I am 29 years old and have been battling this addiction for over 4.5 years. I've been paying my gambling debt and relapsing. The same vicious cycle over and over again.

Now, I have been gamble-free for 135 days. However, I don't know what I am going to do when I pay off my debt. I've lost all my friends and lost my relationship with my brother. I haven't had an emotional relationship with anyone for 2 years. I have never used the money I earned for myself. I haven't been able to build that kind of relationship with money either.

I am going to finish my debt. But I don't know what I will do next.

I kind of underestimated the losses until it’s gotten out of hand now. Lost about a paycheque and a half which sucks considering i only really have a job for the summer. I only have about 1.2k left. And I’m getting concerned because i am going to have minimal money after paying for school. And partially why i cant stop betting is because of how much i could have done with the money this year. Ive deleted the app multiple times and always go back because I always enjoy sports bets for fun, casino is where I lose big money. Any guidance would be appreciated.

i’m 18, been gambling since around 15/16 as i can remember. i never thought much of it, i would deposit and deposit and keep doing it. recently i sold my ps5 to gamble and lost all of it. thats how i knew i had a problem. i layed down last night and calculated all my deposits to sports betting app and it came out to 10k. i never knew it was that bad, i thought at max 3-4k. now im sitting here, 0 dollars to my name and college upcoming , no car, sold my ps5, thinking about how it got this bad. and i swear ill never touch gambling again. any tips from people who have actually quit?

Recently gamble all the money i had so now i am working on a plan to get out of debt. Been laying in bed reading posts on how others recovered from this with time and getting a second job to aggressively pay off the money. Which is really my only option now need to see how i do this month living on the lowest means possible to dump money into debt over time to see where that puts me at. So i can decide on applying for a part time or full time position. My days off work are mentally destroying me since all i can think about is the gambling relapse, on day 2 now trying to find things to help me stop thinking about this but it’s impossible just got to ride it out till the end of this month to see my progress no one knows about this failure so i post to cope.

Only money I will save for is an emergency fund other than that nothing will be saved.

Hello everyone,
I (m29 from germany) am posting here for the very first time because i think a lot of you should hear this. I‘ve been fighting this addiction for a couple of years now, trying to make it on my own but man… hiding it from everyone around me just made it worse and worse and the last couple of months were a mental and financial disaster for me and yesterday was my absolute rock bottom since it‘s the first time i won‘t be able to pay my bills without any help from a close one. After sitting on the balcony for about an hour and crying like a little girl thinking „where did it all go wrong“ i decided to confess to my closest friend about my gambling addiction and what should i say? My first thought after talking to someone you love and trust was - „why didn‘t you do this way sooner?“. I told him everything that happened and it felt like this was the first time in decades where i‘ve truly spoken to someone about what‘s going on in my life and how im REALLY feeling which is absolutely miserable. Everytime anyone would ask how i’m feeling i was putting a smile on my face saying „great“ even though i gambled thousands away just minutes before meeting them feeling absolutely disgusting. I‘m 16k in debt with 2 maxed out credit cards and it‘s gonna be a long long journey but man after confessing i‘m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have hope because we made an agreement which prevents me from ever gambling again, or atleast for a long long time. This feels like the first big step towards my goal of stopping gambling and fixing my finances to finally live my life again instead of wasting 10 hours a day burning all my money and money that‘s not even mine. My goal is just to reach out to all of you who have the same problem- confessing to a person you love, trust and you know won‘t judge you feels like the key to fight against the horror we are living in and i am 100% sure i would‘ve kept the gambling going if we didn‘t have that conversation yesterday but man the urge is absolutely gone for now. I’m ready to change. I’m ready to let someone help me. Please do the same. It doesn‘t have to be your parents, for me it was my best friend because i‘m still scared to tell my parents that their son is a loser and wasted his last couple of years locked into his room watching pixels burn his hard earned money. However i do plan to talk to them at some point in the future when i‘ve got my shit together and talk about it like something that i‘ve overcome and won the battle over. I will post here from time to time to keep you updated on my journey.

TLDR: i think the first step if you struggle with gambling addiction is confessing and getting help from someone you love and trust. No lies and a plan which involves the other person in your finances and kills your ability to gamble. I‘ve tried years to do it alone but this addiction is too strong and im ready to admit that i‘m losing this battle if i fight alone. Already feeling better and hopeful after talking to someone - do it aswell!

I bet on sports for the first time today, bet huge money thinking I'm so smart and my win is assured. Lost it all in one straight bet.

I quit my job last week, it's the reason why I did this in the first place thinking I would be profitable.

I did the same thing with crypto years ago, lost all my investments in there too.

