in this thread I give up gambling

[DeletedUser394]

So I'm sitting here waiting for the train surrounded by drunks and homeless people in the middle of the night. I've had enough of this.

Unlike many I've got an insanely supportive family and this great community. I have my health. I'm squandering such gifts on a crap lifestyle that I no longer want to be apart of. I can do so much better.

Anyway I haven't ruined my life or gone broke or anything lmao, it's mostly the time wasted. I play poker probably 40-60hrs a week. Got nothing better to do.. That will have to change now.

The goal is 1 year of zero gambling of any kind. Stock market does not count.

Other than just posting milestones I'll most likely include positive lifestyle changes.

Not having to do anything is a blessing and a curse. I'm young and dumb enough that my past mistakes are trivial.

Let's do this! (well in the case of gambling.. Let's not do this!) lmao

Nothing but positive changes ahead!

 

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[Veloce Grey]

The goal is 1 year of zero gambling of any kind. Stock market does not count.

Good luck, very tough habit to break.

Unfortunately I've seen people try and use the "Stock Market does not count thing" then go fairly berserk on "Investing" in a manner that basically replicates the thrills of their gambling efforts. People who love gambling can find ways to turn plenty of more respectable things into the same rush and often with the same unfortunate results. Forex and Fantasy Football two fairly obvious examples.

I played poker for one week in 2006 and haven't since, but I suspect that's because one week wasn't quite enough for the habit to really take hold. On the other hand I've been betting on horses since I was 5.

 

[MindWarrior]

Stock market = Gambling

That said, I commend you for recognizing you need to change. Take that 40-60 hours a week and use it to start a business.

Wish you the best

 

[Andy Black]

All the best @GrumpyCat


Related story that might interest/help you:

I was addicted to online poker back in 2008/2009.

I had a day job, and still managed to play 20-30 hours a week. I wasn't particularly good, it was just something to do instead of watching TV. I read a load of books, and even had a friend coach me who was a full-time online pro.

The month my first son was born I stopped playing immediately. No free hours anymore!

I had no earnings that month because I hadn't put any hours in, so I suddenly realised I had created a crap paying hourly rate j.o.b.

It then dawned on me that the guy who setup the $20/mth poker forum I was a part of had 2,000 active members. He was now probably playing golf with all his free time.

I haven't played online since because I replaced that obsession with another one.

My first new project was to build a membership site to show people how to do the IT job I had, which to me meant learning how to build websites first.

I decided it best to learn by helping someone rather than "to learn" and picked an electrician friend who needed more work.

When he got his first phone call I was hooked on that instead.

The "game" I now play is to use media buying to generate leads and sales.

It's not dissimilar to playing poker in that you have a bankroll, and you're trying to grow it, and there are +EV and -EV plays.

The difference is that when you get something working, it keeps working while you go and find/build something else that works - it's like building little poker playing bots that will earn when you sleep.

Another benefit is you can learn and earn using someone else's bankroll (... and compared to poker, there is vastly more money floating around - Google does $100mm day from AdWords etc).

This is the game now: www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/online-direct-response-metrics.52781

But how I really want to measure success is the number of people I can help by generating leads for.

(Here's the story of how I helped my friend.)

 

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[obrian]

it's kind of hard to break certain habits and maybe even habits in general. i would advise you to read the book awaken the giant within by tony robbins. habits is easy to form and hard to break and alot of persons fell into this trap and living a life with alot of unhealty habits.to destroy a habit you need to move out of your comfort zone and stop conditioning your brain to feel good and comfortable in that habit because what drives most unhealthy habits is a feeling of enjoyment and comfort.that's why alot of persons take drugs because it gives them instant gratification in order to cover and hide their pain which only makes it worse. logically most persons don't want to feel pain we always try our best to ignore pain and hide from it which is the right thing sometimes but yet again it depends on the level of pain and what kind of situation that individual is in.

to break an habit you need to asscoiate some sort of pain with that habit and recondition your mind in such a way that if you do it again you are going to feel that pain and as a result of that you are going to do everything to try to stay away from that particular pain. for example when little kids usually play with fire and we tell them to stop and they develop a habit of always playing with fire, when they got burnt the first time what do you think they are gonna do, go back amd do it again nope they will never do that again because they reconditioned they're brain and associate fire with such a pain that they would never want to experience that feeling again.

