It crossed my mind again today to gamble. But I didn’t let myself lose to it. This addiction sucks, honestly. You’d think that after being clean for a while, the thought just stops coming altogether. Turns out that’s not true.

But thankfully I stopped and really thought through what could happen, even when part of me tried to convince myself “it’s just a small amount, maybe it’ll grow.” I hope you’re able to fight it too whenever it comes for you. ODAAT and God bless us all.

I did the thing I said I wouldn’t do anymore. Justified gambling when I got paid because I wanted to pay a few things off. Made some cash on Friday, only to proceed to lose it all + everything I had the following 2 days. Back at nothing for another two weeks. Another house payment missed, another car payment missed. Bills & debt continuing to pile up.
The shame of doing this again is tearing me apart. I’ve self excluded myself from yet another app/website. Probably at 10 of those by now but inevitably another one will pop up that I can use. I truly don’t know what to do. I’ve tried Gambler’s Anonymous and it didn’t feel helpful. I don’t have the extra money for therapy. Spoke with friends, family, God. Only time I don’t fall victim is when I don’t have any money to do so. I have to stop this, but realizing I can’t on my own.

I’m in search of a community. Today is day 0, and I’m going to take this each day at a time. If anyone wants to message me id love to have people I can talk to.

Had a bit of a relapse last Wednesday in regards to slots after staying away for a year. Won in and around 1700 but threw it away and ended up 100 up. Was annoyed at myself but took it on the chin. Fast forward yesterday today where I deposited 1000 and somehow managed to get it up to 8500. Woke up this morning and proceeded to spin it all away and end up withdrawing at 3000. Yes I know I'm up 2000 dollars. I'm left the house to clear the head and I'm at a coffee shop and going to purchase a book titled 'Dopamine Nation' to hopefully gain some insight into why I'm actually doing this and how to stop.

I want you think about that I'm here buying a self help book after still winning 2000. That's how this shit messes with your head. I would advise anyone reading this regardless of how strong you think you are mentally you will fall into the trap of pressing that button until your balance keeps dropping and dropping. The casino sites give you a taste and a good run sometimes. It's all a trap so you keep going and deposit more trying to chase those losses. Ever click into that game and win the 'free spin' feature? Then the next game you pick you've somehow managed to get the free spin feature again? Suddenly your on cloud 9 watching all that balance rise... The whole thing is designed to give you an injection of dopamine that we can't cope with, I know that, I'm literally typing it and making sense I know yet I still can't fully walk away and gave them back the money they 'loaned' me to the tune of 5500. It hurts bad I know and you feel like scumbag degenerate. Look you can either wallow in self pity or just realise that even if you cleared some debt or done whatever with the money you will be depositing again soon enough and find yourself in the exact same position and most likely even worse debt.

To summarise over the last 7 days I've won a total sum of 2100 dollars and my head is a mess. You know what I mean, the thoughts of clearing some minor debt perhaps, what you could of spent the money on, how much of an idiot you are, ignoring friends and family etc the list goes on and on. What I'm getting at is the whole thing is so layered and we as people just aren't designed to comprehend it all and you can bet your last dollar *excuse the pun* that the casino knows all this and hoping you just keep chasing and chasing forever.

Stay away from slots everybody. They will honestly change your personality and leave you with a constant negative mindset even if you win, that's not me talking shit you know secretly that's how they make you feel. Now I'm off to buy that book folks. Just wanted to share this incase your struggling and needed a kick up the ass!

End the game now and turn your focus back on the real game which is fucking life folks. The chances of you been even born was like 4 billion to 1. We already won mate, we can scramble around at the bottom, collecting your monopoly coins and losing them and repeating the cycle over and over or you can wake up and go to work or if your unemployed get a job. 1 day at a time okay. Fuck the negativity, it's your brain and your in control. Remember that! Be kind to people and be positive. We have this okay.

Hope I helped someone who's feeling messed up and gave them some positivity. Let's the change the mindset folks🙂

P. S any other book recommendations are highly recommended because now I want educate myself so this never happens again.

