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Gambling Addiction - Need Help, A Chat - Read This!

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I just read through this thread and feel like weeping. I've never gambled apart from my occasional (couple of times a month) Lottery ticket, but I can quite see how it can become a problem. It's an addiction, but it's sold as fun and an easy way to make money - and it's clear from reading these posts that it ruins a lot of lives while making one or two people (ie, bookies) obscenely rich.

 

It seems to me that, as an addictive pastime, gambling needs to be treated like alcohol or tobacco. No point in trying to ban it - that won't work - but ban all advertising and sponsorship associated with gambling (probably apart from the Lotto, although I'm even ambivalent about that). Then make it more difficult to gamble: stop people using credit cards to fund online or bricks-and-mortar gambling accounts, and force betting companies to close down online accounts when their losses add up to, say, £10,000. I don't know that it would necessarily work, but it can't harm to try.

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1 hour ago, whoareyaaa said:

Looks like there is going to be a full scale ban on using credit cards for depositing to gambling sites, about time really.

Yeah, seems like a good move. For most people, if you're having to borrow money on a credit card to gamble then that's almost certainly a bad thing...

 

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11 minutes ago, stripeyfox said:

Yeah, seems like a good move. For most people, if you're having to borrow money on a credit card to gamble then that's almost certainly a bad thing...

 

Agreed, if you can't fund it yourself then you definitely shouldn't be using a credit card but the gambler don't think like that, so good news all round.

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The banning of payment by credit cards is a good move but really is scratching the surface.

Gambling advertising needs to go and sponsorship deals need to be banished  and needs to go down the same route as tobacco advertising did.

Also scratch cards should go as anyone with a gambling addiction will get a buzz from scratching the card and revealing the potential win, and is different imo from buying a lottery ticket where you are 'out of the moment' as there is not an instant result which is important for compulsive gamblers.There apoears to be an alarming message that as the lottery is "For a good cause" that it makes the selling of scratch cards acceptable, well it ain't and will most certainly be the stepping stone particularly for young people to become addicted to gambling.

 

Years ago betting shop (Turf accountants) windows were blacked out then it all became more liberal and more acceptable no longer associated as a dirty habit, but for tens of thousands of unfortunate souls that is exactly what it is.

Gambling addiction is real and the buzz you get is comparible to drug addiction.

People unfortunate enough to succumb to GA are subjected to a most hideous disease, it devours you, makes you into a devious competent liar, deceitful to those you love the most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by The Guvnor
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NHS tells betting firms to stop 'vicious gambling cycle'


The head of mental health services in England has written to five major gambling companies, demanding urgent action on tackling gambling addiction and its impact on people's health.

Claire Murdoch said incentives like VIP treatment should be banned to stop the "vicious gambling cycle".

The industry said it was determined to make gambling safer.

Bets using credit cards are to be banned from 14 April, and the regulator is investigating "bet to view" schemes.

Former gambling addicts have told the BBC they feel they were "groomed" through promotions such as free tickets to football matches - leaving them in a spiral they "could not escape".

'Dangerous habit'
In her letter to the chief executives of William Hill, BetFred, bet365, GVC and Flutter, Ms Murdoch said she was worried that problem gamblers were being targeted.

"I am concerned that offering people who are losing vast sums of money... free tickets, VIP experiences, and free bets, all proactively prompt people back into the vicious gambling cycle which many want to escape."

As a nurse of more than 30 years' experience, Ms Murdoch said she had "seen first-hand the devastating impact on the mental wellbeing of addiction".

"The gambling industry has a responsibility to prevent the occasional flutter turning into a dangerous habit," she added.

In particular, Ms Murdoch criticised the practice of offering problem gamblers extra incentives to encourage them to spend more money.

These include VIP treatment, free hospitality access, and free bets and tickets

And she said betting firms should stop streaming live matches, to prevent people building up debts they cannot afford.

