I'm Rob and I'm in recovery for a gambling addiction. One thing that really helped me in my journey to leaving gambling behind was sharing my gambling addiction story online.
In this article, I want to tell you about what happened the last day that I gambled, November 12th 2022, and how to avoid making the same mistakes I did that day.
What Happened On November 12th 2022| My Gambling Addiction Story:
On that day back in November, I had gotten myself to about 8 months of abstinence from my previous last bet.
There was just one problem... I had nothing meaningful going on in my life and I was feeling sorry for myself.
I was working a job (two jobs actually) that I wasn't overly happy with, and I didn't feel like I was doing anything positive with my time.
I was measuring my life by the number of days it had been since my last bet, and after a few months, that began to feel like it wasn't so meaningful anymore.
In a fit of self-pity, I went and made a sports bet which spiraled into a 12 hour gambling binge at a casino where I put myself into debt for the next 6 months where I would work for 70 hours a week to pay it all off.
I remember being in the restroom at the casino counting the cash that I had left and stressing that I had dropped some of the money on the floor somewhere. I might has well have as I would end up losing it all playing table games and sports betting over the course of that day.
Why I Knew It Was My Last Bet:
This wasn't the first time I put myself into gambling debt, but it was the first time that it all happened during such a short period of time.
The fact that I caused 6 months worth of debts in a 12 hour sitting really put things into perspective for me.
What was I doing with my life?
I knew it was my last bet, because I could NOT imagine it getting any worse than that and being able to live through it.
It was time for a change.
How To Avoid Making The Same Mistakes:
I had gone back to the bet during a fit of feeling self-pity.
To avoid making that mistake I should have done a few things.
First, I should have been self excluded from the casinos so when I was tempted to gamble it would have been remarkably more difficult.
Second, I should not have had access to my own finances at this point and I should absolutely not have had a credit card...
Third, I needed something of meaning in my life. Now I have my content creation to fuel my sense of self, but before I was lacking something I cared about.
Prepare ahead of time so that you don't go down that dark path.
What I Did Next:
There are four things I've done personally to quit gambling and keep myself clean for almost the last 630 days.
Check out this blog post to see the steps that I've used to stop gambling.
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