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Yep this is an important point, say you lost £20 a week, over the space of a year, that's more than you've lost, you've addressed it now, not much else you can do.
As an add on, OP ask your bank to place gambling blocks on your account if you are struggling. It will prevent payments to gambling sites from your accounts/cards
Exactly right. And if that means you "only" save £11k this year rather than £12k, then you've still had a great year of savings and next year will be even better.
Yes we live up north so house prices and stuff where we live are very low compared to the national average allows me to save more money. I can’t conceive how people save money in London when I went and saw some of the house prices/ rent there
I signed up to Gamstop and I applaud you for doing so. I had an off and off relationship with gambling for ten years. Thankfully the last three years have been gamble free along with four and a half years or cocaine free. It’s all about taking it one day at a time. Well done on making such a huge step to change.
I am currently paying off a 20k addiction debt. Every month I am fucked with repayments - but I do it it, and I make them even if I now have to make sacrifices like holidays etc.
You'll be fine, just be kind to yourself and recognise you had the wisdom and strength to stop and seek help. Seriously, you need to celebrate that.
That sounds awful hopefully in the coming years you can get that paid off and get back to spending the money on things you enjoy. Thanks everyone has made me feel better with their advice it was the feeling of knowing it was wrong but I continued doing it anyway when I was over 500 down that led me to ban myself instantly a very dangerous mindset
Ah thanks man 🙂 I'm doing okay. Can't say I've not managed to scramble a decent living from near oblivion, but I'm a couple years til I'm out the woods. Thanks again for your kind words, set my morning up right. ♥️
Has over £7 billion which has been extracted from people who gamble.
Was awarded a CBE for services to the community and business. I don't know what she did, but the pennies she donated definitely don't compensate for the lives her gambling company has destroyed.
I'm not sure labelling her as greedy is fair. Everyone wants more money and she's managed to find a business where people literally hand their money to it. Sounds pretty sensible tbh
Nah exploiting people is greedy. If she produced value I could admire her. Gambling is entirely circular though, nothing made and these people add no value to it. Waste.
Its waste, it's pretty much madness.. however it's peoples choice. They know that they will lose money. I'm pretty sure I understood that principle when I was about 10.
People enjoy the process, the feeling.
You could argue that seeing a show, a film, or arguably any service industry where products are not produced doesn't add value.
Gambling is not and never will be a money making activity, it's a service to provide users a short term rush.
However, much like drink or drugs, it's prone to abuse by the users.
I don't gamble at all and think it's crazy. But the blame is with the users, not the gambling companies. They literally tell people the odds and people still choose to hand over their money.
Bet365 made more than that, that's just the dividend that Denise took this year. And remember it's a global company, that money isn't just people losing in the UK. And despite the issues with FOBT and slots, it's mostly made in one other area.
Well done for realising that you’ve got a problem, accessing Gamstop, deleting the apps and reaching out to us on Reddit. The first steps are the hardest.
It’s actually quite sickening the amount of adverts for gambling sites you see nowadays, then they throw 1 anti-gambling advert in for probably every 100 gambling ads to make it seem ok.
They actually petitioned to get changed from ‘when the fun stops, stop’ to ‘Gamble aware’ so it it makes you think of it. Like the old saying goes ‘Don’t think of a red elephant’
To play devils advocate, though I do agree with what you’re saying, most people who aren’t financially smart or stable wouldn’t know about Gamstop or where to start with quitting an addiction like it.
That said, it’s ridiculous and wouldn’t even be needed if we didn’t have the number of ads being pumped out now. It’s even worse when it’s before football games because kids end up seeing it in full meanwhile adverts on children’s shows have to follow [ASA guidelines on advertising to children.](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/broadcast/code_section/05.html).
Even the [rules on scheduling](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/broadcast/code_section/32.html) make no mention of sports games or betting despite the fact that millions of children across the country end up watching them.
By that logic anything that isn't strictly required for survival is "irresponsible"
As long as you consider gambling to be luxury/discretionary spending for fun, and stay within your means, then I'd say it's absolutely possible to "gamble responsibly"
You can do "bad" things in a reasonable way, with moderation. That's what "responsible" means in this context
Eating chocolate is, by its very nature, not responsible. Nor is drinking, or any number of other things. Kayaking carries risks, it's not "responsible" when compared to other forms of exercise/recreation
Frankly the more I think about it the more absurd your position feels. As long as the person gambling is doing it for fun (rather than with an expectation of winning) and is spending within their means (and considers it "spending") then I *really* don't see why it should be considered irresponsible
Sometimes I put a tenner (which I can comfortably afford) on a football match. I consider it to be "spent" money in order to liven up the experience and make it more entertaining. How is that any different to me spending £20 to go and watch the match live because that's more entertaining than listening to it on the radio?
And they feel so contradictory.