 

Full Story here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51120456

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Betfred owners make millions from company treating gambling addicts

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/16/betfred-owners-make-millions-from-company-treating-gambling-addicts

 

Nothing to do with the fact that they have donated £375,000 to the Conservative party since 2016... :nigel:

 

 

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Sympathetic non-gamblers (like me,and lots of the posters on this thread) need to write to their MP and urge real and positive action. As I and many others have said, advertising and sponsorship must end, along with incentives to gamble and using credit cards for gambling accounts. Let’s do this!

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Peter Shilton, England's most capped male player, reveals 45 year addiction
"I didn't realise I was an addict until I finally stopped. When I was working I was always ultra-professional and nothing would interfere with the football."

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ByNeil Shaw
07:16, 21 JAN 2020UPDATED07:42, 21 JAN 2020


Peter Shilton has revealed he spent 45 years as a gambling addict.

The former goalkeeper, and England's most capped male player, said that it took losing tens of thousands of pounds before he was able to stop.

"I've won at most things in my life, in terms of my career, but I've never won at gambling," the 70-year-old told the Daily Mail.

Shilton said online gambling caused his gambling addiction to worsen and that he has decided to speak out after revelations about football's close ties to betting firms - 27 of England's top 44 clubs now having a gambling company for their shirt sponsor.

He said his recovery started after his wife Steph confronted him with bank statements showing his losses. He told her: "I'm losing, and I'm worried I'm going to lose you."

Shilton said online gambling is "frightening" and he is working with the Government to raise awareness of associated issues including mental health problems.


He revealed that he bet on horse racing during his football career, even acting as a bookie for his England teammates.

But his addiction worsened when he stared to gamble online, sometimes doing so until the early hours of the morning.

Shilton said he was such a regular gambler that he was sent Christmas hampers by bookmakers.

His wife once begged a gambling company to cancel his account, he said, but they refused.

"I didn't realise I was an addict until I finally stopped. When I was working I was always ultra-professional and nothing would interfere with the football.

 

"But when you're a footballer you have a lot of spare time on your hands after training. It's easy to sit around and gamble," Shilton said.

Shilton finally kicked his addiction to gambling in 2015.

Last week he and his wife met with sports minister Nigel Adams and Arts Minister Helen Whately to discuss helping to tackle the menace of problem gambling.

They are also working with the charity Gambling with Lives, which was set up by the bereaved parents of gamblers.

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22 hours ago, chrishlcfc said:

It was my New Years resolution to stop gambling as I slowly became addicted and in the end it became a massive problem for me. I would spend literally any money I had gambling, whether it be machines or betting or basically anything.

 

So so far it has gone ok I haven’t gambled at all in the 20 days but it is a very difficult process for me as I still live at home and my dad is a big gambler and he has no plans on stopping. So I have to sit listening to a lot of gambling talk still.

 

The thing that is getting me through is just a simple one, I created a diary on my phone and just write in it everyday that I’m not gambling eg day 1, day 2. It’s tough but I’m hoping it gets easier as time passes.

Have you thought about using gamcare or ga?

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2 hours ago, howlinmadmurfdoc said:

Have you thought about using gamcare or ga?

 

Thanks for the ideas. Ive used gamcare and spoke to someone over the phone a couple of times. Not been to ga but contemplating it. I’ve got most of the tools in place using Gambstop so that bans all online betting and literally any shops you tell them you want to so I’ve banned myself from every shop in and around Leicester, Loughborough and local to me as I don’t drive so I have the tools in place just need to keep going now.

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26 minutes ago, chrishlcfc said:

 

Thanks for the ideas. Ive used gamcare and spoke to someone over the phone a couple of times. Not been to ga but contemplating it. I’ve got most of the tools in place using Gambstop so that bans all online betting and literally any shops you tell them you want to so I’ve banned myself from every shop in and around Leicester, Loughborough and local to me as I don’t drive so I have the tools in place just need to keep going now.

