The furniture
Posted 08 July 2013 - 04:25 PM
Going for a little holiday with the parents next week, going to be staying nr Scarborough and meeting up with my extended family in Bridlington where possible.
So, that's going to be fun... surrounded by machines and not playing any of them! 
Need to plan some other activities. Taking my new SLR camera up there so that's one thing, and my laptop will be coming up with some emulators... but not sure what else to do up there to pass the time
The furniture
Posted 08 July 2013 - 04:36 PM
I hate that , going into an amusement arcade and not being able to play the machines , specially a seaside arcade.
You walk by all the machines and go ,, oh theres a .... or theres a ..... and you just need to think what could have been..
Although i dont really bother with the machines too much these days , the temptation is always there for me.
Posted 08 July 2013 - 05:58 PM
Going for a little holiday with the parents next week, going to be staying nr Scarborough and meeting up with my extended family in Bridlington where possible.
So, that's going to be fun... surrounded by machines and not playing any of them!
Need to plan some other activities. Taking my new SLR camera up there so that's one thing, and my laptop will be coming up with some emulators... but not sure what else to do up there to pass the time
camera for taking pics of unemulated slots and a bucket n spade for sandcastles
Edited by vectra666, 08 July 2013 - 05:59 PM.
The furniture
Posted 09 July 2013 - 09:06 AM
camera for taking pics of unemulated slots and a bucket n spade for sandcastles
I've been in trouble for taking my huge-ass camera to arcades before. I have asked in the past and most owners think it's a bit odd some bloke with a giant camera taking pics of machines, they normally assume you are looking for ways to rip them off or break in!
Suppose you've just got to find the right sort of owner - someone like me who is enthusiastic (and obsessive) about machines, rather than the usual grumpy tight-arse that seems to run most arcades these days.
Not really a bucket and spade person, but I think the place we are staying is right next to the sea, so who knows?
Newbie
Posted 13 July 2013 - 09:31 PM
I'll openly admit to trying to give up gambling. I'm not a serious gambler, I've never lost more than a few hundred quid in a session but for me that's more than I can afford.
Anyway I just came back from a seaside vacation and the temptations of the amusements were ever present, luckily I'd took my dog along so only got one opportunity to go on the machines and that was for barely 5 mins (a few quids worth). Not proud of it though. I was so damn desperate I ended up on the dreaded dond (nearest free machine). Such was my desperation to get of the bank with a profit I panicked and held the wrong reels on the damn bell fruit feature entry bonus (you're choice indeed) and then went against my better judgement going one spin too far on the feature board to lose my initial stake. What annoyed me about the latter is that I thought to myself, "this machine is going to kill me on the next spin, collect it now and get out, btw it's £5 jackpot, not £35, what are you even doing on this piece of junk?", low and behold I spun it and it killed me...
A poor internet connection helps when keeping off the online games too 
Anyway best of luck to all trying to give up, keep at it!
MFME v whatever the next version number user.
Posted 15 July 2013 - 04:03 AM
Good luck to you guys trying to quit.
I know from years of trying since the threads started on fruit forums in 2009, how difficult it can be. I still gamble, but since 2009, have cleared all my debts, have 5 figure savings and gambling is now a bit of fun with money I can afford to spend in this way.
There are lots of ways, you can try to help yourself quit or like me, limit the amount you gamble each month.
If you've got debt, up the payments, so you leave yourself with just enough for the odd night out and/or a couple of treats. As soon as I was paid, I would use 90% of my spare money towards my debt, leaving myself with just enough to have the odd night out or treat.
If no debts, open a savings account, which has no hole in the wall card and you need to go to the bank to withdraw the money. Preferably one where you will lose interest if you don't give them a certain amount of notice. A few months of seeing the savings grow, was enough to make me realise just how much I was gambling away each month.
Another option, cards to a trusted relative or even friend, explain the situation and make sure they only give you money when you can prove what you are spending it on. Did this with my mum (I was 38 at the time), until I was comfortable I was through the worst of my addiction.
Let friends know, you are trying to quit and tell them. I told mine, it took a month or two for them to believe me, but once they did, I didn't want to lose face by playing in front of them.
If you can't quit altogether and online is your real addiction, set weekly or monthly limits on accounts. To up limits, usually takes a period of time, so normally the urge has gone. My current pattern is £20 a week on one site and £10 on another, I play different days of the week, so I have 2 mini sessions of gambling a week.
Keep posting to threads like this, or ones on popular sites such as moneysavingexpert or on Gamcare (a site which has a lot of frightening sad stories). This can help the togetherness feel and I know I felt gutted having to post when I slipped up and didn't want to have to post again I had slipped up . Also post as much as you want, every time you get an urge if necessary, sod it if others thinking you are whittling on.