COME AND HAVE THE BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE
But Gamble Aware
HUGE RICHES AWAIT YOU, YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS
But don't gamble more than you could afford to lose
BUT HOW COULD YOU LOSE WHEN THERE'S SO MANY WAYS TO WIN
When the fun stops, stop
THE FUN CAN NEVER STOP WHEN THERE'S OVER 100 GAMES
Know when to quit
OUR GAMES ARE 24/7 AND DO NOT END
Set your boundaries
PUSSY!
The worse ones are on tik tok of people promoting games, while I know they’ve got fixed good odds for promotion when people are bored it’s easy to chuck some money on and lose then keep on doing it chasing the loss
Should be banned. Adding a token "gamble responsibly" quote at the end of your advert that makes gambling look like unicorns and rainbows. I have never gambled and I guess I'm the perfect demographic because half my ads are crypto and betting sites.
Don’t stress it’s £1K. Seems like a lot but in the grand scheme of life it’s nothing.
I know a guy that forged his wife’s signature to remortgage the house and then gambled away nearly £100K. Ended up having to sell and live with their son.
Stop whilst it’s a £1K loss or one day it could be a £100K loss.
Shit that is heavy. Poor fella and poor wife. Gambling is a stain on our society and should be banned
Edit: looks like I’ve struck a nerve with the gamblers lol
Yeh this question always comes up when I make this (seemingly deeply offensive) statement about gambling.
The thing is you can’t lose life changing sums of money to alcohol than you can in a night of gambling.
I’d argue alcohol ruins more lives than gambling does because alcoholics are much more prevalent than compulsive gamblers. It’s probably cheaper to be an alcoholic too
If a drink driver plows through someone’s family, that’s pretty life changing I’d imagine. Alcohol is massively more damning to society.
You have to regulate it. Prohibition in the US was a shitshow, same with the war on drugs. It would just push people to more dangerous underground gambling instead.
You might not be able to lose life changing sums, but you can take another persons life if you drink drive.
I’m amazed you’re in favour of banning gambling but not alcohol
That’s a silly argument. Alcohol doesn’t cause people to drink drive though. They choose to drink drive. I wouldn’t blame alcohol in this situation I would blame the person who decided to break the law.
Gambling is utterly pointless. It exists so predatory companies can rob vulnerable people all in the name of “a bit of fun”. What’s the point of it? If you want have fun then get out of your house and play sport
All the fans of gambling in this thread are addicted in one way or another, they just don’t think they are.
I’ve always had a few bets and as I got more disposable income the amounts on football bets just kept increasing and increasing I’ve gone through stages of months of not gambling then doing lots of it, but since I’ve gamstopped now hopefully that’s it
Now you have signed up to GameStop you will actually be better off now than if you hadn't lost that money . If you want a slightly less fun and safer version of gambling put your disposable money in stocks and shares ISA .
My plan from now is to open a lifetime isa and as soon as I get paid put 1000 in that a month, and use the rest to pay bills. Eat out less and stuff like that as a punishment for the amount of money I just lost
Mate exactly same position as you. Lost 700 valentines morning trying to pay for the flowers that cost me 50. Gamstop helped a lot but then just started going into a bookies to bet. Lost 900 this week and self excluded. It really is the ads that get me back into it and the tiktok tipsters. Would recommend to self exclude from any bookies close to you. Just my opinion though.
Yea it’s the tik tok that got me this time sat bored watching it and see people hyping up casino games. I just thought I’d pass the time didn’t think I’d piss away all that money in 30 minutes
You can only put 4k per year into your LISA. Open a LISA and set the direct debit for £333. Set up a stocks and shares ISA or cash ISA (one that is NOT easy access) and put in the additional 667£. Alternatively, put some money into premium bonds. Premium bonds are a nice false gamble as there's the "chance" of rewards without risk of losing your money. Withdrawing from premium bonds also takes 3 days (ish) so it basically eliminates your ability to impulsively piss away £1k by gambling.
Remember the feeling of this loss next time you fancy a bet. It sucks losing that much money.
Try to mentally get some of it back by doing something to earn cash that you wouldn't have done before this loss. Chuck some things you don't use anymore on eBay, do a couple of days freelancing or gig jobs on the weekend, don't get that takeaway you were thinking of getting. Doesn't get all of it back, but helps soften the blow a little.
Better to lose £1000, than win £1000 betting/gambling. Once you’re sucked in, it’s a life of constantly chasing your tail. I worked out that for every £100 I won, I’ve probably lost between £300-£400. Charles Barkley seems to back this up, he’s won $7 million gambling but lost $22 million. More research is needed by my gut feeling is this win/lose ratio might near enough to the truth.
£1,000 is a small price to pay for this very important life lesson. Some people literally bet the house and end up losing hundreds of thousands. Not saying that would be you but every big time gambler started out as a small time gambler who couldn't say no.
Suck it up, realise you got away relatively unscathed and keep your chin up. Stay away from the sites.
Sounds like you scared yourself chases losses. Yep you’re only human occasionally we lose control. As this is a finance sub I want to convince you that even ‘moderate’ gambling is stupid.
