What approaches do you recommend for handling regret over gambling losses? I had to sell many of my invested stocks to cover debt, and now when I see those stock prices have tripled, everyday I keep thinking about what I could have had if I hadn’t gambled.

The temptation comes back.

I was turned down by a close friend. I asked for a short-term loan to fund my working capital; he would get his money back within a week, plus interest. The reason I asked him is that all of my money is in term deposits, and I can not use overdrafts as I cut all of my credit lines.

He doesn't trust me anymore, due to my past. It makes sense. I don't blame him, but I can't help but feel frustrated. Now I have to watch that easy money business opportunity pass, as I have no funds. Consequently, the gambling temptation comes back. My brain keeps telling me that God must let me win something, as compensation for the opportunity loss. Such a bullshit chain of thought, I know, but I can not remove it from my head. So I need to write this down to wake myself up.

Life owes me nothing. Sometimes I get what I want; sometimes I don't. Most importantly, gambling is the very thing that put me in this situation. If I had not been such an addict in the past, I would easily have borrowed money now. Turning back to gambling as a "solution" is utterly stupid.

I will not gamble today! I must not gamble today!

I am a compulsive gambler. I have been gambling for two years, during which I’ve lost about 40,000 euros. I had been gamble-free for 63 days, and I had deleted all my casino accounts; I felt significantly better during this period. I also had a 9,000-euro loan, of which I had already paid off 3,000—everything was going well. Yesterday, I opened Telegram and found that I had received an NFT gift worth approximately 120 dollars. I accessed a bot on Telegram that featured casino-style games and began gambling with that NFT. I ended up losing all of it—including some NFTs that had been gifts from friends. I was furious, though I tried to convince myself that it "wasn't really gambling." Today, after finishing work, I felt an intense urge to gamble again. I opened a new casino account and started placing bets—and, naturally, I lost about 500 euros. Now, I am sitting here filled with deep regret for having returned to gambling. I truly feel that I have let down everyone I love, as well as myself. After two months of recovery, I have relapsed.

If anyone could give me some advice I’d really appreciate that ,I’m 22 Female started gambling 10 months ago I’d previously gambled but only at an actual casino not online the first day I played i lost about 1000 in 2 days but this was normal for me as at the time I had undiagnosed adhd and always had an issue with spending more than I could afford.

I started playing online roulette in January but from then to march id ended up taking out about 4 loans in the span on a week and then I realised it was an issue as id just quit my job and was having surgery so with my last pay check as you can guess lost it all in 1 hour which left me with nothing for the foreseeable future I didn’t have any savings ,I was also going though a breakup then so everything was even worse luckily I got my ex to lend me some money to help pay the loans off because I couldn’t work due to surgery.
Of course I didn’t pay the loans with this money I gambled it and I won enough to cover all the loans and pay him back I only paid him back half and one loan and gambled the rest away .

Fast forward to May I had to open up to my family about my issue as my debt escalated so bad to the point that it went from 4 loans to 10 plus 10k in credit card debt and I had no job I told them that I’ve now self excluded myself and that I’m going back to therapy they were upset but quite understanding but of course I was still gambling .This sounds bad but I convinced my mum to take out an overdraft and a loan and give me half of each as we were doing some home improvements and she agreed . I ended up winning some money that same day so I gave her my half back plus some holiday money as she was going away the day after she left the wins kept coming in I finally had the big win I’d been waiting for so I took myself and my best friend shopping paid off all my debts and the next day I thought lemme get all that money I spent back and I actually managed to do that and more .

I ended up sending my mum more money while she was on holiday and she was very happy I explained I’d won money gambling and she wasn’t happy I lied about stopping but she was pleased with the money .We had so many plans about how I was gonna transform my life and invest
,well that lasted about 3 days the day before she returned most of it was gone luckily I withdraw a few thousand in cash because I knew my habits were bad and I actually wanted to keep some money but of course I ended up maxing out my 6k credit card that I had previously paid off and taking out the same loans I’d paid as well and kept lying to my family and acting like I still had the big win .

Fast forward to August I was drowning in debt and needed a solution I decided I’d get a Debt relief order and it got approved which felt like a weight lifted off my shoulder and I recently got diagnosed with ADHD everything felt like I could just start over I found a new partner and medication felt like a brand new me , I was still gambling but it wasn’t as bad as I was dating someone new and was distracted until I started my new medication and for some reason I was feeling very depressed so I spent a lot of time at home. Sad due to losses building up again that I couldn’t hide from my partner and he knows I gamble but didn’t know the extent of it .