Newbie
Posted 15 July 2013 - 01:34 PM
^ Well said mate, fantastic post.
Senior Member
Posted 15 July 2013 - 08:23 PM
For me, whittling on was one of the best ways to help me to realise what I was doing and start the road to not needing it anymore. For those unaware, I used to gamble pretty serious amounts of cash. Overall around £400,000 (or possibly more) over about 10 years. I was in the fortunate position of being able to afford (sort of) that kind of loss. It wasn't, of course, just the fruits - that's a lot of pound coins, but I started there.
As you always do in the end, I hit the old rock bottom around 2002. Lost my lucrative employment in the IT crash around that time. Carried on gambling and couldn't sustain the losses with income. Ended up pretty much homeless and utterly skint. Moped around for a while, but in at way it was (I see now) a positive thing. Couldn't afford to gamble, or even generally function so I was cold turkey. After a few months, I was employed again and earnings rose steadily. Like a true, clever addict, I took that 1st good paycheck straight to the casino. What a night! Ended up about 10 grand ahead. I couldn't lose (yeah right, but I didn't). On the way home, I passed a doorway and there was a homeless guy lying there in the cold, shivering away. I guess you could call it an epiphany - that was almost myself six months earlier. What the f*** was I doing?? Did I really want to be that guy?
That set me on the right track. Can't way it was easy, can't say that I didn't fall/jump/fly off the wagon several times but I placed my last significant bet 6 years ago now. Since then, I started a successful business, got married, had 2 kids, brought a house basically have a life. Do I miss it, yeah I still miss that buzz a bit now and then but I see how false it really is. I think the most important thing, for me, was to realise that even when I was winning, I was still a loser. Hard to admit that even now, but there it is.
Do I still bet? Yeah actually I do. I do the lotto, and I have a Betfair account. It has £10 in it at the moment bet on England to win the Ashes 3,4 or 5-0. Got a real buzz off the last test - but if it's lost, it's lost. I set myself a limit of £10 per quarter which I stick to. Worries me a bit still as it's a doorway back to addiction but I think for me that it works as a constant reminder that I need to test my addiction in some way to make sure I still have it controlled and so I don't test it with some crazy large bet.
Anyway, I guess I'm posting for my own benefit and also to let people know that you really can stop and you can change and it doesn't matter how bad it's got - you can make the positive change.
Anyhoo, hope it helps - if not I feel better anyway ...
Good luck to all who are trying to give up!
PS - I can anyone's wondering, I dumped about £1000 in the homeless guy's hand that night. Best investment I even made in myself - hope he did something good with it for himself.
The furniture
Posted 17 July 2013 - 01:59 PM
Well I let boredom get the better of me on the amusements in the camp we are on. Will post an update when back home as no internet or phone signal on camp. Very disappoonted in myself and considered not updating the thread but I would be lying to myself. £100 loss in about 45 minutes, £70 in a single £5 / 10p Crazy Cobra. Feel absolutely stupid and like I've let everyone down, but not morbidly depressed about it so need to analyse what happenedand move on! 
Posted 17 July 2013 - 03:07 PM
Senior Member
Posted 17 July 2013 - 10:12 PM
Ben - you recognise you have a problem - you recognise that you have made an error. Know what, you lost. Lucky you. It'd be much worse if you'd won. Now you can remember that feeling of loss, and how stupid/dumb/worthless? you feel. Hold onto that as it'll help the next time you're tempted but don't beat yourself with it. Brush yourself down (mentally ) and carry on. It's a long road and it has a lot of twists in it but you're miles along now and it's only cost you £100. In the cold light of day, compare that to how things used to be and you can see how far you've come!
Then enjoy your holiday!
Good luck!!
The furniture
Posted 19 July 2013 - 12:51 PM
God it's so nice to be back home with internet access and what-not. Didn't realise how much I relied on it!
Anyway, managed to post the above post on a rare trip out, even when I went driving about with the parents (dad driving) I barely managed to get a signal anywhere so forum access was nigh-on impossible.
The bad news? I lost the plot completely. I went back to my old routine of 'angry' gambling - that is, when something pissed me off, I went for a gamble. At home it's easy to escape - go for a drive, play video games, or hide in my den (well, garage). The easiest option, which I stupidly took, was to gamble. Looking back, it wasn't even gambling. It was shovelling note after note into machines, paying very little attention to what I was actually doing, and playing 'all or nothing'. Utterly stupid behaviour. I have no idea why I did it because I wouldn't have been happy if I'd won, it was almost like I just wanted to bin my money to punish myself.
