Bitcoin Forum

This is a must-read for anyone who is looking to self-exclude his/her gambling account from a Bitcoin gambling website, whether it's a Casino website, a sportsbook, or what's not.

Brief Explanation of the problem:

In the past it was pretty easy to self-exclude yourself from a website, because you had to provide your details such as your name, date of birth, you even had to supply a copy of your ID, utility bill etc. - then if you would ask to self-exclude then you would pretty much say goodbye to that site because your details were marked.

However, since the introduction of Bitcoin - it became easier to gamble, you don't need to provide almost anything, barely an email address just for the security of the account - the rest is all Bitcoin ... and that creates a problem for those who are addicted to gambling - they cannot stop, even if they want to - they would be in troubles of having so many new websites that keep on starting a gambling business with Crypto ... Self Exclusion becomes almost impossible in this environment - for more details see this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5202357.0

What can be done as a solution?

One of the solutions I was able to find is to lock your Bitcoin for a certain period of time. I am currently investigating how to do it properly in this thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5205451.0

Edit (6 Dec 2019): It is quite an easy thing to do, don't be scared of it - locking your Bitcoin is simpler than it seems - once you get the gist of it - it takes no more than 1-2 minutes at most to lock your BTC away for as long as you need.

It seems to me that arresting the addiction i.e. self-exclusion - is a very powerful way to stop gambling.
One of the best ways to do so with Crypto is to simply lock the Crypto away from yourself until the date you need to actually use it, if you need to use it at all.

By locking your Bitcoin for a certain period of time - you would have no immediate access to your funds, you won't be able to gamble with them - and this will create a sort of SELF EXCLUSION with the site you're wishing to avoid using.

If anyone has more insights or feedback in regards to this - I'd be happy to hear it.

Edit (5 Dec 2019):

Many thanks to shield132 who suggested the use of CrpytoMixer.io - a very simple tool to use!

With [banned mixer] you can immediately lock your Bitcoin for a period of up to 96 hours - and after 96 hours (max) you would get the Bitcoin automatically sent to your Bitcoin address. However it costs $ to use it.

Note: I personally after testing both methods would prefer Coinb.in because it costs $0 to use it and it's not limited to only 96 hours. And I think it's quite easy to use and it puts you in control of how long you want to restrict yourself.


Edit (6 Dec 2019):

For anyone criticizng the benefit of doing this I suggest you don't rely on posters here and use a more credible source:

https://www.psychforums.com/gambling-addiction/topic215306.html

Quote:
"In my opinion, no one is forced to use these methods, but for anyone to denigrate or dismiss them as not useful, is showing either arrogance or ignorance.."

I don't see how this is going to help. You will be locking your wallet for a certain period of time, but you can open another wallet, get some coins and start gambling again, you know that right? Why go through all those hassle of locking just one wallet? This does not guarantee you that you will stop gambling for a certain period of time. Sites like crypto-games.net allows you to lock your account for a period of time or forever. Instead of locking your wallet, just let the site owners know that you want them to restrict your access to their server.
Instead of wasting your time locking wallets, just get help from someone if you are suffering from gambling addiction.

Imagine you’re a heroin addict and you know your drugs are locked somewhere. Your cold turkey will cross all what it takes to get to the drugs and this is proven time and over again. Apply the same logic here. Doesn’t matter if the crypto is not with you but as long as you know it’s yours and someone has them, you’d do everything to get access to it. Treat the gambling addicts just like they treat the drug addicts and it will work out. The change has to be permanent and not temporary.

Yeah, if there is a way to use that money, an addict will find a way to do that. I think that if resources allow it, this person should dive into an environment where gambling is impossible. No Internet, no smartphone kind of situation. Perceiving the nature, focusing on some activities, working on social relationships... This could really create the situation where the person goes past the period of willing to gamble. Although it seems that such methods work, I find them cruel.

Good way of illustrating such example which is really indeed part of the reality.Its hard to resist or to stop completely if you do know that you have something on there.
You know that you have funds then even how hard you do lock those things up you would still end up on getting them in the end of the day just to feed up your addiction.
If you do really want to stop completely then it would start on ones self in talks of discipline and sef-awareness when it comes to your actions.