Personally I find GA is the main reason I haven’t relapsed. There’s so much experience and advice on offer. But the most important thing is putting barriers in place like you have done. Good luck mate.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51242829

 

Sports Minister Nigel Adams says football is 'too dependent' on gambling
    
By Dan Roan

BBC sports editor

From the sectionFootball
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Nigel Adams
"We are looking at this very closely," Nigel Adams
Football has "far too much dependency" on sponsorship from gambling companies, according to the sports minister.

Nigel Adams MP says clubs "need to look at different sources of income".

His warning comes amid mounting scrutiny of the close relationship between sport and the betting industry.

"We're going to be reviewing the current Gambling Act and I'm sure the link between sports - football in particular - will form a part of that," said Adams.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport, the minister also said he met the EFL's new chairman Rick Parry this week to discuss ongoing financial concerns in the Football League.

Earlier this month the Football Association was criticised for selling the live streaming rights to FA Cup matches to betting firms via a third party.

Seven gambling websites were able to show some third round matches exclusively to anyone who placed a bet or put a deposit in their account in the 24 hours before kick-off.

The deal sparked outrage at a time when the FA were campaigning for mental health, and the betting companies then offered to give up their exclusivity.

But the controversy reinforced fears football is being used to normalise gambling among young fans via sponsorship of shirts, and advertising at matches and during TV coverage.

Half of all Premier League clubs have betting firms as shirt sponsors, with the figure rising to 15 in the Championship. The Football League itself is sponsored by Sky Bet.

Earlier this season, Huddersfield Town were fined by the FA after wearing a kit advertising a bookmaker's logo that breached regulations in a friendly.

"We have to look at this very carefully because problem gambling leads to serious social problems, and in some cases people have done drastic things and taken their lives, so we are looking at this very closely," said Adams.

"Occasionally it boils over and you get incidents like you had with some clubs who get into bother over it, like at Huddersfield Town, and the stunt there.

"So there's way too much dependency, and I'm sure the football authorities are aware of that."

Last year, Britain's biggest gambling companies voluntarily agreed to a "whistle-to-whistle" television advertising ban, ending commercials during live sports broadcasts.

But the government is now to review gambling laws, and is considering regulating the way bookmakers advertise through football.

But Labour - and anti-gambling campaigners - have called for shirt sponsorship by betting companies to be outlawed, as in countries like Italy. Adams would not be drawn on whether a blanket ban on shirt sponsorship by bookmakers was possible.

The EFL has said gambling companies contribute £40m to its clubs each year through sponsorship. In the Premier League the figure is estimated to be around £70m.

Adams' warning comes at a time of financial turmoil in the EFL. Last week, Derby County became the latest club to be charged for breaching financial rules over the sale of its stadium.

A review is also being conducted into the league's governance and financial sustainability after the collapse of Bury FC earlier this season, with a number of other clubs having struggled to pay wages.

"It's not a healthy picture. There aren't many football clubs in the EFL that are profitable," said Adams.

"I have met with the new EFL chief executive (Rick Parry) and I'm encouraged by what he said in terms of their review into broader governance.

"It's not healthy to see clubs like Bury go out of the league. You've got question marks with clubs like Macclesfield. We're taking a very keen interest."

The EFL told BBC Sport it has "open and regular dialogue with the Government and relevant stakeholders regarding football's ongoing relationship with the gambling industry".

The EFL added in a statement it believes the gambling industry should make "a financial contribution back into football".

"This is currently being achieved through commercial partnerships with the EFL and a number of our member clubs," they said. "However, it is important that such arrangements are delivered in a responsible manner.

"With more than £40m a season paid by the sector to the League and its clubs, it continues to be an important part of the EFL's financial model alongside a domestic broadcasting deal worth £119m a year and a number of other key revenue streams including ticketing, sponsorship and negotiated solidarity payments achieved through the sale of media rights."

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On 20/01/2020 at 17:15, chrishlcfc said:

It was my New Years resolution to stop gambling as I slowly became addicted and in the end it became a massive problem for me. I would spend literally any money I had gambling, whether it be machines or betting or basically anything.