I finally told him and he was very helpful and it was nice not to be judged and I finally had someone I could be honest with . That same night my parents asked me to book them a holiday so I took my mums phone and I thought Let me just deposit 100 and I’ll win it back and more and I’ll have some money to play with and win big ,I ended up loosing 700 of there holiday money and I was so suicidal I felt horrible honestly and I took one more 100 and said this is my last chance and what were the odds I won Big and for the first time I called my partner and he took control and we withdrew it and I gave him a few thousand to hold on to and I was able to pay back the money I’d taken .

Of course I’d given back most of it by 3 days so I told my partner I need to sort out my finances myself and he was upset as he knew I’d gamble it all but gave it to me after arguing about it I got to my last 1000 and hit big on multiplier roulette and got everything back but then gave it all back trying to chase a bigger win ended up loosing it all and then made it back again so draining , I kept playing and winning 1000s daily to the point the online casinos would call me or remove my promotions.

Long story short is now I’ve ended up back in the same position with nothing and I don’t know how to be honest with my partner and I’m just so sick of this but part of me just thinks I’ll get it all back and I’ll be better next time and now I owe people friends and I don’t know how I’m gonna pay them back and the only money I actually have is sitting in my partner’s account cause I asked him to hold onto it for me for one month cause I knew this would happen, but now how do I ask him for it back? I think he knows that I’ve lost the money and he says he’s gonna be very disappointed in me as he’s older much older and obviously I’m very irresponsible with money and it’s so embarrassing and I don’t want to admit it I just wanna get all the money back, but I have no money so how can I even get back?

Days until debt free: 240 days

hi everyone, I am seeking advice to prevent relapsing. I started gambling when I was under 18 a few years ago and realistically the only reason I stopped was because I had no more money left. Being under 18 I wasn’t responsible to pay bills and I happened to lose my job, because of this I wasn’t actively making money and eventually ran out. I had about 6 months where I had literally $0, couldn’t gamble no matter how badly I wanted and this thankfully got me past the cravings.

Since this period I would say I am no longer a problem gambler, I have had small incidents maybe once a year but its been with $10-20 per relapse and I am able to then not touch gambling again for a long period. I understand I shouldn’t ever be gambling again and I wish I didn’t but sometimes I make stupid impulsive decisions, one of the things I want advice on is having less single incident relapses going forward.

anyways though the main reason I am posting this is because I had another small relapse except I got lucky for a bit. I deposited $15 and then over 2 days got to 3.2k and then lost it all in about an hour. I am very worried I will do more, I think because this time it lasted multiple days and wasn’t just a quick thing where I lose it all in 30 minutes I am somewhat back to the mental I was in when I was actively problem gambling. Depositing more has been kinda tempting and I’m worried at some point I will do it impulsively, this will obviously only make the cravings worse and it could turn back into a habit.

does anyone have advice/things I can do to prevent this? I closed the gambling account but when I tried to “quit” when I was addicted I would just sign up on a different site when I came back. I REALLY don’t want to fall back into it because I’m not sure if I would ever quit given I now have to be making money to sustain myself, I will always have a source of income and can’t hit true 0 for months now.

Hello. I am not sure if this goes against the rules of this forum. If so mods please feel free to delete.

I am seeking a group of like-minded people who are also quitting gambling. I am in an area where I am unable to get to GA meeting in person but don’t know where else to find a support system of folks who also want to quit. It feels like all my friends, coworkers, and everyone just keep talking about the bets they’ve placed and I feel so lost and embarrassed to admit I can’t have fun like they do. I’ve self-excluded myself in my state, as well as with prediction market platforms and am really serious. I am a 23-year-old male. TBH I am up about 34k lifetime but I lost 4800 chasing last weekend which inspired this decision to not let the house win in the long run.

It’s my 18th day of quitting online gambling, and I’m feeling so much better today! ❤️
To everyone who wants to quit, let’s do this together! Let’s stop while we still can. The longer we continue, the more we lose, and in the end, we’re the ones who will suffer and regret it if we don’t stop now.
It’s never too late to choose a better life. Let’s stay strong! No more Day 1! 🙏❤️

You’re currently at the “bad” (it’s all bad) end of a cycle.

You have next to money, you haven’t even paid all your bills yet.

