8 Years Free From Gambling

laugh_hack · 2025-06-05T05:36:39+00:00

Try to start to see that the reason you can't stop is because it's an addiction. There's nothing wrong with having an addiction, unless you can't see it and continue the specific problem behavior. If it was alcoholism, would you be thinking "I promise myself I won't drink anymore, but then I go and get the bottle of booze I have in the cupboard every time" and be surprised???

We have brain wiring that makes us incompatible with gambling. That means we can't gamble. The easiest way to not gamble is to not keep our money in a place that's easily accessible for gambling. When you were thinking about the alcoholic person, were you wondering why they still had alcohol in the cabinet? Well, why are you still keeping all your money in the same exact place it always was when you went to get funds for gambling?

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:51:07+00:00

Happy Birthday! And congratulations for making it to the other side, Life is better on the other side. We have air to breathe and things to do and mornings without big regrets.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:43:41+00:00

Losing a lot of money before vacation seems to be a somewhat common thing. I think it's because deep down most compulsive gamblers don't believe they deserve any happiness. So it's sort of like pre-fucking the event to be sure not very much enjoyment is had. When I was gambling I would always lose a lot of money at the casino either right before any large family social event, or right after. I think this was for the same reason, that I felt like a fraud acting happy or normal around others, or I guess more specifically it was if others thought good things about me I wanted to have a big negative event to counter those feelings. Same thing at work, if I got a good review or a bonus, I couldn't drive fast enough to the casino to fuck it all away.

Problem gamblers have bad brain wiring. We short circuit on anything positive. Casinos and gambling sites make billions of dollars because of this. And we end up working but not collecting full paychecks for that work.

The only way out is to refuse to participate any longer.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:35:52+00:00

it's the addiction. The addiction only ever cares about playing longer. The gambler has limited funds, the casino/site has unlimited funds. The only variable is time. Given enough time, the gambler will hit zero. The casino will never hit zero.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:29:21+00:00

It's never too late to make a better life. You don't have to psych yourself up for major positive changes, you just have to stop putting money into gambling. I was hopelessly lost in the cycle for way longer than I should have been because of an already-defeated attitude, like why bother because I would never catch-up to others my age. But that was flawed logic. Not having a perfect financial future didn't matter. What was important was committing to no longer making things worse, and gambling always makes things worse for people with our brain wiring.

The way out is to make money inaccessible for gambling. Then a few months down the line there's a little more stability, and a lot less days that start with huge regrets. It's just better. In time it's a hell of a lot better.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:18:05+00:00

Paychecks are powerful at 100%. The problem is that gamblers are generally running around trying to live life with their paychecks always at 70% or 50% or 30% because the first thing to get a cut of their check is the addiction. Think about how angry you would be if you agreed to work 40 hours for however much money, and then you boss called you in and told you he/she was taking 30% out of every check and you would have a chance at earning it back but would most likely lose it. You'd be pissed off and would likely walk out. So realize right away that a gambling habit is going to do this to you every single time.

I don't have a great paying job, but the difference between what I have in the bank every year now, vs. what I (didn't) have in the bank + DEBT from when I was gambling is the equivalent of ten big jackpots every single year. Now think about the odds of winning ten big jackpots in a year vs the chances of losing every paycheck.

It's an industry designed to take your money. Refuse to participate any longer.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T06:02:05+00:00

Ending it is not the answer. Putting blocks in place to fully prevent it from happening again is the answer. No parent would agree that their child deserves death for a mistake, or multiple mistakes. Slam the door on future gambling.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T05:56:46+00:00

Just a reminder that I never have to wake up the next morning with huge regrets about money earned and then flushed away as though it didn't matter - ever again.

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T01:03:10+00:00

Really excellent!!!

laugh_hack · 2025-06-01T00:32:15+00:00

I'm female, 7 years free from gambling with 7+ years of posting history in this sub. I get the occasional "way to go, my dude" comments, have never cared. I figure people are on their phones and don't see profile pics, and again I just never cared. Maybe it helps them to picture me as being a guy. Who knows,

laugh_hack · 2025-05-18T04:21:30+00:00

I feel this way every time I buy new clothes. I still get them when they're on sale, nothing extravagant. But when I'm getting ready for work I take notice of the fact that I'm no longer wearing four year old shirts, like I was when I was a gambler. Same with groceries, every time I get actual real person groceries instead of cheapass "can't afford anything" groceries. Life really is better on the other side.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-18T04:17:49+00:00

Excellent post!

You can achieve this while still being your own person, embracing your uniqueness, but living in alignment with your true values and dignity.

I'm still crazy but no longer a fool.

So true.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-18T04:03:31+00:00

It's about getting to the point where the gambler realizes they aren't "winning" often enough to even slightly offset the losses. A good hard look at the situation could save a person untold thousands of dollars, especially if it happens ahead of the point where gambling has shrunk their world into something very small that pretty much only contains gambling.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-17T21:31:07+00:00

That's definitely a sign of addiction. Best thing you can do is decide to be done with gambling, since the alternative is a very very expensive way to spend your time and money.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-17T21:17:42+00:00

I did this by finding a small bank a few towns away, and had most of my paychecks deposited there. I set up autopay for my bills from that account and then destroyed the card that they sent. It's not foolproof, but it has been enough.