 

So so far it has gone ok I haven’t gambled at all in the 20 days but it is a very difficult process for me as I still live at home and my dad is a big gambler and he has no plans on stopping. So I have to sit listening to a lot of gambling talk still.

 

The thing that is getting me through is just a simple one, I created a diary on my phone and just write in it everyday that I’m not gambling eg day 1, day 2. It’s tough but I’m hoping it gets easier as time passes.

Is your dad aware of your addiction? Maybe he'd lay off the gambling talk if he knew

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GambleAware and the Football Supporters' Association have also released the 'safer gambling hub', where clubs, fans and media can access materials to help promote safer gambling across the sport.

https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/gambleaware/safer-gambling-hub/

 

The hub was launched in January 2020 to host a number of materials available for free download that are part of a national safer gambling campaign – Bet Regret – helping to inform fans about the risks of impulsive betting.

 

These include posters to be used in stadiums, programme advertisements, digital LEDs and social media content featuring safer gambling ambassador David James, all aimed at educating football fans about safer gambling.

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30 minutes ago, GambleAware said:

GambleAware and the Football Supporters' Association have also released the 'safer gambling hub', where clubs, fans and media can access materials to help promote safer gambling across the sport.

https://thefsa.org.uk/our-work/gambleaware/safer-gambling-hub/

 

The hub was launched in January 2020 to host a number of materials available for free download that are part of a national safer gambling campaign – Bet Regret – helping to inform fans about the risks of impulsive betting.

 

These include posters to be used in stadiums, programme advertisements, digital LEDs and social media content featuring safer gambling ambassador David James, all aimed at educating football fans about safer gambling.

Why’s it on fans to promote safer gambling? Isn’t that just another example of the gambling industry passing the buck. The gambling industry doesn’t give a toss about safe gambling, they just tick boxes to make it look like they do. 

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On ‎20‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 17:15, chrishlcfc said:

It was my New Years resolution to stop gambling as I slowly became addicted and in the end it became a massive problem for me. I would spend literally any money I had gambling, whether it be machines or betting or basically anything.

 

So so far it has gone ok I haven’t gambled at all in the 20 days but it is a very difficult process for me as I still live at home and my dad is a big gambler and he has no plans on stopping. So I have to sit listening to a lot of gambling talk still.

 

The thing that is getting me through is just a simple one, I created a diary on my phone and just write in it everyday that I’m not gambling eg day 1, day 2. It’s tough but I’m hoping it gets easier as time passes.

It's up to your Dad whether he wants to stop gambling or not but perhaps you could say to him that in order for you to abstain from it, you would appreciate it if he didn't talk about it all the while to you.

 

We quickly learn that to make meaningful and long term change, compulsive gamblers need to distance themselves from the exposure to gambling, the chatter, the habitual process that takes over your conscious mind and puts you back in that zone/the zombie trance where all the destruction happens however much you tell yourself it won't happen again.

 

It sounds like you are doing brilliantly and you should be very proud of yourself. I don't want the above to sound like you need to steer clear of your Dad and family forever, but you need to be honest with them about how you need to protect yourself from this horrible disease. The people that care about you and love you will want and do what's best for you. I highly recommend G.A as well, it is life changing and certainly saved my life. It's liquid gold, 2 hours there each week is more powerful than anything i've ever experienced. It also teaches you how to deal with life's shit that isn't always directly linked to gambling, but what would often culminate in gambling before, as a means of escape from when life gets tough etc.

 

Keep up the good work pal

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On 03/02/2020 at 15:40, Ric Flair said:

It's up to your Dad whether he wants to stop gambling or not but perhaps you could say to him that in order for you to abstain from it, you would appreciate it if he didn't talk about it all the while to you.

 

We quickly learn that to make meaningful and long term change, compulsive gamblers need to distance themselves from the exposure to gambling, the chatter, the habitual process that takes over your conscious mind and puts you back in that zone/the zombie trance where all the destruction happens however much you tell yourself it won't happen again.

