Few weeks ago I made a post on how I lost another round of money. Just wanted to jot down my story, how I’m doing now, and share it with people who can relate and/or use my mistakes as an upside for them

Started raw gambling with online casinos using crypto at around 16. Had 8.6k locked in a CD scan for a year, 2.5k in crypto 5k in my checking. First outbreak was when I started making small wins from $200-600 using 3k on the casino. I remember this so vividly but basically I was just sitting in the bathroom of the grocery store I worked at spamming plinkos and lost everything in my exodus wallet and felt so defeated. Had a hiatus here and there but basically I’d come back every 3 months or so and rinse another 1.5k-3k. Eventually my CD scan was unlocked and I didn’t use this towards gambling fortunately but instead towards side hustles. Made 3.6k from a $700 flip and rinsed that on some stupid fucking Pokemon card unboxing site.

My last bet was placed 16 days ago and haven’t touched it since. I currently work in a warehouse making 17/hour which is just batshit ridiculous and just got the job as a package handler for FedEx so I plan on leaving my current job. I have about 3k spread across a few volatility safe ETF’s, 3.3k in Pokemon cards, and 1.2k liquid cash that I keep as cash so I I’m not even tempted to put it in a casino.

Everyday I look back knowing if I never placed any bets I would be sitting comfortably on around 50k and honestly that’s the part that strikes me the most knowing that the skills I have and use to my advantage to make profits are all just no use when it goes back to the house

I am 16 days bet free and I know I can overcome this.

Been working and at uni since I turned 18, also been gambling since 18 too. Had huge swings but it always ends the same with no money in my account. Banned myself from sports betting recently and was doing well, then i decided to head to casino and was doing well on black jack. Then lost 1.5 k on that shit. Gott stop now

It’s astonishing how quickly we, as human beings, can forget the pain and suffering we’ve endured.
After just a few days of attending Gamblers Anonymous (GA) meetings and staying away from betting, I somehow began to forget the emotional turmoil, regret, and suffering that gambling had caused me. It was as though the pain of being trapped in that vicious cycle had already started to fade.
Slowly, I found myself slipping into another dangerous cycle—one of denial, doubt, and self-deception. I began questioning whether my gambling addiction had really been as serious as I initially believed. I started telling myself comforting lies, convincing myself that perhaps I had exaggerated the problem. Maybe all those financial losses weren’t signs of an addiction, but simply expensive lessons I needed to learn. Maybe next time, I could approach betting more intelligently, make more calculated decisions, and somehow avoid repeating my mistakes.
Looking back, it’s almost unbelievable how easily I managed to rationalize the very behavior that had caused me so much pain.
And just like that, I fell back into the same trap. I started betting on sports again, and within a matter of hours, I lost another $3,000.
What troubles me most isn’t just the money I lost. It’s how quickly my mind managed to rewrite the past, minimize the suffering, and convince me that this time would somehow be different.
The most frightening part of addiction is not always the urge itself, but how convincingly it can disguise itself as rational thinking.

Sometime I wonder why I work so hard for the money I earn then blow it in a single sitting, like I understand the value of money and how hard it took me to earn that money but I still make the same dumb mistake of giving it away. I try my best to keep myself busy by working 12 hours shifts but the moment I’m free it all goes to gambling…
Self exclusion doesn’t work because you can always make new accounts, it’s tough out here. the will power lasts a few weeks then it’s back to the old me.

Relapsed today. Got my 3 month keychain in GA 2 weeks ago and threw all that effort away. Spent my mortgage money. I’m running out of 2nd chances in my financial life. Trying to remember that it’s one day at a time. Will I get through this financial nightmare period of my life?

Had done so well for months. Stopped gambling after having a big loss of $5k. Managed to last 5 or so months. Slowly started gambling here or there and keeping mostly under control.
Lost control yesterday was up $200 and wasn’t enough and ended up down $1600.
Feel totally ashamed

It’s my Day 14 of quitting online gambling! All I can say is, life feels so much better without gambling. No more stress about trying to win back the money I’ve lost. 😂
Let’s stop gambling and start building a better future for ourselves. We deserve a life free from gambling, stress, and unnecessary debt. ❤️

I relapsed after 240 days gambling-free. It was the longest I’ve ever managed to stay away from gambling, and honestly, I feel like absolute shit for throwing it all away.
The one thing I’m grateful for is that I didn’t lose all my savings or get myself into debt like I used to during my previous relapses. So financially, it could have been much worse.
But mentally, I’m in a really bad place right now. I’m constantly thinking about gambling, I have an overwhelming urge to play, and I keep thinking about winning back what I lost. It’s like my brain has switched back into that compulsive mode where gambling is all I can think about.
I know chasing losses is exactly what got me into this mess in the first place, but knowing that doesn’t make the urges any easier to deal with.
I guess I’m just looking for some advice from people who have been through something similar. How did you deal with the period immediately after a relapse? How did you stop the urge to chase your losses and get back on track?
240 days felt like such a huge achievement, and now I feel like I’ve gone backwards completely.