Feel absolutely fine now I'm back at home and have no intention of gambling again. However, it does mean that my loss this week is £400. I withdrew £450 over two days there, and have come back with £100 in coins. However I took £50. Other things were paid for on card.
Stupid, isn't it? I've had a credit card sitting there with a £600 balance, I could have paid most of that off, or bought some of the many gadgets I've been indecisive about... or even put it into my savings account.
Nope, I got about 2 hours worth of being angry for that money. Bargain!
In slightly better news, I was in a bad mood before I left as my boss told me I should have received a letter by now (I'm temporary and my contract was up soon), so my job was very much 'in the air' and I felt my employer had let me down. Got back today, still no letter. Called them, and it's been sat at work for bloody ages. Turns out they are keeping me on so there's a permanent contract waiting for me, but still rather f**ked off they didn't let me know it was there before my holiday, as it would have been a HUGE load off my mind.
Can't blame the gambling on that though, or the fact I was angry. It was just very (seriously, incredibly) poor judgement on my part. As always with me, I can't have 'a quick fiver', not even on 5p / 10p play machines. As soon as that first coin goes into the slot, I lose any control whatsoever and know that from past experience. I know it even more now.
So, total losses this year to date, £410. That's a pretty epic fail, but still, if I can make it through the rest of the year without being so stupid, I can actually look back on it as being an improvement, albeit a minor one.
The furniture
Posted 19 July 2013 - 07:42 PM
Congrats on keeping the job!
Ta
They couldn't say I'd not been working hard enough, I've lost 12kg in weight in 2 months. Ordering myself some new jeans tonight as people are commenting that mine are too loose now
The furniture
Posted 06 August 2013 - 10:18 AM
Well, it's gone a bit quiet since my last post, the good news is I've not gambled at all since I came back from holiday.
The bad news? It's definitely set me back a bit. I've been feeling much more 'frustrated' about not being able to play machines than prior to going on holiday. Still, just got to stick with it. It was at least this hard at the start of the year I'm sure.
Something which I hadn't fully realised is how much financial crap it would cause, at the time I shrugged it off but since it happened immediately after pay day, I didn't have a clear head about my financial commitments for the following weeks. It has reinforced the fact that gambling takes resources away from better things - even silly things like taking the parents out to lunch have been a nightmare of balancing finances this month (working around car insurance, and other bills), whereas when not gambling, even if I didn't have much left at the end of the month, I felt like I'd had a 'good time'. If I wanted something, I could just buy it, whereas this month I've seen several things I'd like, but simply can't justify.
Hopefully everyone else is doing well, and hasn't fallen off the wagon in the fashion I did 
The furniture
Posted 23 September 2013 - 07:18 AM
It's been ages since I last posted here, and there's a good reason for me posting today.
I've not gambled at all since my last stupid loss 2 months ago, which is great. Did take a little while to recover fully from it financially, but everything is sorted now.
My reason for posting today? I'm off on holiday for a week (not back at work for another 17 days!), and I'm going to the same place as last time with the parents, where I had that £400 loss over a few days. Started off as a stupid little dabble on the £5 jackpots, which then became a ridiculous loss on the £5 jackpots in a short space of time, which led to a dabble on the £70s, and then led to a substantial loss on the £70s. Yeah, it all snowballed from me being stupid enough to try the £5 machines.
So, this time, no gambling at all. I'm taking my Xbox and GTA:V up there, and it's such a hilarious game I'm sure it'll be of help if I fancy a gamble. My weight loss is going well, so I'll be focusing on maintaining my weight as well, which means plenty of walks out with my camera.
Will also take a laptop, but I'm not sure I'll take any emulations this time. I haven't decided. Certainly didn't stop me from gambling last time, if anything it might have got me more excited about machines (I guess I'll never know for sure!). I guess I could take them and try not to play them? Why does it have to be so complicated?!
So, there we have it - away for a week in the same place with presumably the same bugger-all internet / phone signal (so don't expect any updates unless I'm visiting larger towns!).
Hope everyone else is doing OK this year... and if not, there will always be the 2014 thread... who knows, maybe next year I'll actually make it through the year without gambling?!
Edited by Bencrest, 23 September 2013 - 07:19 AM.
Junior Member
Posted 23 September 2013 - 01:29 PM
no fruits in the sea
Senior Member
Posted 23 September 2013 - 06:24 PM
Well, not here anyway although you can swim up to them in Vegas
Stuff the emulators mate - GTA5 is more than enough to cover any down time and anyway you're on holiday so find something more fun to do
Enjoy!
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