There's is no established way to just magically stop gambling. To tell you the truth, Locking away your assets doesn't seem to solve the problem. Unless you plan to make sure you don't have access to it in any way. By access, I mean, It's either lost or in control of someone you can reach out to access it. I've seen people break toxic addictions, anyone can
 Just that, the decision to stop has to come from the individual itself.

Most gamblers would just completely stop gambling if they have been wrecked badly in terms of funds.Theres no way to stop if you are addicted.

You would only completely stop if youre out of funds and theres nothing you can do.

I feel like there is a huge sense of ignorance or lack of understanding of gambling addiction for 2 possible reasons:

• Either some of the posters here are part of the gambling industry and are trying to portray the situation as if they know how gambling addiction works but they have no sense of how it works whatsoever and intentionally or unintentionally posting a lot of nonsense here
• Or either some posters here genuinely feel like they have to share their 0 experience with gambling addiction - which is again - unhelpful, incorrect and full of lies

Okay, so first of all with gambling addiction - anything you can do to avoid the addiction is helpful ... that means that "every little helps" - self exclusion, avoid access to cash, trusting your partner/family to handle your finances etc. - all these steps can help avoiding gambling addiction, especially if that's a severe one.

You are claiming that the addiction is within the mindset of the gambler, that it's within his control to decide and be responsible for his actions ... so that is again - incorrect, at least not all the times.

The best way to avoid gambling is by putting barriers, fences, milestones big or small to avoid the temptation to gamble. It starts with solutions like this, which some of you seem to "underestimate" (or intentionally "underestimate" it as implied above).

Such solution like this can be used not only by the gambler but by also by his/her partner or close family.

If you have 0.5 BTC as part of your "savings" and you lock it away for 1 month then you won't gamble with that 0.5 BTC... you might not even be able to get "another" 0.5 BTC to gamble with - you would eventually arrest your addiction, these are the steps that can help an addict to stop gambling.

You might not like it but that is the truth, thousands of addicts can testify that this is right ... you can be haters, intentionally criticize it, but by all means - stop taking from gamblers their options to get their own freedom, stop spreading lies and dissuade those in need from going through the right path, it's immorally wrong, unscrupulous and serves no purpose whatsoever other than filling greed, lust and what's not...

So I'd urge anyone who has no real experience with gambling addiction to stop posting nonsense in this thread, it serves no purpose whatsoever.

Established casinos cannot be interested in gambling addicts as they cause them too much headache


Addiction, any addiction for that matter, is within the mindset of the gambler

It simply cannot exist anywhere else. Regardless, to completely get rid of his addiction, a gambler has to change his mindset entirely (that basically proves why it is there). Half-measures (like putting barriers, fences, milestones, whatever) are not going to cut it, so they cannot possibly be the best way to lose interest in gambling, either

The best and in fact the only genuine way to get done and over with a ruinous habit is to pass through a sort of painful catharsis, and that most certainly means quitting the addiction cold turkey. Otherwise, the gambler will remain the same person (read, addict) with his addiction still in place and mostly intact at that

Stopping the addiction doesn't have to go through the extreme measures, through falling badly, "reaching this rock bottom" you are referring to.

Not all gambling addicts reach a rock bottom, it doesn't have to be part of their lives ...

Some addicts want to stop, they do, their mindset is about stopping - and disabling access to cash is one step for them to keep pursuing the goal they want to pursue.

For you "it's all or nothing" - you either stopped or you haven't - in real life there is more to it... just take it or leave it, it is a fact of life, pure and simple.

I must agree with you, I already had an addicted relative, so I understand what you are saying and you are very correct. We have to close all possibilities for the addict do not get money and close any chance of him do not having access anywhere he can play. The saddest of all is when the addict promises you that will change and never change, is a fight of years and a lot of pain

The fact someone hasn't stopped and is addicted for years doesn't mean what he does - doesn't work ...