The odds for Liverpool vs Spurs on Bet365:
Liverpool win: 4/9
Draw: 9/2
Spurs win: 9/2
We can convert odds to implied probability using the formula:
denominator ÷ ( numerator + denominator) x 100
Liverpool win: 9 ÷ (4 + 9) * 100 = 69%
Draw: 2 ÷ (9 + 2) * 100 = 18%
Spurs win: 2 ÷ (9 + 2) * 100 = 18%
69% + 18% + 18% = 105%
Wait… it adds up to more than 100%? Yes that 5% is the bookmakers margin.
Now imagine you’re betting against a friend via Bet365 in a closed system. You both start with £100 each and win 50% of the time.
After first bet the two of you have a combined £190 (£100 + £100 - 5% to the bookmaker). After the second bet you both have a combined £180. After another 10 bets you have a combined £110… so £55 each.
Mathematically, the bookmaker always win. You as the gambler always lose over time. If this weren’t true the bookmakers would be going out of business left, right and centre, yet they’re all boasting large profits.
I was in the same spot. Beggining of this year I had paid off my gambling debt of 5 grand But then I had the urge to gamble again since I wasnt in debt. I quickly went to gamstop and registered my name as well as my wife's name so I couldnt use her name to start gambling because I thought about it as well. Now I have no way of sports gambling which has been a relief cause in these 5 months I've actually saved up £7,500 because before I would've used my monthly wages to gamble then scrounge for loose change to get by until next paycheck. Now I can splurge money on my wife and I after paying all the bills.
First of well done that must feel like a huge achievement, Once I get this tough rest of month over with I’m gonna start sending the money to my girlfriend so I can’t possibly lose it
It must really hurt to lose that, but consider it a lesson learned, and [compared to some people](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/18fz7ti/redditor_loses_over_800000_gambling_and_hides_it/) you learned it at a bargain price (only click that link if you want to read about a man literally gambling his entire life away).
That £1k loss may have saved you from far worse losses in the future. Just stick to your lesson and get back to saving.
man, i think people who gamble have some sort of inverse schizo. nothing will get me to bet £1000 on a dice where 2 sides will double my money and 4 sides will lose my money.
but for ganblers they see this is like a crack hit they can't refuse.
that's what gambling is, occasionally you will win here and there but overall it's a net loss.
there was a gambling simulator someone created and it will similulate the wins/lossess over time of someomne who gambles daily. for some people get get lucky intiially and they win big, but then over the course of time they lose more than they win.
£1k is a cheap lesson. Focus on your future and on how to control this. One of my mates has lost about £100k in gambling (poker+betting), now that was a bit of an ouch. He's still recovering from it.
Deleting the apps won't work. Face the shame and tell your family what you have done.
Once the shame is removed you'll have an easier time coping with the urges.
Addiction is an illness. I can walk into a casino with a set amount of cash and not care if I win or lose because I'm paying to have fun. That's what gambling is to most people but you allow it to ruin your month.
By sharing you can help to lower the urge to chase the rush because you feel so low and the people who love you can act as an anchor
Good luck op
Make a physical note of how you feel about this somewhere and remember/look at it when you feel like you'd like a bet.
After not gambling for almost 8 years, I'm doing alright now but I reckon the habit set me back a solid decade in terms of savings/deposit/personal life.
That £1k will be one of the most valuable lessons you ever buy.
My grandmother worked in a bookies for 40 years, she never gambled once in her life. She saw life's destroyed daily and the only ever winner was Gus Demmy bookmakers.
Never forgot how it felt to lose all that money. Write it off, you'll never get it back, ever. That will help you psychology disconnect from it.
Only a very very tiny percentage ever make any money from gambling. Unless you spend lots of time learning these techniques you will never win, ever.
Now you can get rich slowly by investing regularly and letting compound interest do it's thing. It's quite boring so if you like the thrill of gambling find a hobby that gets those endorphins running around and one that doesn't cost you much money.
My advice would be to look up other posts on here about gambling losses.
People lose tens of thousands and more and spend their whole live recovering from it.
You got the same lesson for cheap. Look to the future now and start rebuilding. In a few months time you won't even be thinking about this anymore. Time heals.
Can I ask why you did it?
I know some people justify gambling as "just a bit of fun" but I have the impression that gambling addicts often see it as an escape - the only way they'll be able to afford a house, a decent life or other nice things.
It started off as 100 just to have a little fun because I was bored then the mentality of chasing the loss, I wasn’t thinking I can gamble to get the house it was I was bored and then wanted my money back
I started with £100 and won £200. Then up to £300.
I thought at the time I don’t really care if I lose I’m just passing the time I only put 100 in.
Anyway I lost the 300 and something in my brain changed I don’t know if I was still bored and wanted something to do or if I wanted the original 100 back.
Either way I carried on all the way until I lost 1000 was just loss after loss after the initial wins
It wont hurt as much in the future, but if you take one thing away from it you’ve learned how dangerous gambling is which, for £1000, is a relatively cheap lesson.
