Man it’s been a while but I had 5k saved up and slowly but quickly I managed to drain it all on going to casino & playing online casino . Live black jack hands & every possible gambling game .
So far I am down 100k USD since I started gambling at 18. I stopped at 25 then I relapsed again like a month ago & couldn’t stop gambling. I am 27 now.
I feel like a weak man , don’t gamble it’s very dumb & fuks with your mentality & you become sleep deprived.
This week has been a nightmare too , I managed to go negative 2k .
Basically I have $0 & I promised my self to not be in this position. But here I am back were I was hahaha
I blocked all the online gambling platforms.
Let’s hope for this recovery to be good.
I say this again, don’t gamble unless you’re fine with losing money.
I am done gambling. Hopefully I stay true to my word. I pray & wish everyone a great life .

Think before depositing. Maybe saving that $1000 is better to keep or invest into stock market & have shares.

Ps - $3000 usd is like 4 years of minimum wage in poor countries like Bangladesh.
Some people grind & hustle for $$$ & we just fuking burn it (give it to casinos).

4 years clean here.
For me it wasn't the biggest loss. It wasn't even the worst night. It was a random Tuesday morning, refreshing the same app for the 40th time, and realizing I hadn't actually felt anything in months. Not when I won, not when I lost. Just numb.
That was the moment. Not rock bottom. Just the silence under all of it.
I keep coming back to this community because I'm trying to understand something. We all have a story about losing. But almost nobody talks about the exact second the switch flipped, the moment you went from "I'll stop tomorrow" to "I'm actually done."
What was yours?
Drop it in the comments if you're up for it, even one line. Or message me if it's something you'd rather not share publicly. Either is good.
No judgment. Just trying to understand something I lived through too.

이거 진짜 고치고싶은 고질병인데 정신건강에 도움 1도 안되면서 맨날 이 지랄함;; 원윈 출금 신청 버튼 누르기 직전만 되면 커뮤니티 옛날글들 뒤적거리면서 남들이 쓴 출금지연이나 신원 확인 당했다는 후기 읽고있음. 그러면서 혼자 슬슬 불안해함 ㅋㅋㅋ 아니 진짜 웃긴건 나도 이미 한 백번은 출금해 봐서 웬만한 절차 다 알고 뭐가 문제 되는지 뻔히 알거든? 근데도 출금할때마다 남의 트러블 글 찾아 읽는게 무슨 셀프 고문 루틴처럼 돼버림... 나 같은 정병 있는 사람들 또 있냐구ㅜㅜ? 이거 출금 틸트 오는거 어케 고치냐 하 ㅋㅋㅋ

Hi, I’m Dzy. I’m a student. I want to share my gambling experience because I feel like I completely lost control, and I’m now dealing with the consequences.

I started gambling right after turning 18 in 2025 on Bet365. It was my first time because gambling sites require users to be 18+. At first, like many beginners, I was winning. I did research on sports matches using AI and tried to bet more carefully. For a few weeks, I actually did well and ended up with around €800 in winnings from sports betting.

But everything changed when I discovered online casino games on the same platform. After I started playing casino games, I began losing quickly. I lost my €800 winnings in just one day. The next day, I managed to win back about €500, but I eventually quit and self-excluded from that site in December 2025.

In February 2026, I tried again on a different app, Unibet. I started small, betting €10–€50 with stop-loss limits, but I didn’t have any proper take-profit plan. Even when I was up €50, I would always end up back at zero. Some days I won, some days I lost, but I didn’t realize I was already developing a gambling problem because the losses felt small individually.

Over time, I realized I had already lost much more than I thought. I was down about €700 in net deposits (not including previous losses). I became obsessed with trying to win it back.

I watched content online where someone suggested that small betting wouldn’t recover losses and that you should bet big once to recover everything. That mindset led me to take a huge risk. I placed my €700 savings on an NBA moneyline bet — and I actually won. My €700 turned into €1,200.

I should have stopped there, but I didn’t. I went back to casino games, especially baccarat. I learned about the Martingale strategy, where you double your bet after each loss. I started with €5, then €10, then €20.

At first, it seemed to work. I was playing daily and making around €50 profit per day for about four days. But then I hit a long losing streak in baccarat. I lost 7 times in a row, including ties, and lost around €635 in one night.
The next night, I tried again. I won a few early bets, but then I hit another losing streak and lost almost €800 in a single night. In just two nights, I lost almost €1,500.

After that, I took a two-day break, but it happened again shortly after. I lost all my remaining savings, including money meant for tuition. I then took a €400 loan to cover school expenses, but I also used part of it to gamble again. I turned €100 into €300 once, but lost it again.