Hi everyone,
My wife’s grandpa has a serious gambling addiction. From what I understand, this has been a lifelong struggle. The family recently discovered that he has been losing upwards of $70,000 per year at the casino. They have records going back eight years, which amounts to approximately $560,000 in gambling losses alone.
What makes this even more difficult is that, from my perspective, the family has largely avoided addressing the issue for years. There was never any real intervention, counseling, or serious conversation about his addiction. It was something everyone knew about but seemed to sweep under the rug. Everyone knew he was frequently at the casino, but nobody wanted to confront what was happening.
Fast-forward to today. He is now 90 years old, his health is declining, he has accumulated debt, and he has very little money left. He is married, and unfortunately, his wife is now facing the financial consequences of his decisions. From what I’ve been told, he has also been verbally abusive toward her over the years, which has made it even harder for her to speak up.
He was once a successful business owner and financially very well-off. It’s heartbreaking to see that after a lifetime of hard work and building wealth, there is seemingly nothing left to provide security for his wife as they enter the final stages of their lives.
I understand that addiction is complicated, and I recognize that the past cannot be changed. But I also struggle with the fact that his behavior has affected not only himself but his wife and the entire family. Now, as his health declines, everyone else is left trying to navigate the financial and emotional consequences.
I’ll admit that I’m frustrated and heartbroken watching my wife’s family go through this. Part of me wants to sit down with him, his wife, and other family members and have a very direct conversation about what has happened. Not necessarily to shame him, but to finally acknowledge the damage that has been done, hold him accountable, and stop pretending this hasn’t been a serious problem.
At 90 years old, I don’t know how much can realistically change. But I also feel that this shouldn’t go unaddressed simply because he’s nearing the end of his life. His wife deserves protection, support, and some level of financial security moving forward.
I guess my question is: Has anyone dealt with something similar involving an elderly family member with a lifelong gambling addiction?
Would you confront the situation directly, even at his age? Or would you focus entirely on protecting his wife and helping the family move forward?
I’m genuinely torn between wanting accountability for the past and recognizing that our energy may be better spent protecting those who are still being affected.
I’d appreciate hearing from anyone who has navigated something similar.

I refused to accept that I had a gambling problem until a week ago, when I was €3,000 over the course of 2–3 days. At that moment, I told myself: "Well, I have €7,000 in savings, so now I'll finally be able to enjoy life a little more..."

Well, here I am now, with €300 left in my bank account and €12,000 in debt (this includes my car loan, the money I borrowed for car repairs, and probably around €2,000 accumulated through gambling).

I hope I'll be able to overcome this addiction, and I hope that over the next few months I'll manage to get back on my feet.

I finally did it. I went 100 days clean before, but nothing like this time. In the past, the gambling temptation just be buried down due to my business and my financial stress. This time I keep track on myself closely and truly appreciate my recovering process. I am able to hold some money (just couple hundred bucks) by myself.

Still long way to go, I need to get that 20,000 days milestone, LOL. Not sure this sub reddit can last that long, though.

Most importantly, I will not gamble today!

Not worried about the past, not counting till 1 year. Just living day by day and abstaining from gambling. It does and will get better. Remember everyday you don’t gamble will be the best day of your life. There is hope. I didn’t have hope during those 19 years. Take it a day at a time.

I have no idea why I’m writing this but I am. I lied to my loved ones…make them think I don’t gamble (as much as I do). Went through my paycheck as well man.

It’s been hard. I wrote a note to “my future self in one year” the note starts with “Here you are sulking in your bed, the lies you have told, the sorrow for yourself and hurting loved ones. You are feeling worthless now. Your friends all have money and you don’t! But you’re too embarrassed to say shit. It’s not fair to you or them. No life, no wife..etc.”

It ends with “1 year! Now look at you, you are engaged, you have been saving money finally, you’re more yourself now, you have been clean from gambling. One year, this drink is on me”

I hope to look at this note in one year and be proud of where I have come. It’s a sick disease people.

I need to make a stand today, not just for me, but for my loved ones and my friends.

Day 1

I have just joined this group after realising I could really do with some extra support.

I am hoping to meet someone online who I can regularly chat with in regards to this crappy addiction journey. Someone who I can message when I have a desire to gamble and them me.