so for you personally you need to associate such a fearful pain when it comes to gambling that you will never do it again.because gambling has alot side effects it can affect your relationships, financial status, home life, and work prospects. Compulsive gambling can cause health problems, including anxiety, stress, depression, and mood swings.these terrible side effects really outway your rewards.People who gamble compulsively will often do anything to acquire money. They will steal from friends and family. Gambling addicts are at high risk of committing felonies to support their habit. Pathological gamblers will exhaust the family savings and their children's college funds. They will max out their credit cards and drain joint bank accounts. Many people who are in the grip of a gambling addiction will mortgage their house, sell jewelry, and dispose of any other asset they can get their hands on to support their habit.

i don't think that the stock market or investing in general is gambling because if you say that, that means that warren buffet and george soros are gamblers who are some of the richest men in the world lol. warren buffet is a very bright and intellectual guy who is also good with numbers and so is george soros with his theory of reflexivity. i trade the forex market and i don't think it's gambling, gambling is by definition play games of chance for money and take risky action in the hope of a desired result. stock investing is not gambling and if you are going to go in the market with that mindset as a gambler well surely you are going to get a gambler's result. that's just how it is and that's why alot of persons fail in investing because they take risky action in hope of a desired result which is the wrong appropach to take. you got to know proper money management, plan your trades well, study the market and read the news daily(optional).all these things are very important in investing along with other strategies. alot of persons think it's gambling and at the end of the day check their account they lose most of their trades because they went into the market with that mindset.i am not saying that traders are not gamblers but not all of them are gamblers and if you do a survey right now the ones that make the millions daily and monthly are the ones that work and plan their trades those are the ones that have a plan and know exactly what they are doing they are not hoping and wishing for a rich quick thing and the ones that lose are the ones that settle for mediocrity.

 

[doncruz]

To eliminate a bad habit you need to replace it with a good habit,
So whats the new habit?

 

[DeletedUser394]

Unfortunately I've seen people try and use the "Stock Market does not count thing" then go fairly berserk on "Investing" in a manner that basically replicates the thrills of their gambling efforts. People who love gambling can find ways to turn plenty of more respectable things into the same rush and often with the same unfortunate results. Forex and Fantasy Football two fairly obvious examples.

Thanks for the comment

By stock market I'm referring to low cost ETFs that mirror the major indices.. so not very exciting or thrilling haha

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Stock market = Gambling

I'm not buying random stocks. I hold only ETFs and blue chip dividend payers. Think old man investing.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Removed all poker related things from my computer and house. Won't be needing any of that stuff.

Hit the cash out button on my online account, but looks like they won't be paying me because I believe I breached their terms of service in the past. So that's $1500 down the drain. oops. Oh well.

 

[DeletedUser394]

To eliminate a bad habit you need to replace it with a good habit,
So whats the new habit?

This is what I need to figure out

 

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[ZCP]

Start a hustle thread?

 

[wade1mil]

This is what I need to figure out

I just listed to the audiobook version of Power of Habit yesterday on my long drive. Figure out what triggers make you want to play (being bored, seeing poker commercials, getting home from work, sitting on your computer chair) and the reward you get from it (thrill, excitement, challenge). Then find something that gives you the same reward, and consciously do something different each time the trigger happens.

For example, maybe your trigger is being bored and your reward is a challenge. Create a card for each of these things (http://fearbuster.com/100-days-of-rejection-therapy/) and pick one when you are bored. Then go challenge yourself to do each one X number of times. Not only will it replace your habit, but can improve your confidence in social settings.

 

[M&A]

So I'm sitting here waiting for the train surrounded by drunks and homeless people in the middle of the night. I've had enough of this.

Unlike many I've got an insanely supportive family and this great community. I have my health. I'm squandering such gifts on a crap lifestyle that I no longer want to be apart of. I can do so much better.

Anyway I haven't ruined my life or gone broke or anything lmao, it's mostly the time wasted. I play poker probably 40-60hrs a week. Got nothing better to do.. That will have to change now.

The goal is 1 year of zero gambling of any kind. Stock market does not count.

Other than just posting milestones I'll most likely include positive lifestyle changes.

Not having to do anything is a blessing and a curse. I'm young and dumb enough that my past mistakes are trivial.

Let's do this! (well in the case of gambling.. Let's not do this!) lmao

Nothing but positive changes ahead!