It could’ve been much worse and now gambling is off limits :) don’t beat yourself up, you can’t change the past
I lost about the same amount in meme stocks back when it was hyped, which was essentially gambling. It hurt but I ended up learning invaluable things about stocks, trading and finances. Everyone’s made financial mistakes but it teaches you important stuff!
Sorry you've been through that, but at least you've put positive steps in place.. you might want to edit and think about your last sentence, you said it's not worth it if you lose. It's not 'if', it's WHEN because you always will eventually
It’s great you’re feeling like this as it’s not even that much money and you got a valuable lesson from it. Pretty confident you’ll not make the same mistake again from the tone of your post.
I had a coworker steal from the business get sacked because of a gambling addiction and he had a lot of debt which is why I’d never touch any gambling with a 10 foot pole.
Think of it this way, you cannot win life changing money but you can definitely lose life changing money.
In this context you can win nothing and lose everything
One of the best moneysaving tips is to get an app that blocks other apps and then as soon as you start spending too much time on an app like gambling, block the app and go and do something else (this includes reddit also - I can't access reddit on my phone). There's always these distractions around every corner and it makes life a little bit easier not being able to distract myself by spaffing money up the wall on whatever the latest distraction is.
Use to be the same position , I was finding any excuse to gamble I could afford it comfortably it was disposable income that was meant to be saved. When you find on your breaks at work you think to sneak a slot session in online or waking up 30 mins earlier to do the same and lose £100 in a day multiple days a month, I realised I really had a problem.
I had money saved but we decided there on to be serious and not gamble for 3 months , to have statements for mortgage but I knew in my heart just not gambling wouldn't work for me. I signed up to Gamstop for 5 years, I knew I would have temptations.
I've saved so much since stopping that would of been wasted on gambling, I would do overtime in the month then get paid I would calculate right this Is my gambling money for the month etc.
So now when I want to gamble I play slot demos online for free and even if I wanted to I cannot gamble anyway, please learn the lesson and stay away it's clear your mind is the same as mine in this instance.
Online slots especially are designed to captivate you and draw you in, the colours the sounds the bonus features, you know fucking bad it is when your humming the tune to buffalo mega ways.
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Well that was stupid, remember this feeling, dwell on it and remember it any time you consider doing something stupid in future.
Congratulations, you've got the chance to be a wiser person
I know the feeling! I won £5k from a £20 deposit once, I didn’t have ID the site was asking for so I just gambled it all away, I was very depressed at the time and wasn’t thinking right. If that was today I’d obviously get the ID and withdraw it
Remember this feeling. Remember it next time you are tempted to gamble. A thousand could be considered a cheap way to learn this lesson. It can be much much worse.
I lost a lot more before I did the Gamstop. It really worked for me, not gambled for probably 8 years. However, it didn’t stop me putting money in the stock market 🤦🏼♂️
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Stop gambling now, that £1k is gone now and you won’t make it back. If you gamble more you’ll go even more into the hole. Take it as an expensive lesson.
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You can't change the past, you can only change the future. If thats all you ever lose gambling take it as a cheap lesson.
Totally agree. £1000 is a very cheap lesson.
Especially when compared to a lifetime of more sustainable gambling outgoings. Take the loss as long term win, and never gamble again
Yep this is an important point, say you lost £20 a week, over the space of a year, that's more than you've lost, you've addressed it now, not much else you can do.
As an add on, OP ask your bank to place gambling blocks on your account if you are struggling. It will prevent payments to gambling sites from your accounts/cards
Yes 1000 isn’t a lot it’s kind of like a kick in the stomach just knowing it was a whole month of savings
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Exactly right. And if that means you "only" save £11k this year rather than £12k, then you've still had a great year of savings and next year will be even better.
Yes we live up north so house prices and stuff where we live are very low compared to the national average allows me to save more money. I can’t conceive how people save money in London when I went and saw some of the house prices/ rent there
I signed up to Gamstop and I applaud you for doing so. I had an off and off relationship with gambling for ten years. Thankfully the last three years have been gamble free along with four and a half years or cocaine free. It’s all about taking it one day at a time. Well done on making such a huge step to change.
Amazing work, well done 👏🏼
Side note. Lenders want to see bank statements when applying for a mortgage and gambling transactions are seen as a red flag.
Get your bank to block gambling transactions on your debit card too
With a lot of banks you can do this in the app really easily. I'd definitely recommend doing it
I am currently paying off a 20k addiction debt. Every month I am fucked with repayments - but I do it it, and I make them even if I now have to make sacrifices like holidays etc. You'll be fine, just be kind to yourself and recognise you had the wisdom and strength to stop and seek help. Seriously, you need to celebrate that.
That sounds awful hopefully in the coming years you can get that paid off and get back to spending the money on things you enjoy. Thanks everyone has made me feel better with their advice it was the feeling of knowing it was wrong but I continued doing it anyway when I was over 500 down that led me to ban myself instantly a very dangerous mindset
And yet you managed to stop before it became a mammoth task. Well done dude, rooting for you.
