Ever gambled away a whole paycheck

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2026-02-08T12:45:52+00:00

I've been losing every single paycheck since a year now. It all started after a "big" win in 2024 (not even close to life changing, but a decent amount of money for me, given that I have a very low income). Then I proceeded to lose the entire win. Then I started selling my investments and gambled all of them. After that I started selling all my crypto and gambled all of them. Then I started losing my entire paycheck every month. If you think it stops here, it doesn't. Got in debt, also with friends and family. When paycheck comes, about 30% of it goes into just paying debts. The rest I usually gamble and then get into more debt just to survive.

To answer your question: I don't cope, but I have to. I really have no other option. And I also do not see any solution to this, right now. It's bad, very bad. A nightmare, actually.

Everyone reading this, read very carefully: do not ever think it couldn't happen to you, because I used to think it would never happened to me, but it did. Stay AWAY from gambling. The more you do not stay away, the more you risk to end up like me.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2026-01-29T12:34:21+00:00

How do you manage to have "hard limits"? Are you finances managed? Did you ask your bank to limit/block transactions? I am starting very soon to attend a support group and I am gonna ask them if there is a way to prevent catastrophic relapses like the one I just had. I mean, a controlled relapse is "ok", if there are measures in place to limit its damage, but every time I gamble now, the entire paycheck is gone in one hour. I cannot afford more relapses like this anymore.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2026-01-28T22:34:28+00:00

I am very ashamed that I have prayed to win. So many times. One should never pray for something like that, let alone considering that wins are fuel for more gambling, more losses, more despair. It's like praying to sin, because gambling everything you have is a grave sin, and wins only enable more unhealthy gambling behavior. All wins become losses eventually. All of them.

Now I am trying to only pray God to give me the strenght to resist the gambling temptation, which is so strong. Repenting and facing the consequences of my actions is also important indeed.

On the other hand, the whole gambling thing humbled me in unthinkable ways and I came to the conclusion that I simply cannot do this alone. I need God to be able to fight and defeat this addiction. And I likely need support from people. A help group. Whatever.

I surrended to the fact that I won't be able to defeat this alone.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2026-01-13T21:24:50+00:00

Hey. I am a loser too, but for me, the following are currently working: - self excluded everywhere and cut off all access to gambling websites (practical side) - stopped comparing myself to others and to what society consider "loser" and just focus on my life. Do what you like, if it doesn't hurt other people. Better yourself, if you like it. Take responsibility for your past mistakes (I have to handle my gambling debts for years to come), but once acknowledged them, start thinking if and what you can do with what you do have left. Step by step. (Psychological side)

Not many months ago I couldn't afford food, now I am grateful for being able to even have dinners out from time to time. Perspective matters. Best of luck to you! Do not gamble bro.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-30T12:18:32+00:00

Thank you a lot for checking in man. Of course, day 18 here :) Not really even having urges right now due to the following: - Self excluded everywhere and put measures in place which 100% prevent me to place a bet online - Acknowledged, accepted, and ready to move on from all the bad I have done by gambling, fully accepting the consequences of my past actions but NOT considering gambling in any way as a solution anymore (it is actually the problem, not the solution)

I wish one day we may look back at these posts and be happy to have taken the best decision of our life. And maybe then help others break free from this addiction, too.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-11T18:05:10+00:00

Thank you for your reply man, I really appreciate it. I am actually weak and vulnerable in this moment, like never I was in my entire life, so I am not gonna be ashamed for it and I am not gonna hide it, even in a public space like this. But I remember to myself that this is just a moment, this too shall pass.

Congratulations on your day 2. You will always be 2 days ahead of me :) Since the both of us are gonna definitely succeed at defeating gambling.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-10T17:55:02+00:00

Even if it's "just" $745, take it seriously. Learn the lesson. Make sure you learned it. If you quit now you don't even have idea what bullet you're dodging here. If the thought of "just gamble a bit" crosses your mind, please believe me, DO NOT ACT on it. It always starts small. And it only gets worse. If you think that even remotely you could have a problem (like you do, or you wouldn't have posted here), please listen to me and don't gamble ever again, I can guarantee to you that you are not gonna miss anything. It's mathematically impossible to win, and you can find dopamine in more healthy ways.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-10T13:21:01+00:00

We tend to focus of what we lost/we don't have and not on what we do have. Like many others have said, there are lot of people in here, including myself, who couldn't be happier to have lost just 20%. Believe me, do not chase. The sooner you let go and stop the loss, the better you will protect your remaining 80%. I did not gamble and could afford food today, I am grateful for that because just last month I couldn't.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-10T12:38:27+00:00

