r/u_Old-Fall-546

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