Gambling Addiction

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I only gamble with my life. I'm addicted to risk. Not physical harm risk, but making risky decisions that can have lingering consequences.

I only gamble when the odds happen to be in my favour. I have to be careful that I'll actually get paid if the odds are long. I don't look for bets, and have not made one for years, except for gambling on purchases and things to do.

Absolutely..

Gambling is very costly in the end.. I try seldom go to venues these days as I'm aware that previously it's cost me a lot.. not just financially either, arguments etc..

I had an extremely bad gambling addiction for over 20 years. By right I should be very rich through a successful IT career and some shrewd investmenets, but everything I ever made ended up in the bookmaker and casinos pockets. I actually only managed to get on top of it when I realised I was an Aspie and coud understand what was going on in my head. I am a very active member of Gamblers Anonymous and have been the secretary and treasurer for a number of meetings. If anyone on this forum needs help, please message me.

In addition to Gamblers Anonymous, there is a new type of program called 8-step which uses Buddhist principles to help with addiction. It is still in its infancy and, in my local meeting at least, all addicts are grouped together, but I would recommend anyone interested in looking at it.

When I was young two things happened to me which pretty much stopped me from addictions and I stayed away from both areas for a long time. (Most of my life actually).

The first was when I was at the fair. A few from my class at school wanted us all to meet at the fair. I had a limited amount of money but it was enough to keep me going foe an hour or two.
Everyone went on the bumpercars and one kid decided to do something else and all the others left. I had paid to go on the ride. The others had not (Or they did not care about money? I had to earn most of my pocket money... We did get a flat rate which was not a lot compared to my classmates, but I could work to boost it up though it was not as much as some of rhe others were getting).
So I asked for my money back and the guy walked off. He did not want to know. That was the very last time I remember going to that fair as a child. I stayed away from them as I realized that it was all about getting ones money.
Now I had another experience. My cousin who was five years older had started working for an amusements machine business which went round place to place distributing amusement machines around shops and pubs, but they also had their own amusement arcades where they would also have their base to do repairs and store spare machines etc. My cousin began his love for the machines because his Dad (Who either would gamble his money away on horse racing or he would go drinking in the evening... A kind gentle man but who had these two issues) would be down the pub along with my cousins uncle, and so as a youngster who was not really supposed to be there as he was slightly under age, would play on the slot machine waiting to see his Dad. Now he soon learned the sequence to rhe machines and earned himself a lot of money by knowing when the payouts were going to come up and he often emptied these machines, and I guess the machine providers offered him a job when he turned the right age to employ as it was cheaper for them then have him take their takings!)
So anyway. My cousing gave us some tokens that they used to test the slot machines. My Mum was sorking doing door to door interviewing so she needed somewhere for my brother and I to go while she did interviews... So as she was in the area where t
he two amusement arcades were in the town we were at, she dropped my brother and I off in there.
Unknown to us we went in the wrong amusement arcades so when we asked the guy where we can use the tokens he was suspicious.
We liked those simple machines that thr two pences went back and fore. My brother had been given a twenty pence as his pocket money. 20p's were a new coin out in those days. It was actually more then his pocket money so he was thrilled. He is 3 years younger then me.
We tried this machine but instead of getting change, my brother had put his 20p down the slot that was designed for 2p's and it stuck half way down. My brother saw his 20p and thought he could give the machine a bang and it would go down to where it was supposed to go, but the guy saw him tap the machine and threw us out. He would not listen that his 20p was stuck in the slot. We had to wait outside for an hour for my Mum to return.
When she returned, we walked to outside the railway goods shed so she could do interviewing around there and she sat us on the hill where we could watch the trains! I loved watching the trains and my brother didn't mind either. We were easily amused and could spend hours doing things like that...Usually!

But those two events in my life stopped me from gambling, along with my uncle who every time he won on the horses it was gone in a day or two's time in betting it again. From a young age I had worked out that the slot machines and similar entertainment places were only there to take your money. It kept me away from such places, and when a few years ago the lottery began along with the other online gambling type sites, I saw straight through their schemes as I was working out how much they were making and how many gullable people there were who would spend all their money on the chance of making money which is so rare that one may as well not bother. Sure they give smaller wins to "Entice" people to keep going... It is all designed that way! I could see their patterns on how they do it and how they give to good causes to make it seem like they are doing a good thing so they are acceptable in the publics eyes.... The general public are awfully gullable. They don't seem to see these patterns and fall for it. The addictions come from the "Feel good" factor and the thrills of the occasional win.

So to come off such an addiction, one needs a way of transferring the feel good factor into other things.
One suggestion is either cycling or model railways. Model railways one has to steer oneself into certain areas that provide a feel good factor that don't cost too much, so that if needed, one can sell what one has and not loose too much money. The good thing with model railways is that they do hold their value, but I would buy secondhand as new has gone into silly prices here in the UK. (Though to make a start, a new budget trainset is an idea as one has a good base to expand it with).
I have personally found a way to enjoy the hobby in a large enough scale to see and yet it will fit in a small space and cost very little and this is by modelling in 7mm narrow gauge (0-16.5) which uses budget 00 and H0 items to convert for narrow gauge use. I actually want to write a book about it because I feel many avoid the hobby because they see the new prices and think twice, or they don't think they have the space where narrow gauge allows tight turns and short trains so it is very space friendly.

Cycling is similar. Avoid the hyped up industry that is designed to push you to spend more money. If you want an idea of what is a good type of bicycle to go for let me know. (If you are in the UK it is easier as I know more about UK bicycles and what types to go for and what to avoid, and I recommend buying secondhand, but buying with certain aims so one gets the better bikes. (One can repair and do up an old bicycle and have something better for general day to day riding then one would if one had paid out a lot of money and bought new).
What is good about cycling is the freedom it provides to go out on an adventure, and while cycling does cost money, it need not cost a lot. I can advise in this and what tyres to get which save money in the long run and what types of bike to look for etc... Don't get caught with the fasion industry that has hijacked cycling and causes people to spend thousands on things they don't need and does not make their performance any better other then a second or two, which is nothing! (The only exception is if one is in a race but even then, let sponsors pay for that if one is at that level!) I pulled out from competition when it started to become a rich mans sport. It had been an everyones sport before the big money profeteering companies took over.

Try a hobby... But invest wizely. Use your own abilities to your advantage. Learn new skills.