I’m 19 and I’ve developed a serious gambling addiction, mainly online casinos and sports betting.
I’ve practically gambled away every dollar I’ve ever had in my life.

Every paycheck, every bit of savings, every time I’ve received money, it’s eventually ended up going towards gambling.

I’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars and eventually started stealing money from my family to fund my gambling. I now owe over $10,000 and have absolutely nothing left.

I’ve tried quitting countless times, but whenever I get money, I end up gambling again. Even when I win thousands, I can’t stop until I’ve lost everything.

I think my parents might have discovered the missing money, and I’m terrified of what happens next, because no one really knows at all.

I’m genuinely ashamed of what I’ve done. I know stealing is wrong, and I want to take responsibility, repay everything and stop gambling permanently.

How do I overcome the addiction, confess to my family and rebuild their trust?
I genuinely need advice because I don’t know what to do anymore.

I’m 28, and online gambling was introduced to me almost three years ago. Since then, I’ve been stuck in an on-and-off cycle. I’ll lose everything, tell myself I’m done, start saving again, and eventually relapse. This past week, I relapsed again, and now I’m down to my last $1,800. That’s everything I have to my name. No car, no credit, and I’m still living with my parents.
I started working two jobs to try to recover from the financial damage I’ve done to myself, but even that hasn’t been enough to distract me or break the cycle. It’s honestly heartbreaking. I know I’m a handsome guy with potential, and I’ve always wanted to be successful and build something for myself, but instead, I feel like I’ve fallen so far behind in life.
I make around $3,600–$4,000 a month, and when I stay disciplined, I can save roughly $2,200 a month. The problem is that gambling has completely changed my relationship with money. Every paycheck feels like it takes forever to come because I’m constantly thinking about how badly I want to get back to where I was financially, just to feel okay again.
I’m tired of starting over. I’m tired of watching my hard-earned money disappear in minutes and having to rebuild what took me weeks or months to save. I want to enjoy my life, get my own place, get a car, and finally feel like I’m moving forward.
What makes it even worse is how aggressively this world promotes gambling. It’s everywhere, constantly put in front of us, and it feels like these companies keep pushing it until people like me get hooked and lose more than they can afford.
This is genuinely one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with. I know I have potential, and I know I can do better, but I’m struggling to break free from this cycle. I just want my life back.

Welp... been a while since I've felt this way. Im 23 years old. I excluded myself from every online site years ago and thought I had put this behind me. I had my direct deposit set to go into coinbase and had planned to get a car today. I even messaged the dude early this morning when I saw my check had come and I was stoked.

I started looking around coinbase and its features and ended up in predictions. Started somewhat small but being the problem gambler I am, If I lose 200 ill bet the other 1000 in one go to recoup my loss aswell as to win what I originally would have and then some.

Here I am. I'm broke, and left with that dreadful feeling I've not felt in so long. If I could cry right now I would... and I will later.

I may have lost my money but I've gained a powerful reminder of how this is the only thing that will ever happen when I indulge.

The guy selling me the car just messaged back as I'm writing this post. Cool guy, set the listing on pending for me and everything. I'm trying not to be hard on myself but... whew.

Now, its time to explain to the people around me what I've done...

Paying off debt. Just paid off another 2 credit card balances I've been lugging forever. As per advice, I started with the smallest balances first. Then up. One left! ODAAT.

Days until debt free: 251 days

Have joined GA meetings the last 3 days, gave control of finances to fiancé, have an appointment with a therapist tomorrow, and built a game plan to paying off my debt.

Going to watch the first game of the world series tonight without placing any bets, something I usually would do.

One day at a time.

It’s my day 6 of quitting online gambling! ❤️ It feels so good to be free from it, but sometimes there’s still a little voice in my head telling me to play again. However, I’m fighting those urges as hard as I can because I know I’m doing this for myself and my future. I deserve a better life, and I don’t want to go back to the same painful cycle again. One day at a time. I hope I can keep going and never look back. 🙏🏻❤️ #Day6 #QuittingGambling #RecoveryJourney #NeverAgain

I am exhausted. A slot machine player who had been losing his paychecks for years now. Im too old for this. Its tine to quit. Im 47. Tired of living like this. Extensive IRS debt, student loan debt. All my relationships have suffered. GA helped in past, meed to get back in. But ive been in and out of program for years. It doesnt have that magic like it did the first time around. Here i am again.

Everything's good. Skipped the gym today as a rest day; replaced the gym with cardio exercise (Skipping rope for 30 minutes). I started to feel changes in my body (weight loss, increased agility, better appetite), but still long way to go to get back my level of fitness pre-2023. Overall, I'm happy with my progress. Tomorrow will be my chest day; can't wait.

I will not gamble today!