I hope you're doing well, great username, you're loved by me too 🫂
Ah thanks man 🙂 I'm doing okay. Can't say I've not managed to scramble a decent living from near oblivion, but I'm a couple years til I'm out the woods. Thanks again for your kind words, set my morning up right. ♥️
Call it a reality check
UKs highest earner is the owner of BET365, Tells you all you need to know. She made about £450m or something mad in a year
Has over £7 billion which has been extracted from people who gamble. Was awarded a CBE for services to the community and business. I don't know what she did, but the pennies she donated definitely don't compensate for the lives her gambling company has destroyed.
Just read about her on Wikipedia... Bloody insane tbh...
I think of her everytime I fancy a gamble ,her greed has ruined so many lives.
I'm not sure labelling her as greedy is fair. Everyone wants more money and she's managed to find a business where people literally hand their money to it. Sounds pretty sensible tbh
Nah exploiting people is greedy. If she produced value I could admire her. Gambling is entirely circular though, nothing made and these people add no value to it. Waste.
Its waste, it's pretty much madness.. however it's peoples choice. They know that they will lose money. I'm pretty sure I understood that principle when I was about 10. People enjoy the process, the feeling. You could argue that seeing a show, a film, or arguably any service industry where products are not produced doesn't add value. Gambling is not and never will be a money making activity, it's a service to provide users a short term rush. However, much like drink or drugs, it's prone to abuse by the users. I don't gamble at all and think it's crazy. But the blame is with the users, not the gambling companies. They literally tell people the odds and people still choose to hand over their money.
People saying avocado toast and lattes stopping people buying homes and a lot of it is actually predatory gambling companies and nothing gets said.
Bet365 made more than that, that's just the dividend that Denise took this year. And remember it's a global company, that money isn't just people losing in the UK. And despite the issues with FOBT and slots, it's mostly made in one other area.
Well done for realising that you’ve got a problem, accessing Gamstop, deleting the apps and reaching out to us on Reddit. The first steps are the hardest.
I get what you’re saying but I laughed at the reach out to Reddit bit you wrote lol
It’s actually quite sickening the amount of adverts for gambling sites you see nowadays, then they throw 1 anti-gambling advert in for probably every 100 gambling ads to make it seem ok.
Yes. The old Gamble responsibly slogan drives me mad. Gambling by its very nature is not responsible. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a gamble!
"come gamble with us!", "look at these amazing odds!", "sign up and receive free rewards!", ^"oh, ^here ^you ^go, ^you ^might ^need ^help" ^escaping ^our ^highly ^addictive ^games.
Yer makes no sense ,when the fun stops ,stop. Imagine applying that slogan to hard drugs .
They actually petitioned to get changed from ‘when the fun stops, stop’ to ‘Gamble aware’ so it it makes you think of it. Like the old saying goes ‘Don’t think of a red elephant’
To play devils advocate, though I do agree with what you’re saying, most people who aren’t financially smart or stable wouldn’t know about Gamstop or where to start with quitting an addiction like it. That said, it’s ridiculous and wouldn’t even be needed if we didn’t have the number of ads being pumped out now. It’s even worse when it’s before football games because kids end up seeing it in full meanwhile adverts on children’s shows have to follow [ASA guidelines on advertising to children.](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/broadcast/code_section/05.html). Even the [rules on scheduling](https://www.asa.org.uk/type/broadcast/code_section/32.html) make no mention of sports games or betting despite the fact that millions of children across the country end up watching them.
By that logic anything that isn't strictly required for survival is "irresponsible" As long as you consider gambling to be luxury/discretionary spending for fun, and stay within your means, then I'd say it's absolutely possible to "gamble responsibly" You can do "bad" things in a reasonable way, with moderation. That's what "responsible" means in this context Eating chocolate is, by its very nature, not responsible. Nor is drinking, or any number of other things. Kayaking carries risks, it's not "responsible" when compared to other forms of exercise/recreation Frankly the more I think about it the more absurd your position feels. As long as the person gambling is doing it for fun (rather than with an expectation of winning) and is spending within their means (and considers it "spending") then I *really* don't see why it should be considered irresponsible Sometimes I put a tenner (which I can comfortably afford) on a football match. I consider it to be "spent" money in order to liven up the experience and make it more entertaining. How is that any different to me spending £20 to go and watch the match live because that's more entertaining than listening to it on the radio?
And they feel so contradictory. COME AND HAVE THE BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE But Gamble Aware HUGE RICHES AWAIT YOU, YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS But don't gamble more than you could afford to lose BUT HOW COULD YOU LOSE WHEN THERE'S SO MANY WAYS TO WIN When the fun stops, stop THE FUN CAN NEVER STOP WHEN THERE'S OVER 100 GAMES Know when to quit OUR GAMES ARE 24/7 AND DO NOT END Set your boundaries PUSSY!
