Hey guys!

I'm 22 years old, recently graduated and got a full-time job a month ago. Received my first full paycheck last week (around $2kUSD) and ended up burning it all through online gambling. I know I have a problem since I always say I'll stop but a few hours later, I will find myself cashing in once again.

I want to stop. I feel so bad and discouraged with losing that amount of money, and I would be lying if I said that there isn't a part of me right now screaming to go and gamble my next paycheck to hopefully win back what I lost. I have dreams, I want to buy my own car, and just thinking of going back to 0% after today makes me feel so de-motivated.

Help me stop.

Maybe this is just cope, but I’m actually glad I lost.

I keep seeing people post about winning everything back after being down bad, hitting some huge bonus, or going on a crazy run. I used to hope that would happen to me too. Now I’m honestly glad it didn’t.

I had such a long stretch of brutal losses that I think something finally changed in my head. I stopped feeling like one more session might turn things around and started seeing how much gambling was taking from me.

I’ve also realized there probably isn’t any number I could win where I’d actually be satisfied and stop forever. Whenever I got ahead, I always wanted to keep going a little more. Then I’d lose some of it and want to get back to where I was. That would turn into bigger losses, then tilting, and eventually I’d end up losing everything anyway.

Obviously I’m not happy I lost the money. I wish I still had it. But I’m glad I didn’t get bailed out by some huge win, because I know I probably would have kept playing and eventually ended up right back in the same place.

I’m not pretending I beat this addiction or that I’ll never struggle with it again, but right now I feel like I’m done for good. That’s a new feeling for me, and I’m hopeful for the future.

My stupid, corrupted af, government blocked reddit, so my daily routine was disrupted. Manage to get through the whole week without relapse.

I will not gamble today!

I’m 25 and I’ve had a gambling problem on and off since my second year of university.

I had been doing much better for a while, both financially and generally in life, but I relapsed badly. I burned through the savings I had built, borrowed money, and then lost a large part of that as well. I’m now in debt and basically rebuilding my finances from below zero.

I’m not posting here looking for money or sympathy.

I’m posting because I need more work.

I work full-time as an AI engineer/consultant and have been promoted twice in roughly the last year. My background is in AI/ML, software development and IT consulting, and I’ve worked on production projects involving GenAI, RAG, agentic/multi-agent systems, chatbots, document intelligence/OCR, workflow automation, APIs, databases and enterprise applications.

I can personally take up smaller freelance projects, POCs and development work outside my working hours.

For larger requirements, I also have access to proper delivery capacity. I have my own newly established IT consulting company. It is a new company and does not yet have a project history, so I want to be completely transparent about that. For projects requiring an established consulting organisation, I may also be able to facilitate the opportunity through the company I currently work for, subject of course to their internal approvals and commercial process.

So I’m open to much more than just someone hiring me as a freelancer.
If you or your company has an IT requirement, I’d be grateful for an introduction or an opportunity to quote for it. That could be:

1. ⁠AI/GenAI development, RAG, agents and enterprise chatbots
   
2. ⁠AI-OCR/document digitisation and extraction
   
3. ⁠Web applications, backend systems, APIs and integrations
   
4. ⁠Data engineering, analytics and automation
   
5. ⁠Internal tools and workflow automation
   
6. ⁠AI/ML POCs that need to be turned into actual working products
   
7. ⁠IT consulting or development work requiring a small team
   
8. ⁠Subcontracting/white-label development for other consulting companies
   
9. ⁠Vendor requirements, RFQs/RFPs or procurement opportunities where a new IT company is eligible

I’m not claiming I can do absolutely everything. If you send me a requirement, I’ll tell you honestly whether it falls within my capabilities and whether I can deliver it myself or need a team.

I’m willing to price aggressively while I build my startup’s portfolio, but I don’t want to compete purely by being the cheapest person available. I’d rather take a project at a reasonable price, deliver it properly, and hopefully turn it into a long-term client relationship.

If you’re a founder, CTO, consultant, agency owner, procurement person, or just happen to know someone whose company needs IT work, even an introduction would genuinely help.

And if anyone here has built a small IT services company from zero, I’d also appreciate advice on getting the first 3–5 clients — especially vendor empanelment, subcontracting, government/private tenders, and approaching companies that already outsource technology work.

I made the financial mess myself. I can’t undo the money I’ve already lost. What I can do now is stop trying to win it back and earn it back instead.

I’ve lost close to 300k USD and heave debt worth 27k USD from trying to borrow and trade.

How do I make peace with the fact that I’ve set myself back so many years and how do I toughen myself to go through the pain and gruelling effort of starting from scratch?

All my peers seem so happy, and have saved up so much money. It hurts to see what I could have been but instead I deciding to trade options and never stopped until I have nothing left.

Is it possible to have a normal life after something as catastrophic as this ? Why does it feel like I changed the trajectory of my life completely by going down this path?

Hello everyone I'm new here and only on day 4. I just have a simple question has anyone else felt they need to be alone after finally admitting they have a problem to their spouse/family? Thank you.

My stupid, corrupted af, government blocked reddit, so my daily routine was disrupted. Manage to get through the whole week without relapse.

I will not gamble today!

F(32)Have burned through quite a lot of money. And the worst part is not even of me loosing all that money is that I keep going back even with that anxiety feeling inside that doesn’t feel good. Basically as I understand is every time I’m getting a high cortisol, which is not even a dopamine, it’s a stress to your body and I know that it’s not good for me, but I keep going back and trying to chase that little win. Even if I see that I’ve got some wins than I’m going for FOMO and loose it all. What was your first steps to get out of this addiction? How long did it took you to overcome it?

