[Akpo Sodje]

Reading this thread just makes me glad I don't have a problem. Really sad stories Hope everyone gets through it

[Sergeant Wilson]

It's the nature of addiction. If someone stops gambling or drinking it's often replaced with something else.

Slightly off topic, I always wondered.....where do people bet abroad. I don't think I've ever seen a bookies when on holiday.

[mid-table]

I totally agree with Adam on this thread, and to a lesser extent Fudge (I don't think people go to meetings just to look edgy, I think they just get too involved).
It was the renowned philosopher Brian Griffin who said (about AA, but applicable to GA), "people go to AA to get rid of one addiction, and end up with another".

I have never seen such a blinkered view from people who think everything is fine as long as they are not gambling, when in actual fact they still have real issues in their life with drink, anger, crime, you name it. I understand that for anyone who goes to GA not gambling is obviously important, but it needs to be done as part of a wider view of other aspects of life.

Albeit I'm going back a few years, but I didn't socialise with anyone until about a year in, when I did start socialising with them and I saw what a mess their collective lives were in I bailed relatively quickly.

[DarkBlue62]

Glad you hear you ended up at a meeting Adam. I do see where you are coming from. I never have had phone calls or whatever, maybe cause I look like Im doing good? Others seem to phone others daily etc. I tend to go out on the piss with a few of them maybe once or twice a month and go to 2 meetings a week. Im also the Secretary at my base meeting. I can see where you are coming from with the billy big balls statement as there are a few like that where I have been. They are also like, if you dont come to the meetings you will gamble. Surely thats up to the person though? If you want to gamble you will, if not, you simply wont, just like anything else in life. Im glad I have managed to stop but I have been tempted to just have one last punt and see what happens. Hope everything goes well for you and others on the thread.

[IrishBhoy]

DarkBlue62, on 03 January 2012 - 19:47, said:

Glad you hear you ended up at a meeting Adam. I do see where you are coming from. I never have had phone calls or whatever, maybe cause I look like Im doing good? Others seem to phone others daily etc. I tend to go out on the piss with a few of them maybe once or twice a month and go to 2 meetings a week. Im also the Secretary at my base meeting. I can see where you are coming from with the billy big balls statement as there are a few like that where I have been. They are also like, if you dont come to the meetings you will gamble. Surely thats up to the person though? If you want to gamble you will, if not, you simply wont, just like anything else in life. Im glad I have managed to stop but I have been tempted to just have one last punt and see what happens. Hope everything goes well for you and others on the thread.

DarkBlue, you are quite young are you not? If you dont mind me asking what drove you to GA at such an age? Were you putting on thousands of pounds or stealing to fund it?

Interested to know as it seems you are also quite involved with GA aswell.

[Adam]

DarkBlue62, on 03 January 2012 - 19:47, said:

Glad you hear you ended up at a meeting Adam. I do see where you are coming from. I never have had phone calls or whatever, maybe cause I look like Im doing good? Others seem to phone others daily etc. I tend to go out on the piss with a few of them maybe once or twice a month and go to 2 meetings a week. Im also the Secretary at my base meeting. I can see where you are coming from with the billy big balls statement as there are a few like that where I have been. They are also like, if you dont come to the meetings you will gamble. Surely thats up to the person though? If you want to gamble you will, if not, you simply wont, just like anything else in life. Im glad I have managed to stop but I have been tempted to just have one last punt and see what happens. Hope everything goes well for you and others on the thread.

The secretary at my meeting said that they like to keep in touch with new members fairly regularly for the first 90 days as they reckon that's the period of time where a member coming through the door is most likely to have a fall, which is fair enough, but I don't feel comfortable with people phoning me and telling me that I'm not doing good enough as I'm not making it to as many meetings as I should be, or I'm not answering my phone at every call I get. I've mentioned that I don't like the pressure that I felt that I, and other new members were put under and it was always swept under the carpet.

I spoke to the guy that joined around the same time as me and he had a bit of a falling out with another member. He was having a moan about it all, and then went on to tell me that at least six members had spoken to him telling him to cut all contact with me as I would "affect his recovery". WTF?! Telling you who you can and cannot speak to outside of a meeting? It's pathetic.

Like I said, it might work for some people but I've noticed that more and more folk from here seem to be thinking about quitting and I just wanted to let them know about the other side of it, if they happen to get drawn into it.

Best of luck for you though DB, you seem to be doing well in it and if gambling was having a serious impact on your life and you have been able to stop by going to GA, and also not having to devote a massive amount of your time then that's great. I guess it's just not for me, is all.

[Latino Lover]

Sergeant Wilson, on 03 January 2012 - 19:29, said:

It's the nature of addiction. If someone stops gambling or drinking it's often replaced with something else.

Slightly off topic, I always wondered.....where do people bet abroad. I don't think I've ever seen a bookies when on holiday.

I've been in a bookies in Cologne which was like stepping back to the 80's and I saw a turf accountants opposite Madison Square Garden in New York but didn't go in. Obviously phones/net negate need for bookies on holiday now, or just being a normal person which I can only aspire to be.

