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Hi folks!

I hope you are well and manage to keep your gambling fun and in moderation.

Do not hesitate to reach out to professional help if you ever feel the opposite. Plenty of organizations worldwide can help you (at least initially) for free. You can get expert advice on what to do for improvement on your own or where to get further help. The decision will be up to you afterward.

We have created an extensive global database of help centers to make this process easier. You can look for organizations according to country, language, or form of help (remote/in-person). Take a look or use it!

Feel free to leave me your thoughts or suggestions for improvement!

I hope this helps those looking for help.

Keep it up,

Simon

Keep up the good work Simon👌🏻

Thanks for the content!

of course I'm just playing for fun! Thanks for caring!

Hello,

my name is thomas and i have been counseling people for many years where gambling has become a problem. My colleague Anita made me aware of your site. I am pleased to see that you are credibly committed to player protection. I also found my advice center in your database for help centers. 🙂

I am happy to encourage all players whose own gaming behavior is becoming a problem to seek help. From my experience I know that many players only come to the consultation, whether in person or online, when the psychological strain is already very high. At this stage, changing your own gaming behavior is often more difficult than at an earlier point in time.

So dear players: If you enjoy the game and are free of problems - then I wish you the best of luck! 😉 But if your gaming behavior leads to financial or social problems, don't hesitate to get help. Eg in the above database!

All the best Thomas

Hallo,

mein Name ist Thomas und ich arbeite seit vielen Jahren in der Beratung von Menschen, bei denen das Glücksspiel zum Problem wurde. Ich wurde durch meine Kollegin Anita auf eure Seite aufmerksam. Es freut mich zu sehen, dass ihr euch glaubwürdig für den Spielerschutz einsetzt. Auch meine Beratungsstelle habe ich in eurer Datenbank für Hilfezentren gefunden. 🙂

Gerne ermutige ich alle SpielerInnen, für die ihr eigenes Spielverhalten zum Problem wird, sich Hilfe zu suchen. Aus meiner Erfahrung weiß ich das viele SpielerInnen erst dann in der Beratung auftauchen, ganz gleich ob persönlich oder online, wenn der Leidensdruck bereits sehr hoch ist. In diesem Stadium fällt eine Veränderung des eigenen Spielverhaltens oft schwerer als zu einem früheren Zeitpunkt.

Also liebe Spieler: Habt ihr Spaß am Spiel und seid frei von Problemen - dann wünsche ich euch viel Glück! 😉 Führt euer Spielverhalten aber zu finanziellen oder sozialen Problemen, dann zögert nicht euch Hilfe zu holen. Z.B. in der obigen Datenbank!

Alles Gute Thomas

Hey Thomas,

Good words of advice there!

all the best,

Charlie

Hello Thomas!

We are delighted to have you here! ✨🙌💚

Your kind offer is much appreciated.

Hi guys

Not sure where to start. I guess this addiction started about 10 years ago maybe more. In the beginning like most I thought ot was a bit of harmless fun and that it wasn't am issue that I could stop anytime I wanted. Fast forward to the present day and I have exhausted every online bookie. I am deeply ashamed and lead a life of torment and worry for the future. I probably owe about 10 grand in debt and I know to some that's nothing compared to others but it has wrecked my life. I have lied to the people I love and I need pills to sleep. I don't recognise the person I have become anymore and I'm consumed with guilt. I take full ownership for not dealing with this sooner.

I think very little is being done by the online gaming operators. I have created many accounts even tho I have self exclusions in place but often all it takes is a simple different digit in your date of birth and you have a brand new account . I honestly believe betting companies know who you are but exploit you because they can. The trump card they usually play is when you want to withdraw its miraculously discovered that you have a self exclusion.

It's no different in the streets. You self exclude and a few shoos won't serve you but I can't understand why you cannot be excluded with one application to all book makers.

Recovery is very difficult when you have this to contend with.