Things escalated. I kept taking loans from different lenders, and my debt grew quickly. What started as a €400 loan turned into over €1,000, and eventually more than €6,000 in total debt across multiple banks and lenders.

During this time, I felt like my life was on a roller coaster. I couldn’t think properly, couldn’t sleep, and I constantly checked my phone. Eventually, I told my parents.

They helped me, but they also became very stressed. They thought I had already stopped gambling and assumed I had focused back on my studies. Around March, they believed my €1,000 loan consolidation was my final debt and that I was no longer gambling.

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that my debt had already grown far beyond that. I was afraid of how they would react, especially since they were already stressed the first time. I am genuinely scared of what might happen if they find out everything.

Now I am facing the consequences mostly alone. I can no longer take loans from banks due to missed payments and defaults. My tuition fees are coming up, and other dues are also approaching. I even messaged my teacher to explain my situation and tried to pause or delay my tuition payment, but I don’t think it worked.

As of now, I’ve lost over €5,000 in savings and accumulated around €6,000 in debt, all from gambling losses. Two days ago, I received my payday of €760 and lost €700 of it again.
That was the moment I realized I needed to stop completely.

I have now enrolled in gambling bans and permanently self-excluded from all gambling sites I can access. I understand now that I cannot continue this cycle.

I also tried to request a partial refund from Unibet, hoping they could help me and return a small portion of the money I lost. I don’t know where else to ask for help anymore. I feel like I’m completely left with nothing.

I don’t really know what comes next, but I know I need help, stability, and a way to rebuild from here. I’m trying to take responsibility step by step, even if it feels overwhelming right now.

#rockbottom
#lifestruggles
#recovery

I’m 4 years deep into blackjack and online slots addiction and I honestly feel exhausted.

What started as “just for fun” slowly became something I think about every day. I’ve lost money, time, sleep, relationships, and most of my peace of mind. I keep chasing losses and telling myself I’ll stop after one more session, but it never ends that way.

The worst part is that online gambling is always available. Even when I want to quit, I end up reinstalling apps, depositing again, and repeating the same cycle. I feel ashamed admitting this, but I don’t want to keep living like this.

I’m posting because I genuinely want to stop. If anyone here has beaten blackjack or slot addiction, what actually helped you? Self-exclusion? Blocking apps? Therapy? Support groups? I’m willing to try anything at this point.

Right now I just want my life and my mind back.

Context
Im 17 started gambling at 12
It started with fivem gambling rolling a dice
Then someone showed me a crypto casino
I thought what if i take 2000$ from my dad make 500$ and return his money without him knowing
I lost it
Took 2k a week after made it 18k usd
Lost it 1 day later
2 weeks later took 17k lost it
He found out i told him i just lost it on the street

1 year later ( 14y)
Took 5000$ lost it he forgave me

(15y) took 5000$ lost it he forgave me he thought i was investing in forex or etc

16 took phone bills money gambled it lost it

In December of 2025 i created a memecoin made 8000$ i ran that 8000$ to about 90,700$
I lost it in 15 minutes

I had given my mom 10,000$ worth of gold

In February i asked her to sell a bracelet worth 5,000$ so i can start trading again and make my money back i gamble lost it
On 26th of april i stole 30,000$ from my dad bank account when he was sleeping i wanted to gamble 30k make 5k and again deposit it back
Lost 8,000$ then the bank closed my account and didn’t allow me to keep depositing dad found out whole family hates me i don’t know why i keep putting myself into these situations my dad thinks i have the 8,000$ when i don’t im thinking of asking my mom to sell her gold i gifted her and take a 1,000$ loan ( i have the rest ) repay my dad so he doesn’t kick me out and start a job
My mom is asking me daily if i have the money why is it not in etc everyday i told her kucoin is verifying it yet
She has high blood pressure now because of my issue

Just signed up to pay off six accounts totaling about 16,000. My payment is 150.00 bi weekly. 4 credit cards and two payday loans are included. Anybody have a good or bad experience using JG Wentworth and is this a smart move? Have no savings or emergency funds due to massive gambling addiction. Thank you

8 years in this hell. Go to meetings. Don’t have a sponsor but have tried to get one. Not sure how. Tried to close my account, but they left it open. Abuse adderall and stayed up for 48 hours straight since being paid losing every cent and borrowing more. Can’t pay mortgage even late.

Have been doing this for EIGHT YEARS. What is wrong with me? I hide it well enough and stopped borrowing from friends and family since coming clean years ago. I thought I hit rock bottom when I used other people’s money to gamble years ago and ruined a relationship. But here I am.

My home is falling apart, has mold, $100k in debt. And yet I keep doing the same thing. Insanity. Grateful for any new perspective or wisdom
Or suggestions.