On topic I'm trying to lay off (again) but got £50 matched bet on City game tonight so just hedged that to make small profit of about £25 and withdrew. No point me saying I'm going to quit for ever as something like the Euros is usually great for betting on, but I'd like to put a few months together without betting to feel the benefits of not betting, mentally and financially.

[Jambo Stu]

Just reading this and thinking, that I pledged today after the derby win and subsequent party that I was going to detox for the rest of January- Nae booze and "other" stuff. But I wouldn't even consider stopping gambling along side this. Even though I do this more than the rest! Just makes you think....Good luck to all those who feel they need help.

[blue4578]

Interesting posts. It seems like some people at GA are on some sort of power trip where they think they can dominate other people and tell them what to do? Surely the whole thing is about trying to help individuals, and to me that means each person moving at their own pace, attending as many or as few meetings as they want and speaking at the meetings as much or at little as they want. Putting pressure on people to act in a certain way seems totally counterproductive to me.

Did you gain anything at all from the experience Adam?

Sergeant Wilson, on 03 January 2012 - 19:29, said:

Slightly off topic, I always wondered.....where do people bet abroad. I don't think I've ever seen a bookies when on holiday.

Belgrade has more betting shops than any other city I've seen outside the UK.

[Adam]

blue4578, on 04 January 2012 - 03:52, said:

Interesting posts. It seems like some people at GA are on some sort of power trip where they think they can dominate other people and tell them what to do? Surely the whole thing is about trying to help individuals, and to me that means each person moving at their own pace, attending as many or as few meetings as they want and speaking at the meetings as much or at little as they want. Putting pressure on people to act in a certain way seems totally counterproductive to me.

Did you gain anything at all from the experience Adam?




Belgrade has more betting shops than any other city I've seen outside the UK.

I'm still trying to answer that to myself Blue, I'm really not sure. I heard from some really interesting people, some folk that had literally gambled their lives away, someone coming into the meeting saying that he was recovered and nearly getting lynched as a result (think he was a bit of a WUM and always used to bring people who were in need of serious help) and watching people who for whatever reason seemed to let GA take total control of their lives outside of GA, with some guys going to ten meetings a week, and then getting advised by members to stop going as much.

[ayrmad]

blue4578, on 04 January 2012 - 03:52, said:

Interesting posts. It seems like some people at GA are on some sort of power trip where they think they can dominate other people and tell them what to do? Surely the whole thing is about trying to help individuals, and to me that means each person moving at their own pace, attending as many or as few meetings as they want and speaking at the meetings as much or at little as they want. Putting pressure on people to act in a certain way seems totally counterproductive to me.

Spot on.

At 1st I went to 4 or 5 meetings a week. After 7 months I went back punting, great, I realised it wasn't how much GA you got but what you did with it, I'd rather have 1 day of proper recovery than 20 years free of a bet.

Your time at GA should be spend changing the negative parts of your personality rather than sweating about avoiding bookies, casinos etc.

There's no point stopping gambling if you're still the same arsehole that entered the building IMHO.

This post has been edited by ayrmad: 04 January 2012 - 10:41

[DarkBlue62]

IrishBhoy, on 03 January 2012 - 20:22, said:

DarkBlue, you are quite young are you not? If you dont mind me asking what drove you to GA at such an age? Were you putting on thousands of pounds or stealing to fund it?

Interested to know as it seems you are also quite involved with GA aswell.

Im 22 and I first went last year a month after I had turned 21. I was basically spending everything I earned each week so I had nothing for anything else. If you earn £1 and losing £1 its the same as earning £1m and losing £1m. I was lucky enough not to take out any loans or such so Finacially Im fine. To be honest, Im not really that involved. I only go to 2 meetings a week which I thought was too much but over the holidays one meeting has been shut as its a council building and I was saying tonight I have really missed it. I like routine!

[IrishBhoy]

DarkBlue62, on 04 January 2012 - 22:29, said:

Im 22 and I first went last year a month after I had turned 21. I was basically spending everything I earned each week so I had nothing for anything else. If you earn £1 and losing £1 its the same as earning £1m and losing £1m. I was lucky enough not to take out any loans or such so Finacially Im fine. To be honest, Im not really that involved. I only go to 2 meetings a week which I thought was too much but over the holidays one meeting has been shut as its a council building and I was saying tonight I have really missed it. I like routine!

If gambling was doing that to you then I'm glad to hear you dont do it anymore. Well done.

[Latino Lover]

Just lost about £50 on spurs game, not a huge amount but the straw that broke the camels back for me as sick of just chipping away at wages. Closed 7 accounts just now via live chat, loads more to go but already my most serious attempt at quitting. Got lifetime ban from coral & boyles now. May bet occasionally in shops in future at things like Euro 2012 but will see how I'm doing nearer the time. Serenity now!

[ebeneezer]

blue4578, on 04 January 2012 - 03:52, said:

Interesting posts. It seems like some people at GA are on some sort of power trip where they think they can dominate other people and tell them what to do? Surely the whole thing is about trying to help individuals, and to me that means each person moving at their own pace, attending as many or as few meetings as they want and speaking at the meetings as much or at little as they want. Putting pressure on people to act in a certain way seems totally counterproductive to me.

