Why is it so hard to stop?

[swogerino]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

My personal experience is that something very bad has to happen to you in order to stop otherwise I assume it is almost impossible. The reason for that is our brain emitting dopamine makes us feel happy only when gambling because during such sessions our adrenaline is very high, not all the time but most of it for sure and this is the reason we can't seem to stop, who wants to stop pleasure anyway. To me it happened that I had huge consecutive losses even after making a few consecutive deposits and to me that was the red flag that I should stop this shit and never play slot machines again, it was slot machines and I believe for most of us it is slot machines because those are the most addictive games a casino has.

[joeperry]

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

It's really actually hard to stop once you've experience winning before and there are times that think you can win bigger amount than your losing that's why you never stop trying, I actually do have that kind of though before but realize that the chance of winning big amount is really small, it's true that the real enemy is ourselves since it's somewhat part of human nature to be greedy sometimes.

Controlling yourself is not an easy task it needs to be practiced earlier and some people are really addicted that they can't control themselves or not aware that they are already addicted, for this instance they might need a professional help to control themselves.

[Zadicar]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

As long you do have that money into your pocket then the primary thing that comes up into your mind is on how you would really be able to cope up with those loses or bringing it back.
We do know that greed level will really be that totally different to each person on which there are ones who are really that able to control or stop themselves and there are ones who dont really care
as long they do have the money then they would really be that definitely that still play as long they do have the money or having the funds then they will continue on what they are really that doing.
Gambling business is profitable and this is where it do make those gamblers having this kind of mistakes and the cycle continues.

[Jating]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Of course, all gamblers have experience this, wherein it's really hard to stop and even if we say to ourselves that we are done (specially if we have lost already), there is something inside of us that tell to gamble and maybe we can bounce back and win the money that we have lost and recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

I think we have discussed about self control and that's what we really need. Or maybe don't listen to our heart, and just tell that we need to stop and think about the priorities in our life. So that at least we have reasons to stop for now and don't suffer any more financial damage.

[btc_angela]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

It's hard to stop because as human, we don't want to lose, specially money in the game. And then another reason is the unknown, we wanted to test ourselves if we are that good. Let's say in sports betting, two teams that are playing, we wanted to see if we can predict who will win. And with that, we feel great and invincible.

With that, yes, just like now, I just played slots and lost already, and then I have this urge to make a deposit and play again because I don't want to lose. But then I just decided to quit as I don't like to lose again resulting in some mental stress.

[Dailyscript]

By knowing the right thing to do and what could happen if you are trying to recover your loss. Anyone that knows already that loss recovery attempts can lead to more losses until his money all gone will not want to do that. So the person needs to just try as much as possible to avoid gambling at the time.

I think it has happened to me before but I did not like it at all and I know it is not a good thing at all. I am not a frequent gambler now and if I lose, I can not think of crediting my gambling account because I know I can lose more. I am happy with just little loss. What I also noticed about me is that loss at times discourage me to even gamble for some weeks. I do not know why but that is me.

Even by knowing the right thing to do and the consrquences of chasing our loss most gambler still end up gambling again and again untill they feel better. That is what OP is trying to exlain? And we cannot tell why it is so diffcult for any gamble who is finding it hard to stop gambling whenever he has a huge loss. However, only one thing explains it all, which is addiction. Such gambler has lost all his ethicks and discipline and now is in  a state of chronic addiction. It will be very diffcult to let go.

[Queentoshi]

Does anyone here experience this from time to time?

Every gambler experience this from time to time because self-control will always be tested. Just like fitness I think self-control is not a destination, but a journey and it is something that every individual needs to constantly practice if they intend to stay that way.

How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

Practice self-control, not just in gambling but also in life. If you can practice self-control in simple activities of life, extending it to gambling will not be difficult.

[Botnake]

The short answer is because we are weak. 