Hello r/problemgambling community,

This is a weekly reminder on behalf of our friends from Very Ape films who are working on a documentary on problem gambling. They are looking for people who are willing to share their story on film for their doc. Details can be found on this post.

So why are we reminding you? Because this project aligns with r/problemgambling's mission and purpose as established at the very beginning: To raise awareness of gambling disorder as a significant and growing public health threat. The time to raise awareness is more important now than it ever was.

I think all know what's happening nowadays. The gambling industry is growing bolder and more pervasive in our daily lives. The ads are everywhere. The problem is growing. People need to understand this and take action before it's too late.

So we want this community to have the opportunity to contribute to this project directly. Your voice must not be stifled. Please consider [reaching out](mailto:chasingtheloss@gmail.com) and letting your story be told.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration.

Best always,

-Mod Team

I haven’t posted in a long time. And a lot has happened. I spiraled again around Christmas time and finally landed myself in the psych ward because gambling had literally brought me to the point where I lost all will to live and planned to take my life. The 90day mark was always about the time when I would relapse, and it would get worse every single time.

After the stint in the ward, getting honest with the people around me, making some life changes and starting medications, I only had one minor slip up in April but quickly told on myself and snapped back on track immediately.

For the first time ever I have 130 days 100% clean from all gambling activity. I can’t believe it. As painful as it was, honesty truly helped to set me free. Being consistent in therapy, med compliance, and being fully transparent with my loved ones has done wonders. I’ve also been on naltrexone for gambling addiction and I’m certain that has made a huge impact as well. There is hope for freedom from hell of gambling addiction afterall.

Hello! I have posted before and deleted the post due to feeling embarrassed because I did not stick to my original plan… this time I HAVE to make changes, got a huge 6$ raise and have lost ALL of the checks with the raise in it the last month I got it… I work a 1099 job so now I’m drowning in debt with the IRS that’s my only debt, I owe 34k and make only roughly 65k a year, going to try to start another payment plan, has anyone else been this down bad in debt with the IRS due to gambling ? What steps did you take, anything helps I’m struggling so bad mentally and it’s been effecting my life at home.

This morning was just like any other. My alarm clock goes off at 5:30am sharp. It pulls me out of an immersive dream. One that I was completely entranced by, but immediately starts to fade from memory as my brain slowly adjusts to reality and transitions back to my waking life.

Once the memory and experience of the dream have been erased from my awareness entirely, it starts being replaced by real memories. I start to remember where I am, who I am, and, eventually, what I did last night.

I experience a slight sense of "dread" or "impending doom" as I begin to remember what I did last night. Did I impulsively lose control at an online casino again? Did I open a crazy leverage position without a stop-loss again? Did I get drunk and do or say something stupid to anyone? Before my brain has even had the chance to wake up and answer these questions, I'm already on my phone, checking for any notifications.

Then, I remember... No, I did not gamble at an online casino. No, I do not have any high-risk positions open at an exchange. No, I didn't drink, smoke weed or use any other drugs last night. No, I didn't completely stuff myself with fast food and sugar. I am actually okay.

---

I have been clean from alcohol and drugs for over 5 years. I have been mostly clean from gambling for the past year, although I still struggle with it sometimes. I have completely changed my physical health around, going from an alcoholic drug user who binged on fast food and sugar all night, every night, to someone who hits the gym every day, is very focused on his health and making all the right choices in an extremely disciplined manner.

Yet still, I wake up every morning with a sense of dread as I try to remember who I am and what I did last night, because after all of these years of abusing myself, my brain is so used to waking up disappointed in myself. I genuinely wonder if that will ever go away or stay with me forever.

I just felt this really strongly today and wanted to get it off my chest. And I'm wondering if any of you experience the exact same thing, whether you're already clean/recovering or not. Peace and love.

Hello everyone, I made this post some time ago https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1thvs2s/again_and_again_and_again/

TLDR: I lost everything I had earned in 2025, saved up, paid off my debts. By March/April 2026, I had lost everything and had several thousand GBP in debt.

How's it been so far?

Not amazing, to be honest...

I am fortunate enough that I didn't keep digging my hole back in April, as I could have easily reached 5 figures in debt. Fortunately, I capped out at £5.5k. This second climb out of my hole is much easier than the first.