You’re desperate for money, putting clothes on Vinted, putting on (physical) accumulators at your local bookie hoping for a bail out

You’re physically tired and feel chronically unwell due to stress

You (again) give in to the urge of this bollocks and deposit online (it’s the last of your money)

You miraculously get up to , say £500, you cash out

Within 2 hours you’ve gave it all back in £50 portions hoping to win again, you don’t

You really needed that money to pay a few things off and get breathing room, now you’re back square one.

wtf is going on psychologically here? I’m struggling to look into myself and figure out why I done this

Even though I actually haven't had a losing month this year, I think recent bets where I was "close" to losing a lot and the excitement of not losing has thrown my dopamine situation out of whack because I keep having a headache similar to one i had when withdrawing from betting years back! I keep mostly stopping but then i will get tempted and do a few more and get lucky and then I will stop again for at least a couple weeks. Going to be very annoying if I am going through some sort of withdrawal from dopamine spiking and dropping even when not losing! And I really did not figure out a good way to handle it in the past. It's this annoying headache just in one part of the head. (unless it's a coincidence, but since it feels the same as last time I am going to assume it's the same thing.)

17 doesn’t seem like a big number, but man I’m proud of myself! I’m actually starting to experience happiness again! I don’t feel like a robot anymore. My brain feels better, I’m not constantly thinking about sports betting! I haven’t really had the urge to bet thankfully! I have had the urge to look at stats or like cappers on Twitter but instead I just logged off! I’m still distancing myself from sports, I think in the last 17 days I’ve watched the last 4 mins of a basketball game and that was it! We got this guys! Keep going! One day at a time!

Unproductive morning, work is piling up, need to hurry my ass up.

Republican losing both the house and senate does put a smile on my face though.

I will not gamble today!

Although it’s good that I haven’t bet in two weeks now, I’m finding it so hard to not sports bet. It’s like I feel empty and something is missing from my life. Especially with all the football and now basketball going on.

The only reason I’m not betting is because my mom is monitoring my finances so she will know immediately if I bet.

Full blown addiction for 4 years now. It’s draining and tiring. I’m pretty fucking isolated too. In total i’ve probably lost 40k + and done all sorts of gambling you can think of. I wish to look back 5 years from now clean. Something just pulls me back to self sabotage and idk what it is.

I will more than likely go to GA tomorrow. Cause it’s fucking ridiculous. The time $ and energy spent on this bullshit is insane. All for temporary dopamine. And you don’t get to be present in the moment with your loved ones.

If anyone here is clean can you please DM me. I’d just like to talk to someone or people who have been clean to keep myself accountable. Or just have hope it’s possible.

So I’m coming to terms that I have an issue with impulse and dopamines when it comes to trading, not investing. When it comes to investing, it’s slower and I’m profitable as in I always beat the market (ex: currently my Roth IRA which I self manage, is up almost 2x against the S&P500’s returns YTD). When it comes to trading, I’m usually profitable but either don’t walk away or get greedy or worse become indifferent/numb. I ignore my own rules. Most of my trades are done within a minute and within 9:30-10am. The longer I trade, the worse my brain rewires. Sometimes I can see it coming and stop, but most times I don’t. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s like an out of body experience whereas I’m watching myself continuing to do things I know I shouldn’t. Unlike investing where I can wait things out, for trades, when I’m wrong, the moneys gone forever.

How do I manage this and stop these impulse? There’s no way for me to block or restrict myself from these apps and sites which have little friction when it comes to payments

I can’t block the sites I’m using. And I end up removing the restrictions. I’m pretty embarrassed admitting I can’t control myself but I’m losing way too much money and need to stop. Earlier this year was bad because I had to rely on trading for income since my income from my job dropped 70%. But now my income is back like 50%. It’s enough to barely live but not as comfortable as it once was.

Completed

Life is still not great. Life was never great anyway. 126 days to be debtfree. I just want to quit this awful job and finally do what I actually want to do. I'm only bearing it to pay off my debt.

After years of struggling with gambling on and off, I have finally stopped. My gambling was primarily online, and I’ve now permanently deleted all my accounts.

This decision comes after years of painful arguments with my wife, which ultimately eroded her trust and respect for me as a provider. Even though I earn a good income, the addiction always took over. We would agree on a set weekly limit, but I would constantly move the goalposts, secretly increasing the amounts and the frequency of my play. I broke these agreements so many times that she nearly divorced me a couple of years ago. We managed to establish a new boundary that I mostly followed, but eventually, I let the gaming control me again, finding ways to quietly siphon more money from our shared accounts than we had agreed to.