But everyone has the right to state their own opinion and everyone can choose to what extent they accept the advice being given to them. If you start resenting things you hear in a meeting then you probably aren't ready to stop gambling. Putting a group of people together and getting disagreements is called real life.

[mattydfc]

Going from being very close to attending one of these, I managed to stop myself playing online roulette. I still bet on the football, but that's once a week and roulette was every day. I don't have any intention of stopping the football betting because it doesn't do as much damage, in my experience.

Hopefully I keep this up.

[Jordo1872]

I remember being 18 and walking down to town every Saturday morning with my mate to put on our daft £2 15-team comedy coupons, I used to really enjoy that, probably because gambling was only really accessible on a Saturday (for me anyway). Fast forward 11 years and you now have 24/7 365 day access to gambling of some form or another. In a way it's spoiled it for me. You no longer get the excitement of a once a week Saturday morning trip to the bookies. Instead you can gamble right now and it's diluted the experience.

It's a massive change in culture and inevitable that society on the whole will experience greater problems with gambling addiction. In fact it would be interesting to hear views from older posters on whether they encounter people with gambling problems more now than say 10-15 years ago.

GA provides a platform for many but I don't imagine (I've never been) that it's for everyone. Interesting to hear views from people who have attended though as it's something I always thought received positive reviews.

[Richard_B]

Interesting to hear everyones stories and I hope everyone negatively affected by gambling manages to overcome the urge. I think I would only stop once it stopped becoming fun.

Personally, I find it quite enjoyable looking for games or teams that look a good bet the night before or whatever and trying to formulate some sort of winning bet from it. I think (for the majority of betters), once you start becoming obsessed with the money you're probably going down a slippery slope.

[DarkBlue62]

Jordo1872, on 27 February 2012 - 14:09, said:

I remember being 18 and walking down to town every Saturday morning with my mate to put on our daft £2 15-team comedy coupons, I used to really enjoy that, probably because gambling was only really accessible on a Saturday (for me anyway). Fast forward 11 years and you now have 24/7 365 day access to gambling of some form or another. In a way it's spoiled it for me. You no longer get the excitement of a once a week Saturday morning trip to the bookies. Instead you can gamble right now and it's diluted the experience.

It's a massive change in culture and inevitable that society on the whole will experience greater problems with gambling addiction. In fact it would be interesting to hear views from older posters on whether they encounter people with gambling problems more now than say 10-15 years ago.

GA provides a platform for many but I don't imagine (I've never been) that it's for everyone. Interesting to hear views from people who have attended though as it's something I always thought received positive reviews.

I would imagine there is more of a problem with gambling now than 10-15 years ago. Now there is online and roulette machines. It will get worse in my opinion. Diluted the experience as you say is 100% spot on for me!

[mattydfc]

mattydfc, on 27 February 2012 - 12:56, said:

Going from being very close to attending one of these, I managed to stop myself playing online roulette. I still bet on the football, but that's once a week and roulette was every day. I don't have any intention of stopping the football betting because it doesn't do as much damage, in my experience.

Hopefully I keep this up.

I've now stopped completely. Haven't gambled online since 1st February and stopped betting on the football as of 6 weeks tomorrow (Saturday). I was looking through my bank statements on the internet and seen how much I lost in a 40 day period and was literally almost sick. It feels really good to actually have money in the bank now. Although I never went to any GA meetings I'd still say to people to try them out.

[Fudge]

I had a read through a friend's GA book. I've never read so much self indulgent shite in all my life. It was the sort of think those crazy religions give you in an attempt to brainwash you to join.

[GypsyTillIDie]

After having a good start to the year gambling wise (about £150 up or something by January) I've somehow managed to spunk all that money away plus extra (a lot) from my wages this month and enough's enough. Getting to the point where I was walking past Hills every other day and diverted myself to a bank machine, went to the cash machine to withdraw money and lost it within minutes. How it went from coins in my pockets to that I will never know.

Wasted a money on horses (something I know zilch about) yesterday and that's me. I have online accounts with Caesars, Ladbrokes and SkyBet which I'm going to suspend tonight (in on a Friday night skint, wonder why...).

The more I think about it the more I do realise that I'm addicted to gambling.

[ClydeSI]

Fudge, on 27 April 2012 - 19:16, said:

I had a read through a friend's GA book. I've never read so much self indulgent shite in all my life. It was the sort of think those crazy religions give you in an attempt to brainwash you to join.

that.

Did you read the bit about keeping away from places that discuss gambling? Not sure how that sits with people who go on a gambling forum to discuss how they've stopped.....

[Latino Lover]

I've started again after 3 months allbeit just putting on the odd fiver on football in bookies, don't have accounts . . . yet. Not beating myself up about it, its back to being more of a leisure thing although I can't help but feel this way of betting £1/£2 on slightly long shots is ultimating an unsuccessful one. Don't think I can reopen betfair for 6 months but strongly considering getting an account again for the Euros, tournaments were always the most fun for gambling for me, if not the easiest way to win plenty of offers etc.