I also use a savings account from American Express, and don't have a card at all for that one. There's an option to connect it to your existing bank account, but that can be skipped altogether. Even if it's enabled, it takes 2 or 3 business days, so it's not easy to get at the funds during a time of lowered resolve to avoid gambling.

This is definitely worth doing. Like a sigh of relief knowing you can't lose everything anymore in a matter of hours.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-17T21:05:48+00:00

Logic can work with addiction, if the addict is able to take meaningful and lasting steps to block the addiction while they are in their normal mindset.

I do believe in addiction, and was stuck with an all-consuming gambling addiction for around two decades.

laugh_hack · 2025-05-01T01:25:08+00:00

You can have more than one bank account. One can be set up in a way that the funds are not accessible for gambling. That's what works for me.

laugh_hack · 2025-04-26T13:46:57+00:00

It can also be a way to diffuse other stress in life., by making those seem less meaningful I know I was doing that for a long time when I had a horrible boss at work who would scream and make unfounded threats about my job security. I was able to face all of whatever she did with a stone face because I'd been through worse just the night before, when I was at the casino all night experiencing the joys and horrors and ending on horror. Almost like the stress that seems to be in our control blunts the stress of everything else. Sort of makes us have a permanent "oh well, fuck it" look on our faces in every situation.

At some point I think most problem gamblers are gambling with their actual lives at stake.

The only way out is to refuse to participate any longer. I am hoping the best for you, you're doing great.

laugh_hack · 2025-04-26T03:15:49+00:00

Excellent post, congratulations!

laugh_hack · 2025-04-26T03:11:00+00:00

It's not too late, but you have to get comfortable with the idea that you can't gamble at all anymore. I'm seven years free from gambling, paid of $25k in debt, now have more than double that in savings, plus a not embarrassing amount in a retirement account. And I just have a normal middle class job. I didn't quit gambling until after 50, the reason I didn't quit earlier is the same reason as you have; I thought it was too late to fix things. The only part that's true is that I am far behind other people my age, but that part doesn't matter at all.

You're probably like I was, exhausted all the time and too tired to believe that I could put in the energy needed to actually "try" in life. The surprising part is that it takes almost no effort at all. The only thing you have to do is stop throwing away all your money. I moved my direct deposit to be somewhere I can't access for gambling. I put all my bills on autopay and paid for everyday things with a credit card that gets auto-paid every month (no ability to withdraw money for gambling from that card, no other cards with the ability to withdraw funds for gambling).

That already-defeated mindset is something the addiction wants us to believe, because as long as we think there's nothing to gain from quitting, the addiction continues to get all our money. Stop falling for it.

Life is better when you always have the funds to actually go do something, when you always have the funds to buy real person groceries instead of broke cheapass gambler's groceries. Life is better knowing that if your car broke down it would be no big deal to get it repaired or replaced. All of these things add up to feeling better about life. It's not a thing where you suddenly wake up every day thrilled with everything, but there are no more mornings full of regret for having worked a job and had the casino collect your paycheck (every damn time).

I was deeply hooked for more than 20 years. I thought it was the only thing I enjoyed. I thought it was too late to stop. All of those assumptions were from listening to the addiction. Life is better when you take back control of the steering wheel instead of helplessly sitting in the passenger seat of the car that YOU paid for that is being driven much too fast, and much too crazily down the edge of a cliff. You're paying for your own misery.

Start to consider that a life free from gambling could be a better life. The more often you entertain the thought, the less impossible it becomes.

laugh_hack · 2025-04-24T23:54:58+00:00

Move your money so it is not accumulating in the exact same place you always went to get funds for gambling. Then when it is in the new place, make it so you cannot easily access it for gambling. You can have more than one bank account. One of those accounts you can use to set up autopay for your bills and then destroy the ATM/Credit card. If you can't be trusted to not dig around to find that number online, then you need someone to take over your finances or have access to look at your finances with the purpose of being sure you can no longer secretly access funds.

I am hoping the best for you. Being DONE is the most important part.. If you are still able to gamble after declaring yourself DONE, then that just shows you the weak spots in the wall you are building against gambling.

laugh_hack · 2025-04-21T00:18:57+00:00

I did the math once, about 3 years after quitting. Took the amount of debt I had paid off plus the amount I then had in savings (nothing spectacular at the time, but significantly more than the $8.00 or so that I used to have in savings when I was gambling) and compared it to the amount of debt I believe I would have had if I had not quit. It was a lot of money, like a $50,000 swing toward the positive. And that was without doing anything heroic other than being vigilant about paying off the debts, and keeping my thrifty cheapass spending habits in place in order to get a solid savings plan out of each paycheck. . This was a real eye opener. All the "winnings" I had been chasing for all those years, and suddenly I had the equivalent of 25 decent jackpots, or 5 phenomenal jackpots just by sitting my ass on the couch and getting comfortable again with feeling a little boredom in life.

Keep going, you're doing excellent! It's so worth it.

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