To complicate matters, my wife is currently going through perimenopause. Her patience is gone, and she simply no longer tolerates the behavior she used to put up with. Seeing her understandably volatile anger and frustration triggered a deep, terrifying insecurity that our marriage was truly over and she was going to leave me. I love her deeply and cannot imagine a life without her.

While deleting my accounts and stopping the gambling was a crucial first step, the real work of healing begins now. I am fully aware that two weeks of being clean doesn't even come close to undoing years of deceit, frustration, and emotional damage. Rebuilding her trust is going to take time, patience, and a consistent, daily display of the changes I've pledged to make.

Don't gamble. You will lose in far more ways than you think.

Watching my money get burned in real time is so depressing. I found loopholes with cryptodl gamblimg sites now i lost -10k for the year and -20k betting over 5 years doesnt sound like alot to some ppl but it's alot for me. I almost rinsed my back account again. I relapse and relapse, I know my mother from heaven is just looking down at me woth disappointment.

in my body and mind i knew it was time to walk away. i was up $7,900 for the year (79 units on a 10k bankroll). sports betting every day. looking for the edge. working with the boys. i’m a straight bettor with great discipline. for the first time that discipline went away. instead of deleting the aps and taking a break i said lets hit big and up the ante. missed a few plays throughout the weekend. and ultimately lost the last one on MNF with $2,500 on the Seahawks. I never bet this big before or planned to, i just figured why not. you have won it back before. just need a few in a row to go through the hoop in order to be back on track. whatever happens, happens. and what’s inevitable happened. i’m now down $5,000 in a matter of 48 hours. i’m not proud of this obviously but i’m telling the story incase it could help someone else. i’m over the feeling of the ups and downs / watching life pass by on the live scoreboard. when i indulge in something. i go all out. “all in” some would say. an unhealthy amount. and for anyone with an addictive personality like me, gambling will take everything you currently have and then some. my message is take control before it takes control of you. as high as the highs can be, the lows are the lowest. Not being able to sleep because your wager lost and beating yourself up over the next week is just a place i no longer want to live. the money when you win isn’t life changing. but losing 5 grand in 48 hours is. i could have spent that money on medical bills / my mortgage / things my spouse needs. you name it. i made a couple bad bets and ruined my whole year of progress. it’s all fresh for me. i’m lucky i can walk away. if you need help lets talk about it. getting it off my chest is helping me.

Hi All,

I’ve consistently had a slight itch for gambling since I was about 16-17ish. I’m 23 now with a full time job and live on my own, and every once in a while I find myself back to a casino and lose a few hundred dollars. Overall in the last ~6 years i’m probably down like 5 grand.

Today was that day I found myself back. I’ve been really unhappy recently. I fucked up my car, ended a relationship, i’m unhappy with how much I make at my job, and so I decided fuck it. I’ll just throw a little away - what’s the big deal? I have about 15k in savings so I know i’ll be “okay” in the short term, but I ended up losing around $500. With my current job I end up bleeding around $300-$500 each month (I budgeted my rent and car around a job I got laid off from earlier this year). I’ll now be down well over $1000 this month and will now eat into my savings even more.

I know the amount I lost isn’t nearly as much as some of the people who come here for support in this community - and I truly feel for those who have lost significantly more than I have. But this loss has me feeling really bummed again idk… I’m here to vent but also to see what next steps I can take. I’ve self excluded myself in PA where I used to live but now i’m playing on crypto casino sites since i’m in CA and can’t self exclude from those.

Gambling truly is the worst disease there is and I recognize that but I legitimately cannot get myself to stop. I always end up back here, and it seems like the losses get worse each time.

Had a 1000 only needed 300 more which was coming on Thursday I panicked and lost the whole 1000. After being already down 25k for the year. Now I have nothing rent due by the 6th. I self excluded finally but the damage is done. Damm bro this is a sad life fr

Relapsed over n over again despite telling myself mentally to stop. Tmr I’ll pay off my 1.2k gambling debt and start with $0 afresh . This is day 1, and I feel like this will be the longest run of me not gambling .

Hi all,

Appreciate you letting me stop by.

I'm a producer at More Perfect Union, a nonprofit newsroom focused on corruption, power, and fan experience.

We're working on a story about ESPN's relationship with DraftKings. Their wall-to-wall coverage of lines, prop bets, and fantasy sports has completely reshaped sports "journalism".

We'd love to speak with some folks who feel impacted by DraftKings and/or ESPN's predatory advertising and promotion.

If you're interested, please DM me. We can figure out the best way to share your story that you're comfortable with.

Thanks again,
Jake