Are you good at poker ? Do you enjoy it ? Do you make money with it ? I couldn't imagine doing something 40-60 hours a week unless it checked one of them boxes.

Some people pay their college tuitions through poker

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Are you good at poker ? Do you enjoy it ? Do you make money with it ? I couldn't imagine doing something 40-60 hours a week unless it checked one of them boxes.

Some people pay their college tuitions through poker

Not good at it, for the most part don't enjoy it, and I'm definitely a losing player lifetime wise.

Put it this way. I've got a lot of money, no responsibilities, and nothing to do. Poker filled that void, even though it sucked for the most part.

So I'm working on improving every aspect of my life and to fill my time with much better things to do.

 

[doncruz]

Maybe you need read the book MJ suggested, "The Miracle Morning"
The idea is that if you can start your days the right way you'll radically change your life.

 

[M&A]

Not good at it, for the most part don't enjoy it, and I'm definitely a losing player lifetime wise.

Put it this way. I've got a lot of money, no responsibilities, and nothing to do. Poker filled that void, even though it sucked for the most part.

So I'm working on improving every aspect of my life and to fill my time with much better things to do.

Oh wow, Ive never heard of an addict not enjoying the actual thing they are addicted to I know several people addicted to gambling on sports/horses its terrible, at least you didn't blow through your nest egg and caught your addiction early. These people I know don't realise that 50% of their weekly wages go to gambling losses, almost like a tax.

You should watch this movie it really shows how addiction can take over your life. Nothing wrong with gambling here and there but when its something that preoccupies your minds its a issue.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

@M&A

I've been able to maitain a 50% net income savings rate throughout this ordeal. So yeah, not only did this gambling crap not destroy me, but I'm still in a much better position than most haha. YTD I've saved/invested around 51% of my net income.

I'm pretty sure most addicts (drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc) hate the thing they are addicted to.

I also loved that movie (The Gambler).

The #1 all time best gambling addiction movie is 'Owning Mahowny'. It's incredible.

 

[Kingmaker]

Bad news: You'll probably be tempted for years any time you encounter a trigger. 1 year free of gambling won't heal you completely. You can relapse after 1,2,3 years just as easy as tomorrow because of how neural pathways in our brains flare up.

Good news: Eventually the neural pathways get atrophied from not being used and die off. It is a slow process but it happens. In the meantime, you can build new positive neural pathways just as strong and become addicted to good activities to take up your time.

You're making it inconvenient for yourself to gamble, that's the most effective move. Delete your accounts from all online casinos. Figure out how to get yourself banned from real life gaming establishments and gambling dens. Cut out anyone who is a gambling addict from your life.

Wish you the all the best

P.S. What is one thing that you would die(figuratively) to see happen in your life and in the world? One thing you would try for even if your chance of success was as low as 0.01 percent? Align your life with that.

 

[Andy Black]

I must admit, I haven't had the slightest temptation to play online poker in the last 6 years. I replaced that obsession with a different one. Maybe that's what did it?

 

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[johnp]

I came from gambling before I found my way to this forum and got serious about my business. I made thousands selling gambling advice to people so I really got sucked into the industry. I got out and it was hard.

I watched people blow hundreds of thousands on 50/50 bets at the baccarat tables. I saw families get ripped apart, relationships end, and I even came across a few people who couldn't continue any longer...one lost all of his money at the blackjack table and jumped off the roof.

Honestly, I was good at gambling. I could walk up to a baccarat table and minimize my risk enough until I hit a good streak. I may have even developed a problem myself, I'm not sure. You don't really know how bad it gets until you find yourself pissing in an old coke bottle so you can stay an extra hour to "make" an a couple hundred dollars extra. Or until you look around at the people who are playing with you and for the first time you notice a cloud of cig smoke and depression hanging over their heads and you start to wonder if you're any different.

I got out of all of it and I"m not looking back. I'll still go to the casino from time to time with my wife, but I don't enjoy gambling anymore. It lost its novelty to me. My advice:

- Take a long hard look at the casino. See it for what it is. You'll see things that you never noticed before. Such as people who are trapped in gambling rings and actually forced to play. You'll see a system that is completely rigged from both psychological (where are the clocks??) and mathematical sides...yea there are edges but 99.99% of people will never figure out how to beat the house even with an edge.

- Figure out your "why" - what it is that motivates you and gets you out of bed in the morning.

- Channel that addiction into something else. For me it's business.

