The highs and lows of gambling
The Flutter-free February campaign may be coming to an end, but for many people dealing with gambling addictions the campaign is a springboard towards recovery. One such person is Karl (not his real name).
Gambling is now a major problem in society. Flutter-free is a new campaign from the Beat the Odds initiative which aims to encourage those who gamble - whether online or at the bookies - to take a pledge to stop gambling during the month of February 2017. A dedicated website www.flutterfree.com provides a means to register a pledge to stop gambling for the month of February and ideas on how to get involved with the campaign. Pledgers are also encouraged to send a thumbs up selfie in support of the campaign via #flutterfreefeb.
The digital age has many benefits, but for some the wonders of technology serve to make fuelling a secret addiction even easier. For Karl his smartphone and its apps became a willing passport to a global world of gambling. Karl is supporting Flutter-free February, a Beat the Odds initiative led by Living Room Cardiff, which aims to encourage a month-long break from all gambling activities in February 2017 to raise awareness of the dangers of excessive gambling.
Karl said, “Almost everyone has got a smartphone these days. People are glued to their phones regardless of where they are. Gambling by phone is so easy these days. It’s like playing a computer game and you don’t even have to leave your house and face the taboo of the bookies to place a bet.
“For years I told myself that getting involved with gambling would be a bad idea. I am a big football fan and you see the adverts everywhere and logos emblazoned on their shirts. I had a fair amount of knowledge of how the game worked and eventually I started betting using the apps. A friend of mine had won some money on the lottery around the same time I started gambling, looking back I believe this may have spurred me on slightly. Call it beginners luck, but one of my first bets was a £5 accumulator on football results which came in, winning just over £700”
“I continued to carry on betting this way for quite a while mainly just on a Saturday without any major issues as I kept my spending to what I could afford. It was only last year after a year or two of gambling that it started to become a problem. I was having issues at work and found myself with loads of spare time. I started in-play betting, when not going well this approach makes it much easier to lose large amounts of money within a short space of time. When losing you start to chase your losses and the constant stress you begin to put on yourself starts to affect all areas of your life. Before long I was out of pocket before the end of each month. You start to act in ways you may not otherwise, lying about why you’re borrowing money and hiding the stress from the people close to you. I was finally able to stop after seeing the pain I had caused my loved ones, after first seeking help I had professed to have stopped gambling whilst in truth I hadn’t been able to stop. I lost all my money and the shame of having to front up to my problem allowed me to accept that I had a problem and had to stop. Gambling is fun to start with but if you can’t control it the stress soon becomes awful.”
“When you win money on an app the money is held in cyberspace for you. Winning can be trouble as the money can now feel like Monopoly money and makes increasing the size of your bets seem a less risky decision. On these occasions it led me to making larger bets. After winning a bet and losing the money within a short space of time I started chasing these winnings with my own money, eating it up until it was all gone. Chasing something I already had. It got to the stage where it was virtually taking over my life 24 hours a day. I found myself betting on other sports as I couldn’t get off the rollercoaster. Anything from Australian football matches in the morning to American baseball matches overnight all from the comfort of my bed. It’s always there in some form if you want it to be.
“I’m so relieved it’s now out in the open. I was stuck on a runaway train and it seemed easier just to ride it out rather than trying to jump off. Being on that journey is extremely stressful and one that you don’t feel you can share with anybody. You start to lie and it becomes a common occurrence, you don’t even realise you are doing it; it becomes part of your life. You are constantly trying to hide what you are doing and stressed out that you have a problem but nobody knows about it and you don’t know how to fix it.
“I had to go broke to face up to what I’d done and take the steps needed to fix it. If anyone feels like they have a problem the faster they deal with it the easier it will be. You just have to accept that you have lost control and get the help you need. I looked online for help and came across the Living Room in Cardiff. I’ve been attending sessions since October 2016 and haven’t gambled since then. The positive change in my life is immeasurable, I know it might feel like you can’t stop but you can do it. It has been a great help to be able to speak to others outside of my family and circle of friends and get ideas from others on how to beat your addiction. I hope by speaking out I can help someone in a similar position to myself.”