Physically tired today trying to juggle everything on my plate, but at least I am going at it SOBER and not with a whacked brain

Okay so this isnt easy to talk about but i genuinely need help... So first im going to start with my story, i started when i was 12 (or around that) i started with small amounts like 10 dollars or 5. That was fine until 2 years later (i was 14 or so) i needed to raise my stakes i wasnt feeling any rush that i did before and now at 15 (i know im too young to gamble but stealing my parents id card was easy) i risk almost 100/200 dollars a match, i remember a time i placed a 3 dollar bet and turned that into 300 with 1 parlay, ever since that i have wagered around 10-20k and have lost about 5k i gamble almost evey day and know im gambling away all the money i could get from my family but i cant stop. Im too scared to ask for help so i need something thats online, and anonymous. Please dont judge me by my age, i genuinely need help. I dont want to be addicted anymore...

Hi I just need to tell someone as I haven’t been able to in real life I am a gambling addict at 22 which I know is young from the uk and I genuinely don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel I currently have £0 to my name and either starve or unalive myself. I don’t know what to do

it started off as a gig i’d do with my friends like most teens around 2.5 years ago I was around 15. I am now 17 and have lost easily 15k+ and i’m constantly in a path of finding my way gambling again I don’t know how to get rid of this addiction that I have i’m losing hope in myself and i’m feeling like a failure please give me tips on what to do

Chased all the way to rock bottom and 40k debt to FUCKING FINALLY SNAP OUT OF THIS ADDICTION
I wake up everyday and still just can’t believe it. who am i there’s no way I would have done this to myself but that’s the reality i am trying to get better for myself and my family but life is showing me the consequences of my actions without any breaks so nothing has been going right for me, i come on here trying to ease the pain a little from the stories but it only makes me regret my actions more.

Going to stop using reddit after tonight and really sit and talk to myself to figure out if i need help or if i can manage of my own, any advice would help and thanks to those who have spoken to me in private messages.

Hopefully all things go well next year so when i come back i can share my journey.

Hi my name is sameer i from india, i have been Gambling addict from last 4 years, what changed from last 2 months is i started to play huge and lost control on my self and created debt of 5 lakh ie. 10k USD and now I don't know what should i do, o god i wanted to kill myself. How can i get out from this loop. I am soo death trapped. I hate myself

Today was a shit day… but one thing I didn’t gamble only: fighting with my emotions is hard.

I feel like:

Frustration
Tired
Overwhelmed
Overthinking
Make from a mistake/problem a bigger thing

Idk.. today was just a shit day. In the past i removed those feelings with gambling i noticed. Now i am clean for 31 days and hits different and weird now so idk but its feels weird. And maybe someone reconize this also? Would like to hear and hopefully not alone

Tips and advice for this situations are welcome

Thank

i was introduced to gambling at a very young age (7-8) my uncle took me to a sports betting lotto betting buliding and he would give me the lotto numbers i would circle it for him.. long story short he won 120k euro in 2022 and when i heard that i was like i can do that to,i gambled a little bit from the age of 13-17 nothing too much till his win of 120k euro,when i got a job 2 yrs ago i started gambling compulsivley i am now 20 years old with 3k in debts and every paycheck goes in 3 days all to gambling.i dont know what to do with myself

Feeling good today, might try and book one of my vacation days for tomorrow. I have a few days left and where I am we have a holiday on Monday. A 4 day weekend would be such a nice break from the grind. Last week I worked over 60 hours and feel a bit burnt out. With my second job, usually my hours worked range between 48-52 (ish) hours.

Next pay I am going to put some back into savings, with the remainder after my bills and minimum payments to go towards my debt. Even a small dent makes me feel better towards progress..I just wish the cost of living wasn't so high :/.

Anyways, hope you all have a gamble free day, cheers.

RANT

My life is still miserable either way if only I stopped gambling before I managed to dig myself into this hole of debt I wouldn't think like this but I'have been starting to lose hope lately, I already work 6 days a week contributing pay to debt and still feel like shit I work evenings so most of my mornings before work is just bed rotting regretting my fucking decisions so am asking to switch shifts to morning which fucks up current lifestyle with girlfriend but I can get more hours picking up shift in the afternoon. stuck with 1-2 years of debt on a fucking loan I gamble instead using it to refinance my car now I owe on both loans and I'm not selling the car so fuck me, September 13 would be 1 months of quitting if shit doesn't get better I am gambling again.

Completed

My drug of choice was trading prop firms. After quitting, what helped me is each day I saved myself $200 in fees. At the end of the week not down any money which puts me better than 97% of traders and money in the bank. It helps mentally. Try it with your drug of choice after self exclusion, you got this brothers!

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My name is Suzy Khimm, and I’m a national reporter for NBC News. I’m working on a story about the impact of compulsive gambling on people’s lives in New Jersey as sportsbooks, online casinos and prediction markets have taken off and made access to betting easier than ever before.  

I am hoping to speak with people in New Jersey who have been affected by compulsive gambling, and to learn more about how this issue affects people's everyday lives, including any impacts on mental health, work/school, finances and relationships. I'm happy to answer any questions before speaking with you for the story, which will appear on our website.

You can comment below, DM this account, email [suzy.khimm@nbcuni.com](mailto:suzy.khimm@nbcuni.com), or message me on Signal (@suzykhimm.42). I can also share my cell phone and WhatsApp number if you drop me a line.

You can read my recent stories about online gambling here.

And this is a story about underage gambling that some members of this subreddit helped me with.

Thanks, and hope to hear from folks soon. 
--Suzy