Honestly I don't see a future. No house, no savings, almost mid 40s and nothing to show for almost 20 years working.

I feel so alone and of course I want to get better. I can't remember the last time I smiled and it was genuine. Sometimes I feel the walls are closing in so much that I can't take this awful , terrible way of living anymore. I'm broken mentally and I don't know what to do. I told my partner but I haven't told the real extent. They too suffer from other issues and I feel like a burden like another worry for them and that I've also destroyed their life too.

Never did I envisage this life for myself. I would rather be an alcoholic or drug user because then at least people would see the real you.

I need time out but with bills mounting and rent to pay how do you actually take time out of this rat race of a life .

I just dont know what to say anymore.

Hey,

First thing I have to say is how brave to post such an honest explanation of your current situation.

You are not alone in this struggle that you find yourself in.

Im going to ask Simon V to pass you my details and then we can chat offline from the forum and I’ll see if my own experience with this addiction can help you in anyway.

Keep strong.

Charlie

Hi

I am trying to seek for help about my gambling addiction. I keep playing in online casinos for many years and this has been my lifes mistake. Although I know that I will never win I watch it as an entertainment but when you lose much more than you can afford it stops to be fun anymore. I keep playing with money I am not supposed to spend. This needs to stop and I dont know how. Every month after salary I am starting to play and very fast I can lose much money and keep playing. Is like the casinos know also. They not only take your money they just want more every time. I have to find a way to stop playing forever

Hey,

Sorry to hear of your struggles with gambling.

You are in the right place to get yourself some help with your addiction.

The first thing that I will advise you is to put some distance between yourself and the casinos. You can ask the casino to self exclude you. I found this the most effective option at the beginning of my journey.

I will ask one of the forum moderators to provide you with some links for help and advice.

Stay strong,

Charlie

Hi

Thanks for the message

The problem with the self exclusion is that there's sk many casinos which you can register and when I am taking a break of like 4-5 days and I am mentaly relaxed from a bad loss i play again. Some casinos don't have thr self exclusion or is very complicated until they do it, like in 20bet you ask for ir via live chat and this goes through your manager the next day and they give you bonus instead of closing your account and takes more time. Also to some casinos you can self excluded but after a month you ask to open the account again they do it

I definitely understand the position that you’re in as I’ve been there many times myself over the years.

When you ask the casinos to close your account do you specifically tell them that you have a gambling problem? They shouldn’t re-open any account if you state this as a reason.

I tried blocking software for a while and it does work to some extent. Like everything, it’s not perfect and you will find ways around it if you chose to do so.

One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that creating as many barriers as you can between you and the casino is a good thing. Some people play free slots to fill their time, but I found this counter productive. Once I saw the wins on free slots, I was sure I’d found a ‘system’ to win in real play! Of course this never happened and I found myself back to square one for the millionth time!

Unfortunately there isn’t a magic cure for this addiction. Everyone is different. But the key things you must do straight away is block yourself away from the casino sites. Focus on learning why you keep gambling, be honest with yourself and see where this takes you.

It has taken me many years to get to where I am now with gambling. I spent years and untold amounts of money hopelessly addicted to slots. These days I despise everything about them and simply don’t gamble anymore. For me it isn’t fun. Looking back it never was fun, but at the time your mind tricks you to think the big win is on its way.. and then when it comes you will stop.. this also isn’t the case. I’ve won big many times and lost twice as much trying to win more.

Talking about the problem with like minded people such as myself could be of help to you also. As I said everyone is different but we all share one common thing and that is gambling addiction. It doesn’t matter if that person is at the beginning of admitting their problem or much further on and understanding what that problem can do to them, so has different gambling habits or just doesn’t gamble anymore. People’s experiences in this subject will definitely help you.

Keep strong

Charlie

Thank you for keep giving me sone more good advices and sharing with me your personal experience with gambling. I will try as much as possible to distance myself from on line gambling since that in Norway there is no live casinos and I will refer my addiction so they will not think twice about closing the account

That’s a good positive start to getting your life back on track.

