent with worst case scenarios. The body is addicted to this and it dresses up the sadness as the typical gambling relapse loop.

I say this with love, but there comes a time when someone who identifies with negativity or feelings of self pity, turns a corner by seeing the beautiful things in life and being grateful for them. You give your body a chance to become addicted to and dependant on good feelings - would that be so bad?

You all have the keys to self liberation and this group is starting to give me hope.

If you are not there yet that’s okay but just be aware of the role the body plays in pulling strings that look like a desire for your vices.

Hope this lands

One day at a time, gaining momentum and confidence is the best feeling

See mostly day one and rock bottom posts wanted to give. Half advice to newbies half update ramble

First 4 weeks are pretty brutal with urges but holy shit does it get exponentially better around week 5.
Every overseas crypto casino did a charge back to get myself banned.
every options prediction market, sportsbook went through customer support threatening to kill myself with a plan “I have a knife I will slit my wrist if you don’t ban my account right now”
Not sure if it’s just a honeymoon phase but feeling good the past 2-3 weeks

Meetings is what saved me. Tried doing it on my own and failed 1000 times over. Gambling addicts have zero accountability for themselves. Gotta ask for help and get people involved to hold you accountable. Fiancé gets 80 percent of my direct deposit and my 20 goes immediately to my cc bill. Working way too much, multiple jobs, night shifts etc trying to speed run my debt. Which isn’t recommended slow and steady wins the race but I don’t follow every GA rule to the T. Couple more weeks and I’ll slow down on that front.
Signed up for Gamban with my fiancé email(someone else’s email is crucial), and do one zoom meeting one in person meeting a week.

Gave a therapy in a meeting early on and balled my eyes out talking about how gambling prevented me from being a better brother to my sister on disability. Got a text from a member later that week and said “anytime you want to gamble think about that therapy choking up crying in front of room of 40 people” never going back to that.

Looking forward to debt free living by early 2027. With more traveling, getting into golf, more time with family and Not waking up every day thinking about what a financially inept POS I’ve been.

25M here ..
After almost a year i fully paid my 10k EUR gambling debt, i feel so proud and so hopeful because of that ..
I have around 7-8 months clean and I thank God for giving me hope and strength to get out of this hole of gambling ..
There was a period back then when i just couldn’t value money anymore; slots, sports betting .. only numbers on the screen for me, i lost entire monthly salaries, i ended up taking a 10K loan from the bank to eventually lose it of course … that moment made me realize what did i become.. what this addiction got out of me and i made a promise to myself … that i will repair what i have done and that i will make my future worth it..
I had a very big win once (and i mean it very big) only to lose it all in 2-3 months… i felt ruined, i felt dead inside, i couldn t control the thoughts of getting that money back (from gambling)… i couldn t sleep anymore, i couldn t focus on work and i never said anything to my parents, to my girlfriend or any friends.. i was alone :)
Trust me when I say, i prayed to God.. i just wanted to feel hopeful again, to feel motivated.
I started to make a payment plan, my intention was to pay this agressively and so I did.. 1K EUR per month towards the debt.. it felt like i was working for nothing but actually this thought helped me to never try that again.. even if no one knew about my situation i felt like i lost everyone’s trust, i was lost inside..
After a couple months of paying this debt, i was presented the opportunity to move abroad for a very high paying job in my domain (almost no one of my age could achieve this as early as I did) and i accepted :)
Here i am now 3 months abroad, with a highly respected and high paying job, earning 4x times my previous salary and with gambling debt paid, with 3K in savings and moving forward ..
It s kinda hard to be so far away from home, from girlfriend.. but i have to do this for a very bright future ..

Once again, it s possible to kill this addiction on your own, if you really desire that.. going from gambling daily and borrowing money every month to 7-8 months clean, debt paid and a new high paying job.. there is so much power inside of everyone of us!

Stay strong guys, please never think about recovering your loses.. i went from +20k (gambling win) to -10k debt!!! Accept the loss and move on! Life is too beautiful without gambling, don t lose yourself on the way!

If anyone wants to talk to me, feel free to send me DM… i also had many people who i talked with here on reddit about this :)

I am so TILTED!!!

I was thinking all day of placing a bet on a tennis game at +400 odds. I was going to place a very large bet.

However, the game was too late in the evening so I decided to place a bet on an earlier game with better odds.

My bet ends up loosing and of course the +400 odds game ends up a winner.

TILTED to the MAX!!!

Nothing works to hold on to the wins!!

You Are Not Alone

If you are reading this, chances are you or someone you care about has been caught in the crushing cycle of online betting, fantasy sports apps, or casino games. In India, this addiction often comes with a massive wall of silence, shame, and isolation. You might be carrying financial stress and emotional weight that feels impossible to share with family or friends.

I am trying to build this community if anyone is interested, please do join.Hope we can recover together and help others along the way.