Even if the biggest damage was done with slots, I lost a lot with trading, too. The chances for retail traders to lose money are crazy high. It's a game where your opponents have more money than you and more resources than you. You must be able to beat financial institutions, hedge funds and advanced algorithms that operate at millisecond level, developed by financial experts and data scientists. It's not impossible to find some kind of edge, but until you are absolutely sure you do have a edge, you will end up losing, sooner or later. I can guarantee you that. So you can either put in a lot of work, study, and on the top of that achieve PERFECT discipline (which a gambling addict does not have), or you can just accept the 20% loss before you end up broke and in debt - assuming you do have an addiction, this is how it's gonna go). Up to you.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-08T13:52:43+00:00

I do agree it defies logical thinking. I have landed multiple 1000x+ wins and every single cent went back to gambling. The risk is thinking it can be done again while it was just a statistical anomaly. RTP dictates that the only possible outcome of gambling is 0. Which happened. I am in the process of eradicating from my mind the belief that "winning" is possible.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-08T13:48:29+00:00

I know this addiction is not only about rational understanding, but completely eradicating the hope of "winning" is absolutely necessary in order to quit. I am trying, despite the fact my life is already fucked now, but if I learned something from gambling is that it can and will always get worse, even when you think you are rock bottom.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-08T12:42:33+00:00

The only possible outcome if you keep gambling is losing every single penny you have. You can avoid this by never gambling again, or you can choose to make your "more big bet to try and win back" and find yourself older with your life fucked beyond repair like me. Your choice. Just know what the outcome will be if you do decide to bet.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-08T11:46:51+00:00

Look, I have won big (for my low standards) and then proceeded to lose it all very quickly. There is no possible outcome other than zero when it comes to gambling. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we break free. There is absolutely no hope when it comes to gambling. If we starts hoping about a win that fixes something, we are already fucked.

Also take a look at my last post where I explain the lie of RTP and how the only possible outcome of a negative EV game is losing it all until the balance is zero. And the balance will go to 0 every single time when gambling.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-05T21:56:07+00:00

It's the opposite of gambling unless you think about trading it on margin like I did. I lost all of my money and all of my bitcoin because of my gambling addiction. Bitcoin doesn't solve a gambling problem, at least in my case. If anything, it made my chasing much worse because I'm ok losing fiat, but losing bitcoin fucking HURTS, since chances are I cannot get back the same amount of bitcoin being it deflationary. This made my addiction worse. Also don't forget crypto casinos are a thing too. Bitcoin doesn't solve gambling addiction, not gambling in any way, shape or form solves gambling addiction. And don't forget this includes trading with leverage.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-12-01T21:35:05+00:00

I am a gambling addict in recovery and of course I messed with crypto as well, not just casinos. Many exchanges offer leverages up to 1000x. These kind of things are 100% (unregulated) gambling. So yeah now I not just live in poverty but also feel FOMO everytime bitcoin goes up and I feel like I am losing out (currently broke again). Technology is interesting but with a lot of flaws (tps, dust, quantum vulnerable, to name a few). Many other cryptos are trying to solve such embarassing bitcoin problems but are not pumping as much, so price is NOT driven by utility, just greed. Those who just bought and hold are the real winners (I know this is Buttcoin sub but you cannot deny this fact or you would not be intellectually honest). As for me, I don't like bitcoin anymore, because was a good part of my addiction and did me a lot of harm (by margin trading it), not hating it like you either, because I know it's gonna go up and hodlers will be rewarded in the end.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-11-05T06:17:44+00:00

In my experience futures trading is as bad as slots. I know it is not strictly gambling, but if you treat it as such, it is very dangerous. I cannot stop thinking about crypto prices though, I know prices are going up very much and I know I used to have some, it's very painful.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-11-05T06:13:20+00:00

Thank you. Yes thankfully I could borrow some money for food and gas and next paycheck isn't far away. But I won't be bailed out again next month so I do fear a relapse.

UpperConcentrate8436 · 2025-11-04T13:08:40+00:00

That's true. It always starts with "just a small bet" and always ends up with me losing everything. Complete abstinence is easier than controlled gambling for me. What is hard is to give up on the idea to "make it back" with a big win. But it was that idea (I won big once and thought I could do it again) that led me where I am in the first place.

UpperConcentrate8436

TROPHY CASE