To date there aren't 100% perfect solutions to quit gambling ... if there was 1 solution that works for everyone then the gambling industry would cease to exist.

You are spreading lies when you say those things don't work - please just stop it.

Can you please just leave the thread if you have 0 knowledge about gambling addiction? Seriously, you're causing more harm than doing good with your nonsense.

I seriously have no idea what your intentions are but I can tell 100% they are not genuine.
I think I already myself clear and I won't explain it again.

Well, it is indeed one of the best, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the best one. Like, addiction comes from the self, and well, self-exclusion doesn't really work once addiction takes place. A heavy will is pretty much needed to start off that and in the first place, the moment you went and fell for addiction, it showed that you had no such thing. I'm not saying it is inefficient, but for those completely addicted to gambling, self-exclusion isn't the way, well could be a part of it, but it would be pretty weak imo.

It's not going to work unless you have someone very close to you who will take care of all your funds. It has to be closest family member, someone who will understand problem and someone who spends most time with you, unfortunately, most will see you as "something very bad" and "something very bad" should take care of their problems by themselves. Most people don't understand addiction - they blame person instead trying to help them.

What is worth for topic is that just locking funds for certain period won't do much because eventually your will unlock funds and then you will find yourself in situation to deposit unlocked funds and gamble with them - rinse and repeat. Besides, you can always exchange cash to bitcoin and gamble with bitcoin or just gamble with cash - gambling addiction doesn't have currency and bitcoin is irrelevant in this whole story.

Keep in mind that you can't completely cure addiction.

You don't sound like someone who understands the mindset of a gambling addict if that's your final claim - read this please:

https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/en/taking-my-life-back-self-exclusion

Quote:
"Now I can start repairing the damage i caused without causing any more. Every CG needs to self-exclude."
(CG refers to a compulsive gambler if you don't understand the abbreviation).

Another source:
https://www.psychforums.com/gambling-addiction/topic161211.html

Quote:
The big thing for me and the thing that made the biggest difference is that I self-excluded from all casinos in my state. I tried to quit hundreds of times but I never did anything differently. I now realize that I wasn't "serious" about quitting.

I will repeat what I said countless times in this thread - if you guys don't understand gambling addicts - just don't get involved, seriously - just leave this thread alone, your opinion is useless, irrelevant, incorrect and pointless.

Are you speaking on behalf of problem gamblers or on behalf of yourself? Seriously how come this forum is full of people who love to spread nonsense?!?!

This user asked to be self-excluded:

https://forum.stake.com/topic/26609-this-site-should-have-a-self-exclusion-option/

He doesn't have that option.

Threads like this offer a feasible solution, since there isn't any self-exclusion policy for Bitcoin websites.

What part of it is difficult for you to comprehend or digest? Why is it so difficult to understand it?

Reading up that thread which the guy somewhat seeking off for that feature.He do blame off the site for him to lose another 500 bucks?
I dont see for any sites that do have this kind of arrangement but you can actually ask them to do but its not really ethical to block out some users account
with funds in it just not to let him proceed or to play?

Well, stopping the addiction and quitting the addiction seem to me to be two very different things

If the gambler doesn't have funds or the Internet access, he won't be able to gamble indeed. But will he stop being a gambling addict if he stays away from this activity for a year or even a dozen years? I guess the answer should be a strong no (unless we are talking about a teenager or a kid). It is better to consciously and willingly choose to suffer some pain, even if it is an extreme pain, for a short while and then become totally immune to the addiction (read, lose all interest in gambling, or whatever) than remain essentially the same addict and risk a relapse at any moment


This actually proves the whole point, that half-measures don't work


Half-measures never work. There is nothing to argue about


How do we know that you have?


BitKong has implemented this (or something very similar)

In the past with KYC websites you could click on 1 button to self-exclude, then they would manually process the withdrawal for you on your behalf to your saved payment details (e.g. card or bank account etc.)

BetBit.com has this self-exclusion policy too, with a click of a button you can close your account, immediately - I have no idea how they handle the client's funds, I assume the client will send an email and will provide a BTC address to get his funds back.