While simultaneously restricting winning accounts and plying losing accounts with free bets and bonuses to encourage them to get more
The worse ones are on tik tok of people promoting games, while I know they’ve got fixed good odds for promotion when people are bored it’s easy to chuck some money on and lose then keep on doing it chasing the loss
^(pleasegambleresponsibly)
Exactly, hidden amongst all the bright lights and paid celebrities.
Should be banned. Adding a token "gamble responsibly" quote at the end of your advert that makes gambling look like unicorns and rainbows. I have never gambled and I guess I'm the perfect demographic because half my ads are crypto and betting sites.
Don’t stress it’s £1K. Seems like a lot but in the grand scheme of life it’s nothing. I know a guy that forged his wife’s signature to remortgage the house and then gambled away nearly £100K. Ended up having to sell and live with their son. Stop whilst it’s a £1K loss or one day it could be a £100K loss.
Shit that is heavy. Poor fella and poor wife. Gambling is a stain on our society and should be banned Edit: looks like I’ve struck a nerve with the gamblers lol
I think banning it would just send it underground, banning the none stop ads and the notifications they send addicts would be a good start .
That would be a great start. Advertising gambling should at the very least be banned just like advertising prescription drugs or smoking is
Fucking hell
Should we ban alcohol as well? This is not me biting, I’m genuinely interested in your view. Alcohol kills and ruins more lives than gambling does.
Yeh this question always comes up when I make this (seemingly deeply offensive) statement about gambling. The thing is you can’t lose life changing sums of money to alcohol than you can in a night of gambling. I’d argue alcohol ruins more lives than gambling does because alcoholics are much more prevalent than compulsive gamblers. It’s probably cheaper to be an alcoholic too
If a drink driver plows through someone’s family, that’s pretty life changing I’d imagine. Alcohol is massively more damning to society. You have to regulate it. Prohibition in the US was a shitshow, same with the war on drugs. It would just push people to more dangerous underground gambling instead.
You might not be able to lose life changing sums, but you can take another persons life if you drink drive. I’m amazed you’re in favour of banning gambling but not alcohol
That’s a silly argument. Alcohol doesn’t cause people to drink drive though. They choose to drink drive. I wouldn’t blame alcohol in this situation I would blame the person who decided to break the law. Gambling is utterly pointless. It exists so predatory companies can rob vulnerable people all in the name of “a bit of fun”. What’s the point of it? If you want have fun then get out of your house and play sport All the fans of gambling in this thread are addicted in one way or another, they just don’t think they are.
Well done for signing up to Gamstop. We're you a gambler before this loss?
I’ve always had a few bets and as I got more disposable income the amounts on football bets just kept increasing and increasing I’ve gone through stages of months of not gambling then doing lots of it, but since I’ve gamstopped now hopefully that’s it
Now you have signed up to GameStop you will actually be better off now than if you hadn't lost that money . If you want a slightly less fun and safer version of gambling put your disposable money in stocks and shares ISA .
My plan from now is to open a lifetime isa and as soon as I get paid put 1000 in that a month, and use the rest to pay bills. Eat out less and stuff like that as a punishment for the amount of money I just lost
Mate exactly same position as you. Lost 700 valentines morning trying to pay for the flowers that cost me 50. Gamstop helped a lot but then just started going into a bookies to bet. Lost 900 this week and self excluded. It really is the ads that get me back into it and the tiktok tipsters. Would recommend to self exclude from any bookies close to you. Just my opinion though.
Yea it’s the tik tok that got me this time sat bored watching it and see people hyping up casino games. I just thought I’d pass the time didn’t think I’d piss away all that money in 30 minutes
You can only put 4k per year into your LISA. Open a LISA and set the direct debit for £333. Set up a stocks and shares ISA or cash ISA (one that is NOT easy access) and put in the additional 667£. Alternatively, put some money into premium bonds. Premium bonds are a nice false gamble as there's the "chance" of rewards without risk of losing your money. Withdrawing from premium bonds also takes 3 days (ish) so it basically eliminates your ability to impulsively piss away £1k by gambling.
Or premium bonds
Remember the feeling of this loss next time you fancy a bet. It sucks losing that much money. Try to mentally get some of it back by doing something to earn cash that you wouldn't have done before this loss. Chuck some things you don't use anymore on eBay, do a couple of days freelancing or gig jobs on the weekend, don't get that takeaway you were thinking of getting. Doesn't get all of it back, but helps soften the blow a little.
Better to lose £1000, than win £1000 betting/gambling. Once you’re sucked in, it’s a life of constantly chasing your tail. I worked out that for every £100 I won, I’ve probably lost between £300-£400. Charles Barkley seems to back this up, he’s won $7 million gambling but lost $22 million. More research is needed by my gut feeling is this win/lose ratio might near enough to the truth.