I would say I truly started to battle this issue 3 months ago, when I decided to send about 80% of my salary to a family member. To this day, my situation looks like this:

£10k savings

£5k debt

The other 20% I have gambled like clockwork. The only reason why I have £10k set aside is because I don't have access to it. I've taken out payday loans (nothing huge, approximately £300), and I've taken loans from friends just to keep going a little bit more.

I would like to leave some important, self-learned advice to help everyone here. My situation is improving only because of these rules. This has nothing to do with my willpower being strong enough to stop, because I haven't.

Rule 1: Send the majority of what you make to someone you trust. This has to be non-negotiable.

Money is the substance; the casino is the syringe. Unfortunately, the syringe is digital and in your pocket at all times.

Rule 2: If you have debts, make sure your credit cards are not able to make deposits.

If you have an overdraft that can be utilised once you pay some of it off, set up a repayment plan that reduces the overdraft limit as you pay it down.

The goal here is to be able to pay your debts off slowly, while also making sure you can't use these cards to spend on bullshit as you pay them off.

Rule 3: Forget your losses, your close wins, and your wins. Forget it all. Thinking about the past is a common route into relapsing.

Rule 4: Self-exclude from everything. Disable your cards from making payments to crypto sites, casinos, etc. Any physical barrier you can create will make a difference.

Rule 5: Relapses will probably happen. Make sure they aren't painful. Learn to recognise what's happening. Remember what happened when you lost it all last time. If you're able to stop halfway through a deposit, you're making the right step forward.

But do not use the excuse of "oh my bad I relapsed" as a reason to gamble.

I hope you're able to implement some of these rules into your own path. Wishing everyone the best!

Have big expenses coming up, wedding new house etc.
So the only way I know how to make more money besides my 9-5 is to gamble.
I have lost 25k usd in 1 week. Which was suppose to be wedding money. Guys please help. I am scared I keep chasing loses

I see the same 2 accounts constantly advertising an bank site/app thing on this sub and another gambling sub. One account says he is a gambler himself and the other says her husband is the gambler, but 2 seperate scenarios.

Are these 2 people married and the creators of the apps just trying to make a quick buck?

Also, I dived further into the app and found a couple facebook shorts of a man talking about duece recovery and a woman in one of them

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bq4t5fUDH/

Hello!

I am currently developing a recovery app for gambling addiction. I’ve been gambling myself and tried finding an app that provides: community with verified users to prevent scams, countdown for gambling free, money saved, time saved, relationships restored, gambling urge button, daily check-in with notifications and helpline resources.

Is this something you have been looking for also or is it just me? Would this help people, or would it be a waste of time and money to develop?

I want something to remind me and stop and think before I go on a gambling site. This is my solution for that and if I can help others also it would be amazing.

Please share your thoughts!

Was down like 20k this year.

Won it all back and was up like 5k and promised to never gamble again. Well, of course it wasn’t enough and I lost 5k last night and another 4500 tonight, bringing me to about 5k-5.5k down this year.

Savings is down to 20k, and feeling lost as heck.

How the hell does anyone afford a house or anything?! All I want is to own a freaking house and not worry about money, and I just continue to gamble more.

Started with the worst, huff n puff, now it’s lightning link…

I feel like I can’t come to the fact that I could’ve been up 5k this year…

I am a 23M university student in a foreign country and i need help. I started gambling 3 years ago and now my life is falling into spiral. I waste most of my money that i get from my parents to gamble and stupidly try to chase my win and i lost all of it. I lied to my parents asking more money and now things are getting out of hand now. And my parents don’t know anything about it. Yesterday it has gone too far and I realized i can’t go my life on like this. So how do i tell my parents that i am a piece of shit and spent all of their hard earned money and how do i get out of this? I don’t even have money to eat right now. Please guys, help me.

After being a landlord for a short while. And making tens of thousands to hundred thousand in the stock market. And now being without both of those options. It makes the concept of working 90% of jobs hell.

Gambling may be the worst invention brought to human kind.