What the fuck is your problem monkey?

You opened topic but you want to hear only opinions the same as yours?

Why do you think that you are the only one on this world who knows addicted person?

If you have gambling problem and you want to stop just stop, don't talk about gambling, don't walk near casinos, don't take too much money with you, have someone watch over your funds and stop multishitposting no one wants to read half page filled with your back-to-back posts.

The last time I checked, I know a few "addicted people" but I wouldn't regard myself as someone "who knows addicted person" - that doesn't sound too well in English.

Now without bearing any further grudge towards you or the others -

1) I suggest you work on your English a little bit better. Please do.
2) This thread is intended for those who want to stop gambling, I hadn't planned on having discussions WHY locking your funds is vital, I was planning on discussing HOW to do it, or how to find better tools to self-exclude yourself from Crypto gambling sites.

That is my problem, and that is a problem silent readers face and can't speak up loud because people like you think we are "monkeys" - well, I'd rather be a monkey, than having to express myself with a broken language like you do.

Must be broken English.

And I was telling you why I think your idea is bad. Self-exclusion from sites? That also won't work, most sites will just unblock account and let you gamble.

You think it is better to be a monkey, I think it is better to have broken English, but you started it, not me. Now lets see your replies in this thread:

See? It's not problem in people, it's in you.

Majority of the gambling sites or all of it are not only accepting Bitcoin, but they also accept other popular coins in the market, like Ethereum Dogecoin among others, I don't think it will work like all the other people are saying also here, you can even loan to a friend and just pay after you unlock, self-control is still the key factor.

I found through a few of my very addicted friends that is somebody wants to gamble, nothing helps. Not self-exclusions, nor wallet locking, nothing.

Example: I've got a call a few months ago from 'a friend' who self-excluded himself from a casino, didn't resist, sign up over my name to use a non-deposit bonus, won some and wanted my documents for withdrawal verification. Nothing can save or stop a person like him.

It's the same with wallet-locking. YOu can borrow, use non-deposit bonuses, etc.

I am not quite sure if this will going to work. Have some changes with your pace, what I mean turn your attention to another thing, like have some another habit play games, read books or whatever. It may sound ridiculous but sometimes it works. Because I believe that you gamble because you don't have anything to focus your attention with. Restraining yourself away from gambling when you don't have anything to do after may bring you a thirst for playing it again that sometimes lead to forcing yourself to have a way. So imo try to change your focus to anything beneficial yet entertaining.

You really can't stop your gambling activities by locking your funds for the definite time that you wanted to stop gambling activities. You should bring the change from yourself let your mind accept that we should stop gambling for obvious reasons.Just locking our cryptos funds may not be enough IMO because if we are doing that we may buy cryptos and then start gambling if we can't control ourselves.

https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/en/solid-way-beat-gambling-urge-must-read This article will help us how to calm down when we urge to gambling again and again without any self-control.

No one said that locking your funds is the only thing that needs to be done in order to resolve a gambling addiction.

HOWEVER,

If you look at this thread:

https://forum.stake.com/topic/26609-this-site-should-have-a-self-exclusion-option/

This user lost money despite his will to stop. Imagine he would have done the following:

1) Withdraw his Bitcoin from Stake.com which is done instantly as they process instant withdrawals
2) Lock his Bitcoin for 1/2/3/4/5 weeks whatever....

Would he feel better with himself knowing he stopped his activity, and his funds are locked for a certain period of time? By doing so he would have, practically, arrested his addiction - if he has no other funds to use on immediate basis - in some way this solution will protect him and his funds, he will be protected from further losses.

For some reason members in this forum seem to think that I'm implying that simply locking your funds away is a solution for a gambling addiction - I've never said that.

I'm saying this this practical step can help you in times of need - just like this user from the forum in Stake.com - he wanted at that moment to stop, with this option he would be able to stop in a matter of seconds and if it would be easier, technically speaking, to lock your Bitcoin away that would be even better. That's all.

Now regarding stopping completely - this is only the first step.

