until i accidentally ran into this forum
http://www.gamblingtherapy.org/(A(L...OQB20qJ3SD6efOiz4kIedcAag1))/forum/active.asp
Read this story and I hope it serves as a grim reminder to all of us. Wil or any other mod, perhaps you could sticky it so that everyone will have time to read. Football season is upon us and that will bring out everyone, new and old alike, i hope everything stays under control for each and one of you!
Remember, do not bet what you want to win, bet what you can afford to lose
Here goes the story of Mr. Depressed, sadly, one of many on that site.
I'm depressed as all hell. Thought about suicide so many times.
About 4 years ago, during a bachelor party, I saw that a couple of my friends were gambling on sports. Nothing big. Small money. I thought it would be a nice way to make some extra income. At that time, I had sizeable debt (which, looking back, I'd love to be in that position now compared to the debt that I have now). I signed up. Played small. Things were actually under control, for the most part. Lots of ups and downs, depending on how games went. 3 years ago, my wife became pregnant, and it was a horrible pregnancy. She was asleep or in bed for most of the day. That left me with more time, which meant more time to gamble. Still, my plays were real small so things never got out of hand. It was also during this year when we started looking at homes, and we ended up purchasing a fairly expensive home because of the school district. We wanted nothing but the best for our son. THings went downhill after he was born. Not because he was born, but because that's when I had my first real big loss. At that time, it was a loss of about $3000. Nowadays, that size is commonplace, unfortunately. Then the chasing started. Things started to grow till the loss was more than 10x that amount. Came fairly close a few times to breaking even, but another loss would set me back, and then the loss continued to grow.
Well, late last year, the US passed the UIGA, and my sportsbook closed their doors to US customers. That lead me to go look for another book. Unfortunatley, the one I joined had their casino displayed prominently. I startedt o play blackjack. Lost a bundle. And with the UIGA passed, it made it harder to fund. So I was funding smaller amounts, and I kept losing. Finally, I came within 5k of breaking even from blackjack. It was a case of too much too fast. WIthin a span of 2 weeks, I had won so much money. One night, before bed, I thought I would just sit and take some more "easy money". Well, that wasn't the case. I lost 47k that night. To top it off? It was the night before my son's birthday. Talk about feeling like a loser dad. I thought about going out in my car and driving into a tree. But I didn't want my son remembering that he lost his dad on his birthday. Then the real chasing started. I started borrowing more and more to try to win it back. Even winning $4k a night wasn't good enough. I wanted that 47k back. Now I'm down just about every single dollar. My home equity is shot. My credit, which was once impeccable, is now shot. I owe so much money that I don't know what to do. My wife, who wanted to take some time off to spend with our son while he grows up, now has to go back to work. I feel like a loser husband, father, employee, friend, human being. I dream of suicide and leaving insurance money to my family. I dream of being able to turn back the hands of time and going back to an innocent part of my life. I get depressed when I visit places or look at pictures before I started gambling. I don't know how to make back the money that I owe because my mind is a vegetable now at work. My mood is horrible at home, not because I"m craving the gambling, but rather when I think of the losses and how much I owe, which in turn leads me to think that I can still win it back, or just win enough each money to start paying some of this back.
Sorry for the rambling. But this site looks great, has alot of supportive people, and I want to learn from others here who have tamed this nasty illness.
http://www.gamblingtherapy.org/(A(L...OQB20qJ3SD6efOiz4kIedcAag1))/forum/active.asp
Read this story and I hope it serves as a grim reminder to all of us. Wil or any other mod, perhaps you could sticky it so that everyone will have time to read. Football season is upon us and that will bring out everyone, new and old alike, i hope everything stays under control for each and one of you!
Remember, do not bet what you want to win, bet what you can afford to lose
Here goes the story of Mr. Depressed, sadly, one of many on that site.
I'm depressed as all hell. Thought about suicide so many times.
About 4 years ago, during a bachelor party, I saw that a couple of my friends were gambling on sports. Nothing big. Small money. I thought it would be a nice way to make some extra income. At that time, I had sizeable debt (which, looking back, I'd love to be in that position now compared to the debt that I have now). I signed up. Played small. Things were actually under control, for the most part. Lots of ups and downs, depending on how games went. 3 years ago, my wife became pregnant, and it was a horrible pregnancy. She was asleep or in bed for most of the day. That left me with more time, which meant more time to gamble. Still, my plays were real small so things never got out of hand. It was also during this year when we started looking at homes, and we ended up purchasing a fairly expensive home because of the school district. We wanted nothing but the best for our son. THings went downhill after he was born. Not because he was born, but because that's when I had my first real big loss. At that time, it was a loss of about $3000. Nowadays, that size is commonplace, unfortunately. Then the chasing started. Things started to grow till the loss was more than 10x that amount. Came fairly close a few times to breaking even, but another loss would set me back, and then the loss continued to grow.
Well, late last year, the US passed the UIGA, and my sportsbook closed their doors to US customers. That lead me to go look for another book. Unfortunatley, the one I joined had their casino displayed prominently. I startedt o play blackjack. Lost a bundle. And with the UIGA passed, it made it harder to fund. So I was funding smaller amounts, and I kept losing. Finally, I came within 5k of breaking even from blackjack. It was a case of too much too fast. WIthin a span of 2 weeks, I had won so much money. One night, before bed, I thought I would just sit and take some more "easy money". Well, that wasn't the case. I lost 47k that night. To top it off? It was the night before my son's birthday. Talk about feeling like a loser dad. I thought about going out in my car and driving into a tree. But I didn't want my son remembering that he lost his dad on his birthday. Then the real chasing started. I started borrowing more and more to try to win it back. Even winning $4k a night wasn't good enough. I wanted that 47k back. Now I'm down just about every single dollar. My home equity is shot. My credit, which was once impeccable, is now shot. I owe so much money that I don't know what to do. My wife, who wanted to take some time off to spend with our son while he grows up, now has to go back to work. I feel like a loser husband, father, employee, friend, human being. I dream of suicide and leaving insurance money to my family. I dream of being able to turn back the hands of time and going back to an innocent part of my life. I get depressed when I visit places or look at pictures before I started gambling. I don't know how to make back the money that I owe because my mind is a vegetable now at work. My mood is horrible at home, not because I"m craving the gambling, but rather when I think of the losses and how much I owe, which in turn leads me to think that I can still win it back, or just win enough each money to start paying some of this back.
Sorry for the rambling. But this site looks great, has alot of supportive people, and I want to learn from others here who have tamed this nasty illness.