I have a higher power, I know I am
Powerless. The monster in me comes out when I’m bored and on Adderall and there’s no stopping it.

I’m a high earner in a high pressure job so I can outrun it for now…, but I know another rock bottom is around the corner. I need help.

It’s all online. Sports and slots. I tried Gamban and have excluded from every site except the one who won’t disable the account

44/F single, homeowner, no relationship w blood family, very few friends

For people who have tried to stop online gambling but kept going back, what made it hardest to stop?

I’m asking because I’m trying to better understand the problem before building anything around it.

Was it mainly:

- gambling sites/apps being too easy to access
- urges during stress, boredom, or late-night hours
- having money available
- shame and not wanting to tell anyone
- making promises to yourself and breaking them later
- not having anyone to check in with

I’m especially curious whether a simple daily check-in system would feel helpful, or whether it would feel useless without an actual blocker.

Not selling anything here. Just trying to understand what would feel helpful, unsafe, or untrustworthy.

I’m 27 years old, started gambling around 5 years ago, i forgot what happiness mean since then.
I’m in debt i have gambled all my salary for the last 6 months, tomorrow i have to pay 600€ for someone or i will have huge problems and i have 0 money on me!
I’m will be a dad in two weeks, idk what to do, how to carry on with my life. I’m depressed stressed all day.
Today, i have self excluded from all online and local casinos ( it is possible where i live ). Idk if that’s going to help or not.
May god help me and everyone else.

for context, I am a cocaine addict. I’m sober for about 45 days. Don’t have any money im 22. Live in halfway housing. Go to my parents house to eat every day. Selling Coke to make a little money.

With my last $50 I loaded it up to “Rebet”
Playing with some blackjack doing side bets specifically bust and hot 3. I got my hundred dollars up to $230 and then I started betting big because well shit I got it up to this point you know I basically I’m playing with house money.
Got her down to 30 at one point back to 120 down to my last 15 back up to 80. Then I lost it all.

The guilt and shame is fucking killing me. I just can’t do anything right in my life and I’m doing something so fucking stupid. It’s just like unbelievably shameful. Just wanted to share my experience and I don’t know. I just really fucking feel like shit right now. Hopefully better days move forward. I deleted the app too.

I only gamble to win just enough to solve my problems. IS THAT FCKING HARD TO GIVE?? I JUST WANT TO GET THE FEELING OF BEING STRANGGLED ALIVE REMOVED. I WANT ALL THESE DEBTS GONE

Hi all,

I’m a 23 year old guy and my vice is tennis. Over the last 2 years I lost over 4k on sports gambling; 1k of which in the last month alone. The reason? I hate losing.

I think I’m definitely not alone in this and that a lot of people my age are drawn into this albeit through sports, prediction markets or whatever.

I’d like to build an app to help people in a similar situation. I was thinking about something similar to forest (the app that lets you Focus) but then something to fight gambling urges. I’d like to ask you all on what helps you / has helped you in the past to actually build a useful product that can help people. Thank you all for your help

Edit: feel free to reach out in private too :)

I don’t feel like explaining my history and struggles with cross addictions but right now I need help. I’m on day 5 no gambling and I am fighting like hell to not gamble. I downloaded BetBlocker last year and blocked myself for 5 years… but as a true addict, I still found a way to bypass this. Don’t want to get into how bad it was/is. But I just need someone to say anything to me. Tough love, positivity, personal stories, even a fucking joke. As someone who’s been addicted to many many things, I know that cravings rise and fall but today my addiction is loud, demanding, insufferable and very compelling. I know I am strong and I know I don’t want to act on these urges. I know that I have to learn to sit with these uncomfortable feelings. But right now, with every single thing happening in my life, I just need words said to me. At least the notifications and comments will give me some dopamine. Even if you just comment a ghost emoji. It sounds stupid but I’m going to give this a shot anyway

Hey guys, I’m on day 7 of no gambling !

I struggle with cross addictions and I don’t know how to stay sober. If I quit one thing, I just go harder on another. I’ve been in active addiction for over 11 years (swapping one thing for another).

I’ve got bipolar disorder, ADHD and borderline personality disorder. I’m on medication and been in therapy for 6 years.

My therapist has been trying to get me to go to rehab or meetings for a couple years now. I am open to rehab but unfortunately my work environment is incredibly toxic and I can’t afford to lose my job because I need a month in rehab (before anyone says it’s illegal for them to fire you because it’s a medical condition- my boss does not give a fuck about legalities or being ethical) and if I don’t get fired I will just be treated like a degenerate by them.

I will admit that I have not been open to attending meetings. It honestly just doesn’t seem like my kind of thing. Everything in me is reluctant. BUT this morning I am somewhat entertaining the idea.