No addict in the world would say that being passive and locking your funds away is the way to overcome gambling addiction - someone has to be extremely dumb to say something like this - and yes, of course you need to take proactive steps, consultation, discussion with others, reading other books/journals about it, meetings, online books, online meetings, online forums, whatever you feel comfortable with - of course these are necessary steps to be taken.

BUT

You, jrrsparkles, implied that locking your funds is unhelpful, as if it's 100% unhelpful, useless and pointless - and that is I'm afraid - simply untrue, wrong, a biased thing to say that is simply plainly and utterly wrong - I don't care how many times I'm saying it in this thread - I feel like I have to repeat myself because either you guys as readers are seriously extremely dumb and have no reading comprehension whatsoever or you guys have other motives or interests - so I'm kindly asking stop it already, this serves no purpose of doing that. So by all means just stop.

I guess for the self-exclusion thing to be effective, all gambling centers/websites need to have access to gamblers private information? There is potential risk to privacy in this case.

The better alternative could be to gradually decrease the number of times a gambler gambles in a week, till he stops gambling. Or probably have special applications that prevent you from opening anything related to gambling  on the internet.

I've been thinking about it for a while

Initially, I thought about OP's idea as something useless but pretty much harmless on its own. Now I changed my mind. In fact, I no longer see it as innocuous as it appears at first sight. How come? The problem is, if an addicted gambler who seriously wants to quit his addiction tries to implement this approach (like locking his funds, etc), he is not actually solving his problem for real and for good. Instead, he is only aggravating it because he comes to think after a while he is cured, and that gives him false confidence as well as unfounded self-assurance. Then he inevitably relapses, and with a vengeance at that, ending up in an even worse situation than before

Gamstop exists in the UK and only applies to UK sites, but why would Bitcoin sites be required to do that? It's firstly impossible and secondly not feasible.

The solution is putting the control in the gambler's hands, not the casino - lock your funds away, yourself - this way you won't bet with those funds. As easy as it sounds.



You could try Gamblock but the software has lots of flaws, I wouldn't use it as a solution if you ask me.



Seriously, what a load of crap, haha .... thanks for making me laugh though ... ok, so from your point of view it seems that locking funds will cause only damage to the gambler, it's harmful and dangerous, haha ... okay, that's honestly a good joke, I initially thought you have at least some common sense, now I'm pretty sure you don't.

Even if the Bitcoin is locked there is still no guaranty that he will not play, he can use his other coins to play, he can ask for loans or he will use his savings or his salary to buy Bitcoin, a chronic gambler even in the absence of fund will find a way to gamble, remember in an offline casinos there are loan shark that will readily give you loan so you can continuously play.

Just to drop one example of self-exclusion from gambling site, site is regulated and players can exclude themselves for max 30 days:

https://i.imgur.com/Axqqnnv.png

After ticking option number 3) 30 days and hitting "exclude me" button", I got message that I have been self-excluded for 30 days and that I can't "gamble":

https://i.imgur.com/FUK9dcS.png

Of course, there is "cancel" button, so after I self-excluded myself, I pushed that button and I got following message:

https://i.imgur.com/hYdFTnb.png

Translated "would you like to cancel "self exclusion"? You will be able to play right away"

After clicking button on the right, self-exclusion is canceled and I can gamble again. So how about that?? Of course, many gambling sites don't have that option and what I already said:
Besides, you can always exclude yourself from one gambling site and go to next one, self exclusion won't work.

So, unplug yourself from internet, go outside, spend time with friends and family, find yourself a hobby and:

Which is why the suggestion given in this thread is putting you in control of your funds and not being controlled by website A or website B.
You lock your funds, not your gambling account.
And you do so because those sites cannot really self-exclude yourself with Bitcoin.

PS any website that is allowing you to break self-exclusion as you've shown can be subject to legal lawsuits in certain jurisdictions.

I'm respecting your suggestions about solving gambling addiction I just said locking funds will not be enough we have to bring change into ourselves like you said by being active on other things which maybe anything depends on each personal.Don't stick with your opinion alone let's see what the community thinks about your idea which is the reason why forums are created for.