Good luck

 

[Veloce Grey]

Nothing wrong with gambling here and there but when its something that preoccupies your minds its a issue.

Uh oh. This is about the point where I have to admit after starting betting at 5, I used to run my own races with little toy horses when there weren't any actual ones on. Then I wrote a book about horse racing at 13 but that's ok since it wasn't much good. By 15 I was watching about 300-500 races a week and at 17 I dropped out of school to try and become a Professional Gambler (complete failure).

It did at least eventually pay my University fees though given I haven't gotten around to using the degree for anything that probably doesn't count as a positive either.

What non-gamblers often don't realise is how "siloed" a gambler can be. Aside from one week of online poker experience, I visited a casino for the first time a few months ago and had no desire to try any of the games. Never played a lottery nor tried my hand at Forex which seems to fill that void for some people.

I think the closest thing to it for me would be Fantasy Football, which I've had to retire from after being in something like 40 leagues last year, including a last to first win in the Fastlane league. I figured I couldn't top that effort if I played another 20 years so went out on a high.

I don't think I'll ever retire from horses but finding something a little more productive to do in between busy days is a goal for 2015.

 

[James Beattie]

I'd advise reading The power of habit, it explains how habits are born and how we can change them, there is actually a case study on a woman who is addicted to blackjack in the book!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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[The Grind]

Your not an average person man.

Breaking this little troublesome habit for you will be as easy as you making money in your sleep.

You got this.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Thanks for the support and personal stories everyone.

I'm really sick. I don't mean it in the degenerate gambler way, but like in the cold/flu way haha. So haven't made any 'drastic' turnaround as of yet.

I did however identify the top 5 things/goals that I can work towards to get to the next level. When I can sit up for more than three seconds I'm going to itemize the steps for each one, etc. Never really done anything like that actually.

Have not wagered so much as a penny on anything since starting this thread.

There's now a small (emphasis on small) chance they're going to give me my $1.5k, but it's still a long shot. I'm treating it as a loss, as I did break the T&C.

Online gambling is shady as hell, especially post black friday. Whenever I deposited it would show up on my cc's as random clothing purchases in China, then withdrawals would get routed from fake Canadian shell companies.

In a way I respect their hustle and ingenuity. But as an end user there's too much risk. Any site can shut your account and keep your money for any reason.

 

[johnp]

Online gambling is shady as hell, especially post black friday. Whenever I deposited it would show up on my cc's as random clothing purchases in China, then withdrawals would get routed from fake Canadian shell companie

I noticed the same thing. It's really hard for people in the US to play real money poker online, and even harder to play live table games like baccarat, roulette, and blackjack. But there are a few sites that allow it. Back when I gambled online the transactions would always show-up as asian companies. My bank was constantly making me verify transactions. I eventually got tired of jumping through to hoops to play online and it didn't seem like a good life choice anyway.

In a way I respect their hustle and ingenuity. But as an end user there's too much risk. Any site can shut your account and keep your money for any reason.

That's very true. I paid someone to program a bot for me. The thing played a betting system while I was sleeping. I was a senior in high school and making money while I slept from some gambling site out in Costa Rica. The problem is that every system crashes and burns, especially for online casinos. They don't need to ban anybody. They get it back eventually. Poker and horses are probably different though.

 

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[Jambla]

I used to be addicted to online poker. It wasn't a problem financially as I was breaking even, it was just the time consumed. Poker was actually only replacement for a MMPORG I wasted years playing as a kid, I started playing Ultima Online at the age of 12, I used to play it all night and fall asleep as school!I don't have the urge for poker, I don't have the patience required anymore to sit behind the computer and wait for the cards, it something that you lose over time.

Like others have said in this thread, replace the poker obsession with something healthy and productive. You re probably wired similar to me and others on here, in that you need to obsess over something. Good luck, I am sure you will be fine as long as you find something to fill the void.

 

[DeletedUser394]

Guess I should update.

It's been ~45 days.

A couple of weeks back I played one small live tournament ($55 buyin). I did it because I never had played tournament poker before and wanted to try it.

Anyway it was boring and depressing as heck. I was surrounded by all these old people and degenerates. (sorry old/elderly people haha.)

Other than that, I've not wagered a cent of my own money. I went from playing for hours every day - to not playing at all.