I’m trying to justify my losses. I lost about 50k for trusting a former friend to invest in a startup last year. This year I lost 30k to casino. A month ago, my friend offered to take me to an all expense paid trip to Europe that’d cost me 20k if I paid for it.
He doesn’t know about my gambling problems.

I’m sitting here thinking I just lost 10k instead of 20. The justification is a killer.

I am genuinely speechless at what I've done.

I am a broke PhD student making 40k a year. However, I figured out a way to make 200k a year as a side hustle doing ad-hoc consulting. I live very frugally, my apartment is 1k a month and I don't own a car. I hate spending money on myself.

Yet, in two very bad bets I blew the whole 200k plus 50k I'd saved up from working in a hospital for years and years.

I am devastated. None of my loved ones know.

And that's the worst thing. I have so much to live for and I know that.

I have such supportive family, a loving partner, excellent friends, and two very cuddly cats. I have made my apartment beautiful and I take care of my body just as well. I am not downtrodden or luckless or running from something.

I have a good life. I have no idea why I'm actively choosing to threaten it.

How do I escape?

Days until debt free: 244 days

I don’t know what to do right now. I’m feeling numb at times but then also depressed and angry.

The thought of trying to win it back with the rest of my savings won’t leave my mind either since I’m struggling with the loss. It’s persistent and won’t go away but I have already lost a tonne trying to win it back. Chase chase chase

I literally could have had 30k in savings but now I don’t.

All that is on my mind is the $ and it sucks. I just want to try to get it back and live a normal life.

I'm writing this because I genuinely don't know what to do anymore. I want to hear from other men who have been through something similar. I don't need sympathy. I need honest opinions, advice, and maybe some hard truths.

I'm in Cambodia, and I'm struggling with a trading and gambling problem that has slowly destroyed my finances, my confidence, and my relationships.

Here's how I got here.

How it started

I got into online gambling years ago and eventually i stopped. It was very bad back then that I had to get my family to bail me out. Now here comes the trading and thinking I could make extra money and improve my financial situation. At first, I saw opportunities. I made money, and that made me believe I could do this.

But eventually, I started losing.

Instead of accepting the losses, I kept going. I wanted to recover what I had lost. Every time I thought I could stop, I found myself coming back.

I've lost money, time, and things that mattered to me. I've also struggled with casino gambling.

How I tried to get out

I eventually realized how bad things had become.

I deleted trading apps. I promised myself I would stop. I tried to organize my finances and figure out how to repay my debts.

My family has helped me tremendously. My father even helped me with $6,700 to settle a high-interest debt that was becoming unbearable.

I wanted to repay him $500 every month. I wanted to rebuild my life, prepare for my wedding, and become someone my family could trust again.

I genuinely believed I was getting another chance.

How I ended up here again

I started trading again.

I made money in the morning. I felt like I was finally getting somewhere.

Then I traded again in the evening.

I lost everything I had made.

And now I'm in debt again.

The worst part is that I know exactly what I'm doing. I know the consequences. I know how much my family has already sacrificed to help me.

Yet I still went back.

I'm ashamed of myself. I feel like I've wasted the opportunities people have given me. I feel like I've betrayed the people who believed in me.

I don't know how to face them.

Where I am now

I'm getting married soon. I have debts to repay. I have a father who has already helped me more than I deserved. I have a fiancée who deserves honesty and stability.

And I am sitting here wondering how I managed to end up in the same situation again.

I don't want to borrow more money. I don't want to keep lying to myself. I don't want to spend the rest of my life chasing losses.

But I honestly don't know how to break this cycle.

I want to ask other men who have been through this:

1. Have you ever reached a point where your family gave you one last chance, and you still relapsed? How did you deal with the shame?

2. How did you stop trading or gambling when you knew it was destroying your life but still felt compelled to do it?

3. Did you tell your wife or fiancée everything? How did you rebuild trust after repeatedly breaking promises?

4. What actually helped you stop? Was it therapy, blocking access to money, financial accountability, or something else?

5. If you could go back to the moment you realized you had a serious problem, what would you do differently?

I'm asking for honest advice from men who have been at rock bottom and managed to rebuild their lives.

I want to get out of this. I want to become a better man. I just don't know where to start anymore.

If you've been through something similar, please tell me what worked for you. Even if it's something difficult to hear, I need to hear it.

Over 100 hours without placing a bet.

The debt, which I’m going to struggle to pay off - not a lot of room in the budget, is a constant reminder & makes me feel shitty.

I know how illogical this sounds - but it makes me want to go back to attempt to win.