The locking of gambling addicts Bitcoin is a good idea too. But I think the owner of the locked Bitcoin may sell fiat to buy another Bitcoin when the addiction kicks in. But if he ends up locking all his funds, he probably won't have any money to pay bills, money for food, fare, etc

When it is possible for us to self exclude it will be possible to get back to the usage of the same gambling websites. This way everything is the mind that decides how we need to limit ourselves from the usage of gambling websites. There is an feature available with few gambling websites named vault. Here we can keep our funds, and this can't be used for gambling. We need to verify to make use of it. Thi is as simple as verifying through gmail. So I don't think locking the funds will restrict from gambling.

you said funds on the vault cant be used for gambling  ? but at the end you said that locking funds wont help restrict you from playing  . actually the last sentence is true  . no one can help you restrict from playing because no matter how you keep your coins but as long as your addiction or urge to play kicks in , you will always find a way to open and get your funds back or you will find other way to make money so that you can play again  but atleast by using vault or alike will make your self a hassel to think that youl become lazy to play again  . it works for me tho

what?who are you to lock the bitcoin just because he is addicted?that is against the rightsof everyone ,i assume that you are not a gambler because if yes?for sure you will never say this kind of post
it is not because he cannot buy anything but because he is the owner so no one has the right to take it from him.

This isn't  bad idea to stop your addiction from gambling and there is also a method you could try out. The best possible way to stay out of it is to shut down the gambling account, get some of this apps that help in blacklisting some url. That way,  your mind would draw back from the addiction.

Why do you have a problem with someone wanting to lock his funds for the sake of not gambling with them?
And how could it be against any possible "rights"? Do you have the right to tell someone else what to do with his funds? If not - then save your opinion for yourself. (I just hope you won't have a problem understanding what I'm telling you here because the way you expressed yourself wasn't really impressive).

It would have been a great feature if most wallets/exchanges have it. I skimmed through the last thread linked and I found it quite complicated, especially for me who is more "casual". If I ever got to this point I'd probably come clean to my family so they know I have a severe problem, then we'd figure out what to do with it.   



I never expected this. I was about to write that it would be more an exchange rather than casino option as the latter would prefer people to keep spending. You mentioned regulated, are casinos in your country legally required to allow locking up to 30 days or the duration varies according to casinos?


+1 to this. It's a compulsion, the addict will find ways to get his rush. If he leaves one wallet accessible he could still get tempted to use that. And once those funds unlock, he'll have to go through the entire self-exclude again (which I think is a waste since that money could be use for something else). There's only so much an individual can do on his own to fight this disease.

I could see locking your own funds as a good way to stop ones urge to gamble i've tried it once but in another way where i'd cash out my funds right away because putting it back in through my local exchange takes days for me since my options are limited. This isn't for everyone since there are other ways for them to get back in but if its effective it can be an additional layer for the other solutions they have.

In addition to the two gambling sites mentioned with self exclusion there's also sportsbet and nitrogensports for sports betting.


I think you misunderstood his post he's agreeing to the self exclusion because no one simply locks others' gambling funds. If anything the gamblers usually request their account to be locked or they do it on their own as few sites have different kinds of self exclusion.

Finally it's good to see a sensible comment in this thread.
You're right that any layer, additional or main one - to stop gambling - is a vital layer.

Merited +1 by me.

If the addict doesn't want to get help - then yes, he would find ways to gamble.

However,

If the addict wants to stop - then in this environment where self-exclusion is not something that is feasible to achieve so easily with Crypto Gambling sites - then suggestions like the ones in this thread could help the addict to prevent himself from going back to gamble.

There is no dispute that self-exclusion works, it simply does - and the goal of this thread is to manifest that concept.

So your conclusion is wrong, however you want to look at it.

Even a 96-hour lockup isn't going to exclude anybody from gambling, let's be realistic. It's trivially simple to just convert more fiat into BTC or another cryptocurrency.