My biggest question is - what meeting do I attend for cross addictions? I know there’s NA, but do gambling addicts attend these meetings? I know there’s GA but do people with cross addictions attend these meetings? Am I supposed to just go to NA and GA separately? That would be hard for me since all my addictions are interlinked.

IF I do go to a meeting I don’t want to talk about my cross addictions and trigger anyone or give anyone ideas on what I do/have done.

And also, if anyone could suggest some discord servers where I could attend a meeting I’d appreciate it.

ANY advice from people who were reluctant to go but did, what was your experience?

I found out about my husband’s addiction last year, around the time we got married.

First time I caught him he promised he would stop, I didn’t really put any measures in place to make sure he did and to no one’s surprise, he never did.

Around July I uncovered how deep the addiction ran (loans, empty bank accounts, unpaid bills, the whole lot) and confronted him.

I took charge of finances, got him into therapy, got him to self exclude from all sites and began the recovery journey.

Little by little I decided to trust him a bit more and now we have gotten to the point where I don’t check his bank accounts any more, I only get him to transfer a bit of his salary into a shared pot.

Fast forward to today: I found out that he gambled once just over a month ago and that he has started playing those games where the more you play the more you make money, but in order to complete the tasks in the game he has bought lots of boosters (probably a few hundred quid worth of them).

I found this out cause I don’t trust him and I went through his phone, he did not surrender this information. I feel awful about this.

I don’t know what to do. I know that the games thing isn’t technically gambling but I feel like it is in a way, cause he is spending money recklessly when we could just be saving like normal people do.

He is constantly trying to make money quickly and it’s driving me insane considering we both have good jobs and he makes waaay more than the average person, so we really are in a good position (or at least we are getting there considering all the money gone cause of the gambling).

We are in the process of buying a new house and I feel like he is going to blow it all up sooner or later.

I don’t even know why I’m writing this, I have no one I can talk to about this so I guess I’m trying to get this off my chest.

Hi
I’m a 22M and I reallyyyyyy need some advice to quit gambling. I realised I had a problem when I saw that over the last couple of years, I had lost around 30k and managed to stop earlier this year. But then a buddy of mine asked me to join and I kept saying no but folded and just put one small bet. It went well but it soon evolved to me chasing my losses again and now I’m down 3k euro just this month!!!!!! The problem is that I’m thinking about what if I just didn’t start again. I’d be 3 k richer just this month…. So I feel like I have to chase my losses even tho I know I’ll probably just lose more. Any advice?
3 k is alloooottt of money. I’ve saved around 5 k in total so if I never started I’d probably be around 50 k overall and it’s just so annoying that I can’t quit….

Hi all, relapsed again. At this point I accepted that willpower alone is not enough for me, so I focused on making gambling as annoying and inaccessible as possible.

My setup now:
- Cold Turkey + Gamban on PC
- Gamban beta + Screen Time on iPhone

For PC:
There’s a Reddit guide on how to make Cold Turkey very hard to uninstall. Nothing is impossible if someone really wants to bypass it, but adding friction helps a lot during impulsive moments.

I also:
- blocked gambling keywords/websites that Gamban is not blocking yet.
- blocked payment intermediary websites
- blocked pages listing casino sites
- restricted access to some system settings/tools (basically disabled safe boot and then blocked with cold turkey the cmd.exe , use at own risk)
- blocked the Cold Turkey uninstall page itself

For iPhone:
The Gamban beta puts the phone in supervised mode, so removing it is very hard unless you fully reset the phone. I also used Screen Time to block sites Gamban missed. A family member set the Screen Time password, so I don’t know it.

I live in Latam where most gambling sites use crypto, bank transfers or Mercado Pago/payment intermediary pages. Blocking those routes helped a lot. Mercadopago is a huge digital wallet in latam , I told them to block my account forever)

I also lowered my credit card limits to the minimum possible.

Realistically, the only ways for me to gamble now would be:
- going to a physical casino (nearest one is about an hour away in public transport, so probably not happening). Also not a fan of physical casinos, too lazy for that.
- or a completely new site showing up with a new payment intermediary that isn’t blocked yet
- factory reset my phone, clean install my pc or buy new devices. As a gambler I can spend thousands gambling but say that a new phone is too expensive.

Things I learned:
- Gamban yearly subscription is worth it
- Cold Turkey premium is worth it because it lets you make blocks much harder to disable during impulsive moments
- friction > motivation
- if access is not instant, urges usually pass

One downside:
Gamban also blocks Binance, IBKR and some investing/trading related sites.

Financially this still hurts a lot (lost 2 years of savings at 29, have almost nothing to my name) but I’m trying to focus on making access harder instead of relying on self-control.

Posting this in case it helps someone else. We can do this.