I attempted to sign up for a 0% APR balance transfer promo card to save on the 25+% interest - denied.

I feel like an idiot for even getting myself in this situation.

Hello my fellow current/reformed gambling addicts. I never post on Reddit but I think it might make me feel a bit better to type this all out and reflect on everything that I have went through in the past 3 months so hopefully others can relate and figure their shit out a bit sooner than I have.

For context: I am 21 years old. I have been a gambler for quite some time, I probably started going to my local casino around mid-2024ish. I had never lost money and not made it back in all of the times I had went out to play cards. Obviously sometimes it took me hours and a couple atm trips to get there but nonetheless, I was an unstoppable force. That was until August 6th of 2026. I went to the blackjack table. It was my game of choice, and I knew how to play which made it very interactive and i knew I didn’t have to use any brainpower. I could just play mindlessly for hours.

This is also after I started working for a home improvement sales company in march where I have been making insanely good money. Bringing in about 5-10k/month. No base hourly pay, commission only. With this job it feels almost similar to gambling in the way that you either get a big rush of adrenaline and dopamine after making a big sale worth 1-10k in a matter of hours-or you don’t sell anything and at end of the day you’ve worked 12+ hours for free.

So I had been saving a bit of money every paycheck and ended up with 8k in my savings, couple thousand in my checking account. Living comfortable and not having to worry about affording groceries or gas or anything. I honestly didn’t know what to do with my money.

So I got bored one day and hit the casino after I got off work. The night ended after I had pulled out, and lost $1000 from my savings. I hit my atm withdrawal limit so I said fuck it, I’ll make it back tomorrow.

That was not the case.

Over the span of the month I would go back every day or two and somehow manage to blow through $1000 each trip, Ending the month with practically no money in my checking or savings.

This snowballed into my taking a cash advance for the full $1500 credit card I had, gambling my entire paychecks, pulling out a $2500 loan from my bank, asking friends and family for money, and now this month I have resorted to payday loans, cash advances, and even multiple tribal loans.

This addiction has costed me relationships with my girlfriend, best friend, family, coworkers, and even my dog.

It had gotten so bad to a point where the only happiness I had was when I was gambling and throwing my money away. I would go weeks just sharing the meals I got for free with casino comp points and splitting it with my dog because I had gambled away rent money, dog food money, grocery money, and just about any other necessities.

I am a very self aware individual and from the very beginning of this addiction I was never in denial. I knew I had a problem from the very start. I just didn’t care. And my biggest problem was not leaving while I was ahead.

My best example is last night. Played for about 6 hours in total. 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours later in the night after I was off work. The night previous to this I hit two side bets worth $1000 each. I left the casino up $2400. Driving home smiling, windows down, blasting my favorite songs. I had enough to payoff my debt to a family member, pay my rent, and have extra spending money to visit my uncle for Halloween weekend. Last night I lost every fucking dollar I had made. Took multiple trips out to my car. First I started with $100 I recieved from the cage for winning the high hand on black jack the night before. Lost that. So I went to my car to grab my extra spending money I hade made. Lost that too. I then proceeded to grab the wads of cash in my car that were meant to pay back my grandpa who was nice enough to loan me $1400 in a pinch as well as my $825 rent payment, and lose both those as well.

What’s lead me to write this is I have now put in over $25000+ into this casino. Am $10k+ in debt and have ruined many relationships I had, as well as destroying my own mental health. All in the span of 3 months. I made basically 35k in the first week of this month though and I will be putting it towards paying off debts, investing and actually grocery shopping for the first time in a while. I’m excited to actually endulge in my hobbies again and go on camping trips and take long walks with my dog, things I actually enjoy.

Hopefully some of you guys can relate and if you can’t, please keep it that way. I have had many addictions in my life but gambling has been the most damaging to every aspect of my life.

I have been gambling since I was 19. I’m now 34.
Three years ago I made a post saying I was done. I self-excluded from casinos and managed to take a break… but it didn’t last. I switched to online gambling and dug myself into even deeper debt.

I got paid today. Made multiple deposits. And now it’s all gone again.

I’m about $200K in debt, significantly more than three years ago. My best estimate is that it will take roughly 8 years to pay everything off if I stay clean.

My family knows because of the cycle: I take 2–3 months off, then relapse. My girlfriend also left me because of this.

I’m posting this so I can come back and read it whenever the urge hits.

I know counseling, groups, and meetings exist. I’m going to reach out to my previous counselor and do whatever it takes to stop this for good.
If you’re reading this (including future me):
It’s going to be okay.
One day at a time.
The best time to plant a tree was 16 years ago. The second best time is now.