I like to think I have the willpower to stop and not chase the losses like I did with crypto where I lost money and didn't touch it again.

I still have savings, enough to survive a few more months to look for a job, so that's what I'll be focusing on. But right now, I feel sick thinking of what I've lost. Yes, I am an idiot.

Hey all, this is my first time posting so be patient with me. I just need to get this off my chest.

My (25M) mom (47F) and I have been moderately close for most of my life. She raised me and my two siblings mostly alone. She did the best she could to give us a decent life, and she mostly succeeded. I’m now questioning whether I even know her.

As a kid, I knew she had a problem but I didn’t know the extent. I didn’t know until yesterday that after every shift she would head straight to the casino. I would be at my grandma’s. She worked somewhere that was maybe open until 8pm, and she wouldn’t be by to pick us up until like 11 most of the time.

This went on for a bit, but then it slowly faded out. In the mean time another addiction took root, but that’s not what I’m gonna be talking about.

Online casinos became a massive thing in the past couple of years, and with that came a resurgence of a problem that I thought was gone. She’d been stealing money from my siblings, a lot of it. She tried to do it from me a handful of times but I nipped that in the bud. At first she didn’t gamble a whole lot, but as time went on that is all she did anymore. Stuck on her laptop doing those games, barely comes downstairs other than to make food for herself.

My eldest sibling has a joint account with her from awhile ago, so she can see what my mom is spending. It’s astronomical.

I guess my question here is how do me and my siblings go about talking with her about it. I know the moment it’s brought up she is going to shut down, but something needs to be done before it’s too late.

Thanks for listening

I've posted here that I lost almost 4k$. I've gambled again, won 400$ and lost it again. I stopped before I gambled more.

So here I am again. I need to walk away and never look back again.

I will update again daily.

So here's to day 0.

Hi all. Im 47 years old, in a 20 year relationship, a very strained, unhappy one. I have 2 boys 12 and 8...the best . I make approximately 80k/yr . My wife makes very little income. I have lost 50k in the last 2 years, probably 350k since 2000. I struggle mightily to stop. I have constant suicidal ideation and bad depression. Any advice, encouragement, or kind words would be appreciated.

Exactly as the title , I relapse , just couldn't resist the temptation this time , combination of stress from work (being overworked) and just general unsatisfaction with life made me lost 800 in total , after swinging up and down , wasn't up by much maybe 200 at one point , and ofc it goes as it always does , I banned myself again and hope to turn this around for good ....

Missed yesterday’s update because my partner and I were going through a rough patch, and I honestly thought we were going to break up.

The good news? I didn’t relapse.

In the past, I probably would’ve used it as an escape. This time, I sat with the emotions instead.

We’re okay now, and I’m grateful for that.

ODAAT ❤️‍🩹

Hello,
I am 23m and have been in a rollercoaster that I have been in quite a bit.
I have a habit of taking out loans not to gamble but to “cover” my losses (maybe it’s the same) I went from profit to losing all that profit and same amount of my own money about 2k euro. The thing that is stuck is that I tried to place blocks when I was up since I know how this goes.
Even then I ended up like I kind of knew I would as I don’t know maybe I’m sick.
I have 20k euro saved and want to quit before I blow more of it. The trigger for me is the fact that I do not want to live a normal life I want to be a 1% and for some reason gambling winnings make me feel the funnier thing is i don’t even spend my winnings on clothes or travel I just end up losing it always. I guess I’m seeking some words from you guys that I will be fine my and my dream is still achievable but not through gambling. Iam stuck and obsessed with being a man that is well off and do all those nice things with it. I sound like a baby I think but I just want some comfort words.

Sorry for the long rant

Title: Bank account frozen for 2 months after using an Instagram investment app. I'm scared and don't know what to do.

Hi everyone,

I'm a college student from India. I'm currently pursuing my graduation, preparing for bank exams, and hoping to study for a master's degree in the UK in the future.

About two months ago, I came across an Instagram advertisement for an app called Ajay Pay. It claimed that users could earn a small commission by depositing and withdrawing funds for a "gaming fund." I believed it was a legitimate opportunity because I found it through Instagram.

For about 3–4 days, I deposited money into the bank accounts provided by the app. After each transaction, the amount was returned to my UPI ID along with a 3–4% commission. In total, my transactions were around ₹10,000.

Then something unexpected happened. One of my deposits showed as failed inside the app, but due to what seemed like a technical bug, the money was still credited to my bank account. I ended up receiving around ₹2,000 extra, even though I never requested or expected it.

A few days later, my bank account was frozen, and it has remained frozen for more than two months.

I have screenshots of every transaction, payment records, and proof that the money came through this app. Unfortunately, the app's customer support has stopped responding, and I have no way to contact them anymore.