People often even take out loans just for the purpose of gambling, so locking up the funds simply isn't going to cut it.

Personally, I think the only way to stop yourself from gambling is to seek professional help, or let your friends and family know about your issues so they can help you.

Beyond that, it's all willpower. Everything in moderation guys.

I absolutely agree with this. I was going to suggest simply keeping your coins in a medium that's harder to access such as a paper wallet or a hardware wallet so you'll need to take more steps to get to where your funds are, but if you've got a somewhat serious problem, you'll probably find the inconvenience of using either of these forms of coin storage to be small compared to the enjoyment you get from gambling. I also don't like keeping funds on third-party platforms no matter how secure they might be, so using your willpower or strengthening it to the point that you can begin to rely on it is the ideal solution.

Talking to others is very underrated today. You can only keep things pent up for so long before they come out one way or another, and friends and family can often provide great advice or even just support through any problems you might have. People especially close to you absolutely do care at least to some degree about what's happening to you personally, so find some way to do so.

If you use the Coinb.in option then you are not limited to only 96 hours.
Now converting more fiat into BTC as far as I'm as aware by any means is not instant for most people, so as long as you don't have instant access to deposit Bitcoin to a Bitcoin site, then you are in some way protected because you would be deterred by any means to do so in a way that takes a long time, since it's not instant - so you kill the urge at the very moment it's showing upm and basically then you are already making a progress.


The issue with gambling is isolation, many addicts don't tell others - breaking the isolation is definitely one of the best steps towards stopping, however those who are not in this stage would find self-exclusion (or what this thread suggests) to be more useful for them.

I'm personally very happy I've found Coinb.in - I have some BTC in my wallet, I use it only when I need it, but I need to use it only 2 weeks from now, so by locking my BTC for 2 weeks - I won't be buying more BTC from my fiat (not worth the fees, the hassles, the sports odds of 1.95 would be worth 1.70 this way which is demotivating to bet like this) .... I won't be looking to gamble now, on the contrary, I feel in some way much better knowing my BTC cannot be spent and it's not lost.

You guys once again underestimate the power of self-exclusion, self-exclusion means you cannot gamble, whether you like it or not ... of course if I would insist I can find was to place bets but deep inside I feel like I don't want to and I am not having urges to do so ... I just know when my BTC is released I will spend it on what I need to spend it, and nothing else, period.

What if you are dealing with a website like Stake.com, BetBit.com and others who let you simply sign up for a new account in a matter of seconds? You won't restrict yourself that way.

I've just locked 0.03 BTC using Coinb.in until the 20th of December (2 weeks from now), I need to use them only then ... it's a great feeling that in some way I've now "self-excluded" myself from Crypto Gambling sites because I won't be able to bet now with other Crypto funds, I'm only feeling more deterred from placing bets, and every day that goes by without placing a bet is bringing me more freedom, sanity and a different aspect at life.

Like or not - this method works, at least for me, at least I'm a single individual who can testify that this is a great method that works for me and prevents me from placing bets!

It works yes in that one can't gamble without money. But like I and many said, there are ways around it and once the funds unlock, another boost of willpower would be needed to lock it again and if that's the case why not just withdraw it than make it useless?

Self-exclusion works as an immediate way to stop the act from happening but to be truly effective it'll have to be part of an intervention. For example during the 1 month lock-down he/she can go into counseling, and then when the fund unlocks move the money into an account family members can monitor so they can find if he/she's in a danger of relapse.

Anyway, it have its use, I never disputed that and I commend you mentioning this option and making a thread about it that members who may feel they are losing control can read and learn from.

Thank you, we are finally in accord.
I totally agree that self-exclusion by itself, or locking your funds away is insufficient to stop (or somehow control) your gambling addiction, by all means this is not enough, you definitely have to supplement the exclusion with ideas such as reading books or online books, participating in forums or physical groups such as GA (I personally don't like GA though), you should also edcuate yourself about why gambling is bad for you or why it's a bad "investment", whatever works for you - I don't think locking your funds away or self-excluding by any means is enough to stop gambling for good.