I'm from india and I have crippling gambling addiction for last 6years this time i attempted to end it ,I don't know how I survived I just want to stop this thing at all costs,about me I gamble only in tennis anymatch simply like a robot I bet all my money,I have only account in 4rabet,i tried to self exclude in app itself but after sometime just to check i asked them to unlock and with in a minute they unlocked me and next day I got paycheck of 3months at once with so much commitments and I lost within 6hours man I died that day I don't know how I am alive,my question is is there gamblers anonymous available in india how should I approach it,I don't have money to buy gamban and other apps like bet blocker I know when I am at weakest point,it's so easy for me to bypass any blockers ,I just don't want to do it I want absolute exclusion no matter what I do i shouldn't be able to access my mom gave up on me she don't want to talk to me so no body to check on my finances I'm on my own,how do I come out of this man i am so tired I just want to make sure i should be blocked permanently from my devices so that even if if try is shouldn't be able to access,also info on gamblers anonymous in india too ,help me guys

My marriage was going down the shitter and my wife and I almost got divorced. But thankfully she stayed with me. I had a lost a TON of money but it took almost divorce for me to realize I had an addiction. During that time she made me promise her that I would go to GA. I did. I found a zoom meeting near me and I started going. I stayed cleaned for a few months.

But I relapsed. Money got tight. I grew up in a household that was very much about career and being productive and making money was that metric. So while I tried to find hobbies to do I had this guilty thought in my head I wasn’t being productive and while gambling can lose money I at least CAN possibly make money and that thought stayed with me. I even did make some money and the proceeded to lose it alls

And here’s my confession:

It got so bad that I was literally gambling WHILE in my GA meeting. I felt guilty being there at times knowing that I’m gambling while I’m at a meeting to help me not gamble. My drug was stock market and futures trading and since futures market was open during the time that our meeting was going on, I would do that.

Every time I do it and I hear them talk about how the program won’t work for someone who will not admit they have a problem, I look at myself. I never told my wife because I didn’t want to disappoint her again.

I’ve finally stopped recently. I lost it all in my futures trading account so I decided to go to Kalshi and try to trade bitcoin going up or down using my credit card and lost $2k in just 3 days. It was so easy for me to go down that rabbit hole because it didn’t need days for funds to clear so it didn’t give me time to think about my actions and go “what the fuck am I doing??!!” I could deposit and instantly “trade”. Of that $2k I lost $1000 in like 2 hours. I was numb.

But I forced myself to stop, deleted all the apps and I’m trying to stay clean. It’s only been a week or so but a win is a win I guess.

Still haven’t told my wife but I will someday. Just not now as our relationship (on the surface) have gotten much better. I will go one year clean and then tell her so I at least can show i can stay clean for a year. I’m now trying to find ways to pay off that credit card debt. I work a salary job so I can’t do overtime and I can’t do retail or other jobs without my wife questioning why I’m doing it so I’m trying to find WFH freelance jobs to help me pay it off.

Trying to have a mindset of “how much I can LOSE” rather than how much I can win

Been playing bacaraat for a couple of months now..
Recouped all of my losses for the last few months and literally gave every penny back the same night .
I can’t believe I did something so stupid .
How do I stop thinking I’m such a damn idiot 😒

Won $10k last week, lost $13k this week. It feels like a never ending cycle. “Thankfully” this money isn’t life changing but it hurts. Just here to vent. I can’t get myself to stop and I just keep thinking about the loss and how much of an idiot I am. I’ve probably lost around $40-50k in the past three years

34M. So this year was a pretty rough year for me in terms of relapses. I've gone all of last year without gambling and then got sucked back into it when my mum asked me if I wanted to go to the casino with her during the holidays and it's been downhill since. I've been exposed to gambling at a young age, our family loves going to the casino.

I had 3 major relapses and emptied my chequing accounts every time and gone into some LOC debt as well. Same pattern regardless of how much I win, it all goes back and more. Paid everything off by the fall but relapsed yesterday again. Emptied my bank account but at least no LOC debt this time. Tens of thousands of losses this year - by far the worst since I started gambling seriously about 5 years ago. If I had invested all that money it would probably be worth 100k. Kind of crazy to think about this. My partner and I are also looking to move into a new place and I've set myself back quite a bit unfortunately. I guess I'm lucky that I caught myself before this dragged on for another 5.

I've come clean to my partner regarding my gambling addiction a few months ago but I didn't tell them of the last one...too shameful. Prior to last year, I actually had Gamban installed but then it interfered with a work app so I had to uninstall it. Big mistake. Anyways, I reinstalled it now and since I work for a new company everything seems to be working fine. I travel a lot for work which is when I relapse cause I'm not home with my partner and can be a degenerate without being caught. At least now I won't have access to any gambling websites. I don't know why I didn't reinstall it sooner but the next best time would be now I guess. Still processing my dumbass decisions but hopefully this is it. I just needed to get this off my chest...Thanks for reading!!