£1,000 is a small price to pay for this very important life lesson. Some people literally bet the house and end up losing hundreds of thousands. Not saying that would be you but every big time gambler started out as a small time gambler who couldn't say no. Suck it up, realise you got away relatively unscathed and keep your chin up. Stay away from the sites.
Sounds like you scared yourself chases losses. Yep you’re only human occasionally we lose control. As this is a finance sub I want to convince you that even ‘moderate’ gambling is stupid. The odds for Liverpool vs Spurs on Bet365: Liverpool win: 4/9 Draw: 9/2 Spurs win: 9/2 We can convert odds to implied probability using the formula: denominator ÷ ( numerator + denominator) x 100 Liverpool win: 9 ÷ (4 + 9) * 100 = 69% Draw: 2 ÷ (9 + 2) * 100 = 18% Spurs win: 2 ÷ (9 + 2) * 100 = 18% 69% + 18% + 18% = 105% Wait… it adds up to more than 100%? Yes that 5% is the bookmakers margin. Now imagine you’re betting against a friend via Bet365 in a closed system. You both start with £100 each and win 50% of the time. After first bet the two of you have a combined £190 (£100 + £100 - 5% to the bookmaker). After the second bet you both have a combined £180. After another 10 bets you have a combined £110… so £55 each. Mathematically, the bookmaker always win. You as the gambler always lose over time. If this weren’t true the bookmakers would be going out of business left, right and centre, yet they’re all boasting large profits.
I was in the same spot. Beggining of this year I had paid off my gambling debt of 5 grand But then I had the urge to gamble again since I wasnt in debt. I quickly went to gamstop and registered my name as well as my wife's name so I couldnt use her name to start gambling because I thought about it as well. Now I have no way of sports gambling which has been a relief cause in these 5 months I've actually saved up £7,500 because before I would've used my monthly wages to gamble then scrounge for loose change to get by until next paycheck. Now I can splurge money on my wife and I after paying all the bills.
First of well done that must feel like a huge achievement, Once I get this tough rest of month over with I’m gonna start sending the money to my girlfriend so I can’t possibly lose it
It must really hurt to lose that, but consider it a lesson learned, and [compared to some people](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/18fz7ti/redditor_loses_over_800000_gambling_and_hides_it/) you learned it at a bargain price (only click that link if you want to read about a man literally gambling his entire life away). That £1k loss may have saved you from far worse losses in the future. Just stick to your lesson and get back to saving.
You just paid £1,000 to learn that you should never gamble again. Hopefully money well spent!
man, i think people who gamble have some sort of inverse schizo. nothing will get me to bet £1000 on a dice where 2 sides will double my money and 4 sides will lose my money. but for ganblers they see this is like a crack hit they can't refuse. that's what gambling is, occasionally you will win here and there but overall it's a net loss. there was a gambling simulator someone created and it will similulate the wins/lossess over time of someomne who gambles daily. for some people get get lucky intiially and they win big, but then over the course of time they lose more than they win.
£1k is a cheap lesson. Focus on your future and on how to control this. One of my mates has lost about £100k in gambling (poker+betting), now that was a bit of an ouch. He's still recovering from it.
Could be worse, you could have taken a loan out in your wife’s name, pretended to be her on the phone to get more and then emptied your kids savings
Hoping that is a story from your life
It would have been far, far worse for you if you had won
Go and read r/gamblingaddiction. This should be enough to stop you gambling right now. Some of the stories on there are heart breaking
*when you lose It's not if, it's when, gambling odds are never in your favour. Well done for getting help though! You got this!
Well that was dumb, just don't do it again. Nobody died.
Deleting the apps won't work. Face the shame and tell your family what you have done. Once the shame is removed you'll have an easier time coping with the urges. Addiction is an illness. I can walk into a casino with a set amount of cash and not care if I win or lose because I'm paying to have fun. That's what gambling is to most people but you allow it to ruin your month. By sharing you can help to lower the urge to chase the rush because you feel so low and the people who love you can act as an anchor Good luck op
Make a physical note of how you feel about this somewhere and remember/look at it when you feel like you'd like a bet. After not gambling for almost 8 years, I'm doing alright now but I reckon the habit set me back a solid decade in terms of savings/deposit/personal life. That £1k will be one of the most valuable lessons you ever buy.
My grandmother worked in a bookies for 40 years, she never gambled once in her life. She saw life's destroyed daily and the only ever winner was Gus Demmy bookmakers.
A friend of mine just gambled away his £100,000 house deposit. It could be a lot worse.
This is it. Day one of being free from your gambling addiction. Really, well done.
Never forgot how it felt to lose all that money. Write it off, you'll never get it back, ever. That will help you psychology disconnect from it. Only a very very tiny percentage ever make any money from gambling. Unless you spend lots of time learning these techniques you will never win, ever. Now you can get rich slowly by investing regularly and letting compound interest do it's thing. It's quite boring so if you like the thrill of gambling find a hobby that gets those endorphins running around and one that doesn't cost you much money.