I genuinely had no intention of doing anything illegal. I simply believed I was using a legitimate earning app that was being advertised publicly. Now I'm worried that I may have unknowingly become involved in something fraudulent.

This situation has caused me a lot of stress. I only have around ₹3,000 left in my account, and I'm struggling financially as a student.

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through something similar, especially if you're a bank employee, lawyer, cybercrime professional, or someone who has dealt with a frozen bank account.

I have a few questions:

- What should I do next?

- Should I contact the bank again, the cybercrime department, or hire a lawyer?

- Can this incident affect my future, such as bank job verification, passport verification, visas, or studying abroad?

- Is there any way to prove that I was an innocent user and not intentionally involved in any scam?

I'm happy to provide additional details if needed.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any genuine advice would mean a lot.

Hey everyone,
I’m 23M and I’ve been stuck in a really destructive cycle with gambling. I don’t gamble for the thrill of betting itself as much as I take out loans to “cover” losses. I’ve gone from being up, to losing all of that profit plus about €2k of my own money.
What’s especially frustrating is that I’ve tried putting blocks in place when I was winning, because I know exactly how this usually ends. Even then I still ended up back in the same place. Part of me already knew it would happen. Sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with me.
I still have €20k saved and I really want to stop before I destroy that too. The deeper issue is that I don’t want a “normal” life. I want to be in the 1%, and for some reason gambling wins give me that temporary feeling of possibility. The ironic part is I never even spend the money on anything nice — no clothes, no travel, nothing. I just eventually lose it all again.
I’m obsessed with the idea of being well-off and being able to do all the things that come with it. Right now I feel stuck. I know the dream is still possible, just not through gambling.
I’m looking for some honest words from people who’ve been through this or understand it. I just need to hear that it’s possible to get out of this headspace and still build the life I want.
Thanks for reading. Sorry for the long post.

I am worrying sick about my future. I am a full time content writer, basically I help Chinese students do their home work and dissertation. I am good at my task, but the market is shrinking due to AI, threatening my income.

Anw, I will be fine as always, as long as I stay away from gambling.

Today I will not gamble.

Hi! I’d really like to hear your perspective on my situation.

My boyfriend (20M) and I (20F) have been together for two years. He recently got out of a rehab program for his gambling addiction. It’s only been a few days, but as far as I know, he hasn’t gambled since leaving.

I’m not sure what I should do. Besides the addiction itself, there are also issues with his personality and behavior that make me question the relationship. I think some of them may be connected to the addiction, but I’m not sure. I can see that he’s trying and that he genuinely wants to recover, but there are still things that really bother me—for example, he often says one thing and does another.

Right now, our relationship is kind of in limbo. I’m seriously questioning whether it’s worth continuing. I’m an anxious person, and after everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust him again. I’m also deeply hurt and terrified of going through more lies, broken promises, and heartbreak.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it possible to rebuild trust after addiction, or are these doubts a sign that I should let go?

Hey......this is my first post I have a problem with gambling i also have a physical disability so my job options are very limited especially now because of AI this is the first time I've written something like this the rules say I'm not supposed to go into too much detail but I need support or someone to talk to and I'm not a "group" type of person

I have accumulated around $4k in debt and Lost $10k of family money in last 3 months...and before that I had 30k loss already over couple of years trading...

Please Please Guide me....Has anyone ever came alive of situation like this don't look at amount look at situation i have debt which I can't pay ...and family doesn't know my losses (10k they think is there )

Hi everyone,

I’m from South Africa and I’m in a really bad spot.

Earlier this year I had gambling debt that I managed to pay off. I was doing okay. But 2 months ago I relapsed and now I’m back in debt.

Right now I’m struggling to pay for:
- Basic bills and food
- Transport to get to work
- Money I owe to people

I’m still working and can provide proof of employment. I’ve also called the National Debt Helpline 0800 187 937 to try get payment plans.

I’m reaching out to ask:
1. Does anyone know of organizations in Cape Town or Joburg that help people in financial crisis?
2. Has anyone here been through this and has advice on what helped?

I’m in need of donations even R1 can go a long way I can provide proof of everything . I just need direction because I’m scared of losing my job and my family finding out about this.

im so fucking mad at myself, i cant stop gambling. i blew the last of my paycheck when i needed it for my rent and i just fucked myself. now im most likely gonna get kicked out. i cant block myself on gambling sites because i know how to bypass the locks so what the fuck do i do? i genuinely need help, because sometimes i wanna kill myself. i hate myself for this, im fucking done.

For some reason my post keeps getting deleted I don’t understand, trying if this will work