It destroys you during the pain. And destroys you afterwards too

I’m self excluded from every sports book. Like every single one. But whenever a new app opens in my state i sign up. It’s inevitable. I signed up for Ballys, gambled 4 days straight. Literally wasn’t present at all in life. Lost money but the lost time feels worse. I feel so weird. But yeah basically the title. Back to day 1 but self excluded from it. Until next time!

Gambling... It wasn't about money. It was about suppressed desire and feeling like I was running out of time.

Growing up, my true passion was Archaeology. Due to family pressure and financial difficulties, I had to abandon that dream. I finished degre in anthropology but I couldn't find a job in my field. I couldn't start my master degree because I had to work for helping my family financially.

That’s where gambling crept in. It felt like a back door. I wasn't just chasing cash. I was trying to win back the life I felt was stolen from me. Obviously, that shortcut didn't work. It just locked me into a financial prison. I've spent the last four and a half years working eight different jobs to pay off the wreckage, relapsed countless times. Currently standing in front of a CNC machine for 12 hours a day.

​If you’re stuck in an addiction or feel like you’re falling way behind, look a bit deeper. You might not just be chasing cash. You might just be trying to fix a broken dream with a cheap trick. Don't fall for it. It just makes the hole deeper.

I know how I will win against this addiction, I will pursue my desire. No matter what. Even If I can't achieve, I will stay on that road. Because there is a meaning in it. Find something meaningful for you.

As the title states i’m in a very bad spot and just wanna explain my situation if anyone has any advice. I’ve been here for a long while trying to help myself, i started gambling at 21. Im 22 now and in such a fucking awful spot man. My mother passed away 2024 and spiraled me into this sense of numbness, when i found gambling it made me feel alive. It started stock options 2024, pushed 500 to 27k and lost it all. I don’t come from rich, like at all. It could’ve changed my years upcoming. It fucking. Ruined me. The mentality of winning it back has pushed me all this way to no avail. It pushed me into credit card debt racking up to maybe about 7-8.5k. I had myself selling jewelry to gamble. I was doing so much, to just lose it all. Over the past years i’ve proceeded to keep gambling and have lost countless paychecks and life span which it feels like. As of recently i relapsed hard over drafting a debit card -500$ to gamble man. I managed to get it back with the overdraft money i used and have 300$ to spare. I was so happy felt on top of the world to. I keep spending my fucking paychecks to lose so this 300 was needed. of course i lost it soon after. I am so fucking lost currently that i have thoughts of shit i never used to think. I don’t see a future for myself. at 22 it feels i won’t live past 25. I just feel looped and trapped, for the past 2 years straight of losing thousands. I’m so poor with life it’s hard to mask it in public. It hurts everyday knowing i’ve done this to myself. My mother was a heavy addict to drugs which is how she passed, i told myself id never be addicted to stuff. Here i am. Paycheck to paycheck off pennie’s trying to get along. I can’t get it through my skull. I wanna ask my dad for help but i don’t know how. I feel like im just gonna choke up and die. I don’t know what to do anymore, i’m restricting myself on all gambling apps. Kalshi ruined me and is a major part of my gambling addiction. Sigh. Wondering if i should ask my dad for help and tell him my problem. No one knows. No one. I manage so slightly to show i don’t have problems with money. But in reality i do. I wanna ask him for help and possibly if he can help me with a little cash but it’s hard. I’ fucking hate asking for help any type of it. I never have asked him for stuff like this. For reference i’m paid about 850$ from my job every 15th and 30th. So it kills me. I need to turn to god and hope i can escape this mess 🫩

:( Meh, it sucks. I wish I never knew what gambling was. Especially, the stupid ads on TV, computer, YouTube, Facebook and etc. I tried using adblock but it doesn't really help.

Money-wise, my life really sucks right now. No money, just debt that will take many years to pay off. I have almost no money left, and the cravings still come from time to time.

“Let’s get a high-interest loan, win it all back, and we’ll be fine.” As if I didn't know how that ends after 15+ years of misery with gambling.

Even though my debt will take a long time to deal with, there is one thing I can do right now: **not gamble.**

I’m doing a **Gamble-Free September**.

If anyone wants to join, there are still plenty of spots left. 😄

Let’s fucking do this.