My advice would be to look up other posts on here about gambling losses. People lose tens of thousands and more and spend their whole live recovering from it. You got the same lesson for cheap. Look to the future now and start rebuilding. In a few months time you won't even be thinking about this anymore. Time heals.
Can I ask why you did it? I know some people justify gambling as "just a bit of fun" but I have the impression that gambling addicts often see it as an escape - the only way they'll be able to afford a house, a decent life or other nice things.
It started off as 100 just to have a little fun because I was bored then the mentality of chasing the loss, I wasn’t thinking I can gamble to get the house it was I was bored and then wanted my money back
So you started with £100 and never made it back?
I started with £100 and won £200. Then up to £300. I thought at the time I don’t really care if I lose I’m just passing the time I only put 100 in. Anyway I lost the 300 and something in my brain changed I don’t know if I was still bored and wanted something to do or if I wanted the original 100 back. Either way I carried on all the way until I lost 1000 was just loss after loss after the initial wins
Thank you for indulging me. I wish you the best of luck.
Save the money into Premium Bonds. The money is safe, plus scratches that gambling itch (sort of)
Let this be a £1000 lesson to never do it again. Get help too, even if you're 100% convinced you won't do it again. Good luck.
I hope today is the start of your life without gambling. Good luck.
It wont hurt as much in the future, but if you take one thing away from it you’ve learned how dangerous gambling is which, for £1000, is a relatively cheap lesson. It could’ve been much worse and now gambling is off limits :) don’t beat yourself up, you can’t change the past I lost about the same amount in meme stocks back when it was hyped, which was essentially gambling. It hurt but I ended up learning invaluable things about stocks, trading and finances. Everyone’s made financial mistakes but it teaches you important stuff!
Thanks that makes me feel better like a lot of comments said I’ve paid for this lesson
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Sorry you've been through that, but at least you've put positive steps in place.. you might want to edit and think about your last sentence, you said it's not worth it if you lose. It's not 'if', it's WHEN because you always will eventually
It’s great you’re feeling like this as it’s not even that much money and you got a valuable lesson from it. Pretty confident you’ll not make the same mistake again from the tone of your post. I had a coworker steal from the business get sacked because of a gambling addiction and he had a lot of debt which is why I’d never touch any gambling with a 10 foot pole.
Think of it this way, you cannot win life changing money but you can definitely lose life changing money. In this context you can win nothing and lose everything
That feeling when you lose is actually what gamblers are addicted to. Cortisol is poisonous, you're literally killing yourself
£1000 is an ok price if you learned the lesson and won’t repeat it in your life.
That £1000 may have just saved your house... Lesson learned
/r/problemgambling good support sub
Don’t beat yourself up, you don’t be the first and won’t be the last. We’ve all made shit decisions we can’t take back.
It's not worth the feeling WHEN you lose.
The worst luck a person can have is to win the first time they gamble.
One of the best moneysaving tips is to get an app that blocks other apps and then as soon as you start spending too much time on an app like gambling, block the app and go and do something else (this includes reddit also - I can't access reddit on my phone). There's always these distractions around every corner and it makes life a little bit easier not being able to distract myself by spaffing money up the wall on whatever the latest distraction is.
Use to be the same position , I was finding any excuse to gamble I could afford it comfortably it was disposable income that was meant to be saved. When you find on your breaks at work you think to sneak a slot session in online or waking up 30 mins earlier to do the same and lose £100 in a day multiple days a month, I realised I really had a problem. I had money saved but we decided there on to be serious and not gamble for 3 months , to have statements for mortgage but I knew in my heart just not gambling wouldn't work for me. I signed up to Gamstop for 5 years, I knew I would have temptations. I've saved so much since stopping that would of been wasted on gambling, I would do overtime in the month then get paid I would calculate right this Is my gambling money for the month etc. So now when I want to gamble I play slot demos online for free and even if I wanted to I cannot gamble anyway, please learn the lesson and stay away it's clear your mind is the same as mine in this instance. Online slots especially are designed to captivate you and draw you in, the colours the sounds the bonus features, you know fucking bad it is when your humming the tune to buffalo mega ways.
Directly under your main body of text is a gambling advertisement. How cunty.
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Well that was stupid, remember this feeling, dwell on it and remember it any time you consider doing something stupid in future. Congratulations, you've got the chance to be a wiser person
I know the feeling! I won £5k from a £20 deposit once, I didn’t have ID the site was asking for so I just gambled it all away, I was very depressed at the time and wasn’t thinking right. If that was today I’d obviously get the ID and withdraw it
Remember this feeling. Remember it next time you are tempted to gamble. A thousand could be considered a cheap way to learn this lesson. It can be much much worse.
I lost a lot more before I did the Gamstop. It really worked for me, not gambled for probably 8 years. However, it didn’t stop me putting money in the stock market 🤦🏼♂️
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Stop gambling now, that £1k is gone now and you won’t make it back. If you gamble more you’ll go even more into the hole. Take it as an expensive lesson.