 

It sounds like you are doing brilliantly and you should be very proud of yourself. I don't want the above to sound like you need to steer clear of your Dad and family forever, but you need to be honest with them about how you need to protect yourself from this horrible disease. The people that care about you and love you will want and do what's best for you. I highly recommend G.A as well, it is life changing and certainly saved my life. It's liquid gold, 2 hours there each week is more powerful than anything i've ever experienced. It also teaches you how to deal with life's shit that isn't always directly linked to gambling, but what would often culminate in gambling before, as a means of escape from when life gets tough etc.

 

Keep up the good work pal

 

Appreciate the response. I used to follow all your bets on the golf and will take everything you say as gospel because you used to bet a large sum more than I did and if you can stop anybody can. 

 

Understand the part part about telling my dad but it won’t stop him and that’s his problem but maybe I took a little far in my original post. It was only over Christmas and new year when he used to chat to me about it and sat gambling literally nearly all the time whilst i was in the same room which was hard, but now he’s back at work it’s pretty rare that he’s here when I’m here. 

 

Overall im starting to think less and less about gambling as time goes on. For the 1st few weeks when I stopped all I used to think about was popping down the bookies. Got into going to the gym in my spare time and it will soon be the summer when I’m really busy most of the time.

 

Still not been to GA yet and I’m going to go just need to get round to it as think that will give me the extra help I may need but I’m in a much better place now so hopefully it continues but as I say massively appreciate the support from yourself and the many others on this topic in the forum.

 

 

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On ‎06‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 20:06, chrishlcfc said:

 

Appreciate the response. I used to follow all your bets on the golf and will take everything you say as gospel because you used to bet a large sum more than I did and if you can stop anybody can. 

 

Understand the part part about telling my dad but it won’t stop him and that’s his problem but maybe I took a little far in my original post. It was only over Christmas and new year when he used to chat to me about it and sat gambling literally nearly all the time whilst i was in the same room which was hard, but now he’s back at work it’s pretty rare that he’s here when I’m here. 

 

Overall im starting to think less and less about gambling as time goes on. For the 1st few weeks when I stopped all I used to think about was popping down the bookies. Got into going to the gym in my spare time and it will soon be the summer when I’m really busy most of the time.

 

Still not been to GA yet and I’m going to go just need to get round to it as think that will give me the extra help I may need but I’m in a much better place now so hopefully it continues but as I say massively appreciate the support from yourself and the many others on this topic in the forum.

 

 

That's good to hear mate, sounds like you are really making progress in your determination to abstain from gambling, massive respect to you. If GA is proving difficult for you to attend then another short to medium term possibility is contacting Gamcare who can arrange free face to face / skype counselling. I took them up on that (skype was much easier and quicker to get an appointment) and it certainly helped in those first few months where although I was attending GA and had started the road to recovery, I still felt mentally spent from the years of addiction and what it had reduced me to. That took much longer to recover from than the direct task of abstaining from gambling and trying to move heaven and earth to change as a person to limit the danger of me relapsing.

 

At GA some are quite vocal in their opinion that us compulsive gamblers need not get to the root cause of why we gamble, that that won't give us any more incite or ability in abstaining from gambling. Although I see their point, I don't believe it's as simple as hitting rock bottom and as long as you go to GA and put in barriers to stop gambling that that's enough to solve all of your problems. Your mental health is often what's caused the addiction to gambling and it is important to be kind to yourself and not be afraid of ensuring you have the environment to get better mentally which will then make it much easier to build a happy and healthy life away from the thing that damn near destroyed people like us and everyone around us.

 

Keep it up mate, fcuk gambling it will never break us or consume our lives again.

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Apologies if this has already been posted but thought it might be useful for anyone with a serious gambling problem and looking to get treatment.

 

https://www.gordonmoody.org.uk/

 

This place offers residential treatment. It’s a 14 week thing. 2 weeks initial assessment and 12 week program. The treatment is free (They are a charity) but in order to have the residential stay you must be on benefits or be able to fund the accommodation through other means.

 

If you’ve tried GA or other methods without success this might be just what you’re looking for. 
 

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