In fact, I no longer have time to waste which is nice. I move into a new apartment tomorrow. As it's in the heart of downtown, rent is outrageous so in a way it's forcing me to work harder on things that actually matter... otherwise I ain't gonna eat.

Cheers!

 

[DeletedUser394]

Damn. Can you say relapse.

I could have just ignored this thread and what has transpired, but I'm going to own up to it. That's the only way to go forward.

I ended up regaining access to my account on July 13th. (I just had to send in some documents.. I didn't realize that's the only reason my account was deactivated). I then immediately withdrew $1,500 - still waiting for the cheque which should arrive next week.

That left $250 in the account, which I promptly lost that same night.

Flash forward to now. In addition to losing that $250, I deposited an additional $250, and then $250 again. Lost it all of course. Combination of ridiculous bad beats and being a shitty player, etc.

I went from an awesome routine kicking butt in the real world, to doing nothing during the afternoon and evening, but staring at the screen for hours. I destroyed two shirts (lol) and nearly broke my laptop. So unhealthy. I noticed the mood swings coming up again.. which is something I more or less eradicated when I stopped playing two months ago. Staying up all night sucks also (unless you're grinding away on your business of course). I don't want to keep going to bed at 1am, 2am, and 3am and then try to have a normal day like most people. It's freaking 1:39am, I don't need this shit.

Anyway, considering the amount of cash and credit that I have access to it could have been a hell of a lot worse, so this is a blip. Also, considering I was never expecting to see that $1,500 again as I thought I was banned, I still technically have come out ahead in all of this. $1,500-$500 = $1,000 extra money that I didn't have previously.. so not the end of the world I guess.

Emailing their support to have myself fully and permanently banned. I've already banned myself from all other online sites months and years ago, so this was the only holdout.

Once I get banned from that last site, it'll once again be physically impossible to play online, so I can go back to kicking a$$ in real life.

I'll post a screen shot of their response to my ban request once it comes through as proof.

So here we go, resetting the clock to July 18th, 2015. Never placing another sports bet nor sitting at a poker table ever again. F*** all that noise. Seeing as the change to the dark side (lol) was quite literally overnight, I can see the stark contrast as to how I was without poker in my life to how terrible having poker control my life is. It's just gross.

 

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[Andy Black]

Damn. Can you say relapse.

I could have just ignored this thread and what has transpired, but I'm going to own up to it. That's the only way to go forward.

I ended up regaining access to my account on July 13th. (I just had to send in some documents.. I didn't realize that's the only reason my account was deactivated). I then immediately withdrew $1,500 - still waiting for the cheque which should arrive next week.

That left $250 in the account, which I promptly lost that same night.

Flash forward to now. In addition to losing that $250, I deposited an additional $250, and then $250 again. Lost it all of course. Combination of ridiculous bad beats and being a shitty player, etc.

I went from an awesome routine kicking butt in the real world, to doing nothing during the afternoon and evening, but staring at the screen for hours. I destroyed two shirts (lol) and nearly broke my laptop. So unhealthy. I noticed the mood swings coming up again.. which is something I more or less eradicated when I stopped playing two months ago. Staying up all night sucks also (unless you're grinding away on your business of course). I don't want to keep going to bed at 1am, 2am, and 3am and then try to have a normal day like most people. It's freaking 1:39am, I don't need this shit.

Anyway, considering the amount of cash and credit that I have access to it could have been a hell of a lot worse, so this is a blip. Also, considering I was never expecting to see that $1,500 again as I thought I was banned, I still technically have come out ahead in all of this. $1,500-$500 = $1,000 extra money that I didn't have previously.. so not the end of the world I guess.

Emailing their support to have myself fully and permanently banned. I've already banned myself from all other online sites months and years ago, so this was the only holdout.

Once I get banned from that last site, it'll once again be physically impossible to play online, so I can go back to kicking a$$ in real life.

I'll post a screen shot of their response to my ban request once it comes through as proof.

So here we go, resetting the clock to July 18th, 2015. Never placing another sports bet nor sitting at a poker table ever again. F*** all that noise. Seeing as the change to the dark side (lol) was quite literally overnight, I can see the stark contrast as to how I was without poker in my life to how terrible having poker control my life is. It's just gross.

Good for you updating the thread.

So $500 spent to make it even more obvious to you what the better path is.

 

[DeletedUser394]

So $500 spent to make it even more obvious to you what the better path is.

Exactly this!!!


And that was quick;