Please do keep me updated on your progress.

Im always here to chat should you wish to do so.

The journey is a difficult one and you will experience many relapses along the way. But this is all part of the journey. The key things is to learn something from the bad bits. Don’t be too hard on yourself when they do happen. This way it will make you more determined to not let them happen again.

A life without gambling is possible. We just need to find the way to it.

Take it easy 👊🏻

Thanks for sharing your situation with us vkaisis!

It is the first step for you to get towards improvement. There are many struggling with gambling. Doing nothing. Hoping that it will go away on its own is a very bad position for any change. It's hard to open up on this matter, even before yourself, as gambling is highly stigmatized. You might feel to be alone in this battle. The truth is that you are not.

I cannot speak from my own experience, but Charlie here is a real example of a person that made it to the other side and now uses his experience to help others. He speaks openly about his actions and was in a very similar position as you are now.

One is certain. No one other than you is able to change this, and we are here to help you!

Staying away from gambling is a baseline. You can try blocking software, but the main blocking software needs to be in your head. Try to name three other things to do when you get the urge. Get out of the house, and leave your phone at home. Go for a run or wear boxing gloves and let off some steam. You need to step away from gambling being your coping mechanism. Everybody feels bad or hyped sometimes. That should not lead to gambling.

Charlie mentioned that it might be good to learn more about what happens when you gamble. I could not agree more, as understanding what happens in your brain and why it makes you behave in a certain way is an opportunity to defuse it. You can read more about that here.

Talk to a professional. Reading stuff from us is good, but help from someone working with people struggling can give you more. Everybody is different, indeed. You need to try and take turns and chase it until will get yourself free. It works. Take a look at some help centers around Norway. Pick up the phone and start talking; there is no harm in that.

Brace up, and let me know if I can do something else.

Hi SimonV. Thank you for the message and the support. I used to do some things you said to stay away from gambling, gym ,movies more work, but since I have been living alone the only thing is touching me us gambling, on line BJ and slots. The real problem is when I get my salary. I am thinking that I have much now to spend so what will happen if I lose some, but some after is getting too much and I almost never am happy with few euros ein I am going for the bug win which I had in the very past. I just need to stay away when I have money, not to gamble even 1 euro, somehow I need to manage it

Bigger wins can mess things up. I felt something similar when I won a couple of hundred a few months ago in Las Vegas. I was lucky. Up until that time, I did not really understand why people play slots. Like where is the fun? Now I get it. It kept stuck in my head for a couple of weeks, nudging me to play some online. I played some, lost and after some time it went away. Not much fun in it, but man did I feel the grip at some point.

Have you tried to send most of your money to some alternative or savings account? I do it in general after salary so I feel like there is not that much money in my primary account to spend less. I guess you are using a third-party payment provider from Norway, so you might try to block it. Distancing from gambling means also to create boundaries for yourself. Basically, make the possibility for you to gamble more difficult. If it would require much effort for you to spin the wheels, you increase your chances to sober up and change your mind while making the effort. Make things harder for you. This includes blocking software, not easily accessible money, self-exclusion, or some sort of notifications that will remind you what you are about to do is not good for you.

Hi. Yes that is true, boundaries must be created so I can distance my self from gambling. Another problem is that even in Norway there's always a way to gamble online if you want, you just need the money no matter where you have it, in your bank account, in a foreign account (revolut), in online wallet, in cash , in savings account, they give you so many options of different payments so if you have decided to gamble you will do it in the end. I tried many times to lock my money in a way so not to be able to deposit them but unsuccessfully. Even the blocking software doesn't help so much or maybe I don't know the correct way. I am sure something should be there to avoid it

Just want to drop by and say to those struggling with gambling addiction that you might have a long way to go to totally be free from it, but also know that taking the first step towards fighting it is already a big step. Keep moving and know that a lot of us are supporting you.👍