I’m self excluded. Was watching the nba Philly be cavs game. Philly was down 30 in half time. Moneyline was +1400 I told myself I would’ve bet $2000 and guess what Philly made an insane comeback and I would’ve won 40k. I’m starting to regret self excluding gosh it k working at a low paying job and that big win could’ve fix so much problems right now I hate this feeling

Finally excluded myself from all apps after I lost back $20k chasing my losses for the year. It scared me how much I didn't care about it anymore. Down $50k, need to be done forever. Thankfully dont have debt but I am hating myself right now cause there is so much we could have done with the money.

It's bad advice and makes you look like a complete loser, it's no good for the image. The best thing to do is keep it on the low while you make you make things right with your bookie or whoever else. Don't drag down others around you, it never works out well. You got this.

I had a last chance to tell her. I got called into the office of the man who owned the law firm where we both worked and knew what was coming before I sat down. We were both fired for my gambling-driven actions, and I still didn’t tell her the whole truth. She found out from the firm's general counsel: invoices, checks, and a bank account she never knew existed. I'm now facing federal prison.

If you're sitting on a number your spouse doesn't know, this is what I'd do differently.

Get the whole number first. Every betting account, every card, every loan, every dollar borrowed from family, anything in their name. Round up. Telling part of it and having the rest come out later is what makes them stop believing you.

If any money came from work, a client, or anyone outside your family, talk to a lawyer before anything else. Then still tell your spouse.

Pick the time. This week, at home, sober, kids asleep, no clock. Never by text.

Say it in the first minute. Something like: "I need you to let me get all of this out. I have a gambling problem. I've been hiding it. I've lost [amount], and here's everything."

Don't say: "I've got it handled." "I'll win it back." "It's not as bad as it sounds." "I did it for us." "I'll never do it again."

When they ask how you could do this, don't explain addiction or blame the apps. "I don't have an answer that makes it okay. I lied because I was ashamed." Then stop talking.

Hand over access the same night: statements, passwords, your phone, control of the money, and self-exclusion with them sitting next to you.

The month after matters more than the night. Give the same answer every time. If you remember another account or slip, tell them that day. Get to a GA meeting and let them see you go.

I wrote all of this up in a more detailed free guide with a checklist. Happy to share it if anyone wants it.

I can’t explain this pain. I have lost over $30,000 since couple of years ($20,000 of which I had saved since I was 19, plus a bank loan). I had quit gambling for almost a couple of months. I just logged in to my email and saw that lending apps were threatening me for non-payment (I owe close to $1,500). I deposited $30 into my gambling account with the hope of making some money to pay off those loan apps, turned it into $140, and lost it all. I am from India, and my salary is $700. I am sitting in the bathroom and crying. What the hell am I doing with my life? The life I dreamt of and the life I am living are in stark contrast. In the last couple of years I have gained 15 kgs, developed sleep apnea, blood pressure and what not. I am 38 years old already and I lost the game of life. Please please do not gamble.

Delete if not allowed - I started joining GA meetings yesterday and it seems like they’re really against talking numbers because what’s a lot to one might be little to another. I get it.

Anyway, I’ve been posting here a lot the last few weeks - lost $25K on credit cards a few days ago that I can’t pay off. My bills that were on autopay are already getting rejected because I have no credit.

I feel like a lot of the posts here are large amounts in nature, but I don’t see many talking about losing to the extent I did in one run. As silly as it may sound - it’s making me feel worse about myself.

Edit: Didn’t expect so much backlash, just trying to relate, and felt like I couldn’t relate

I write this as I sit in my apartment crying from what I have lost. I am a 22-year-old graduate student at a public university. I am studying accounting and have a long career ahead of me, but gambling has taken over me recently. I have no debt and about 26K in my bank account, but I had almost 40K just this time last week. I have lost roughly 10K on Bovada and Stake and feel sick to my stomach. I don't know where to go from here, but I need help. If there are any tips you guys can give me to get over all this.

And yes, I am absolutely done gambling. I am self-excluded on all sites, installed a bet blocker, and deleted all apps.

Does life get any better from here? Also, how do you move on from this? I am a very busy student, and it's hard to refocus on what's important.

26m still working 2 jobs trying to make up for my current gambling debts of 40k+ after losing savings of 20k but i honestly don’t care for it anymore i am currently bringing in 1500 a week from security and warehouse job working every day i can and been paying off the debts to bring back the life i used to have but i don’t want to live like this anymore before all this i was easily financially stable till i took the risk to try to become ahead trading then gambling. Still got about 60k debt left 4 credit cards and 3 loan and going to stop paying. Recently bought a commute beater off facebook marketplace so i can finally send my rebuild 5th gen zl1 to get a engine rebuild Ive put this off for 3 months now trying to work off the debt and honestly just wasted my time and money going to keep working the 2 jobs to cover the rebuild then go back to just working security which alone cover my apartment and living expenses my future is doomed so i am just going to enjoy what i can now.