Degenerate gamblers like us haven’t fully matured yet. Maybe it just takes time before we learn to accept that some days in gambling are just bad days, and that there’s always another chance to bounce back. Even if we don’t win, the most important thing is to stick to our limit.

Only when we learn to respect our limits can we still enjoy gambling, even when we’re losing. Because at the end of the day, it’s our own stupidity that makes us blame gambling for ruining our lives. We have to be responsible gamblers just like how casinos always remind us before we start playing.

[Ever-young]

We are actually our own enemy and not the other way round as some will blame the system or the particular game that they are playing to be the reason to why they lose so much when they could have just taken a break just after they experienced serious loss but it’s always hard to accept defeat and when you allow yourself be in that situation you becomes your own enemy as you will end up encouraging yourself to chase after your losses until you lose it all.

[Wexnident]

~

Because you have money left for the most part lol. And that gambling is just designed that way. See if it were something skillbased, say chess, or basketball. You would inevitably halt to a stop after running out of gas (physically or mentally). In gambling? There's no such thing as being tired there since it's just adrenaline all the time and since all it needs is well, money, you can just keep going and going and going.

It all just ends up with you being able to control how you spend your money in gambling. Not when your playing already but rather before. Control the amount you deposit and make it stay like that. If it's gone? Then time to stop.

[7juju]

This is exactly what addiction does to you. Your inability to control that urge of revenge and chasing of losses is what lead to full blown out addition. People that are addicted to gambling don't even realise that they are addicted, because in their eyes they are just making every efforts to recover their losses. Just tell yourself that if I continue going this way, that I stand the risk of losing all my money and going broke. And if you lose all your money things will turn very ugly for you. What you should do if you find yourself in this situation, is to gamble with fiat, instead of crypto. And have a separate account where you can't access the money in it easily without going inside the bank before you access money. Make sure most of your savings are in that account. When you finish the money in your regular account, it will be difficult for you to access funds. And limit your gambling to weekends only when the banks are not working.

[danherbias07]

You are not alone on that matter brother, I feel the same way. I had 5k PHP and told myself I would just use 1k PHP for playing slots. I said to myself that would be the mark that I should surrender win or lose. As I play, I keep on losing my money and it goes to 2k PHP and so on. It went until 4k PHP losses until thankfully, one slot game gave me x3500 of win (playing at 1 PHP per roll). When I got back a big chunk of what I used, I rested for like 2 days like something was taken out of my system and made me breathe well again.

It's a stressful path. We can avoid it by thinking of all the stress it gives us while we are in the position of chasing our losses. It should not happen again, that's what I told myself.

[laijsica]

Yep there is really no need to look for our enemies at the end of the day we are responsible for our actions. Most of the time our constant tendency to gamble is responsible for our big losses and it increases our addiction and the wounds of losing. Before we should stop at the last stage of gambling, you need to know what the last stage actually is. I think when you are losing continuously in gambling that is the last time for you to stay. Another time is when you get a win, be it in any amount. At that time you should control yourself and have patience so that the main purpose of gambling and later on it does not have a negative impact. Most of the time it was difficult for me to control it in a new situation experience and maturity taught me patience.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Does anyone here experience this from time to time?

In my case, yes, but in a non-problematic way. So I have $100 in my account and I start playing slots thinking that if I go down to $50 I'll leave the session and come back another day to try my luck. But when I go below $50 I keep betting but not much more, maybe when I get to $40 or $30 I stop.

Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

From what you say, I think your problem is that you are betting amounts that affect you mentally (which is common). The ideal would be to bet amounts that you couldn't care less about losing, although the problem with that is that then the gambling isn't as exciting. You have to find a balance.

[Cointxz]

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.

The urge to win back what you lose is really strong especially if you money left. This is a common struggle of gambler even experienced one like me.

How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

I just think that I will lose my remaining money if I play again so that will feel fear that will push me to stop gambling.

I never gamble when I’m already scared of losing.

[Yamifoud]

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

I couldn't say anything other than accept that it really happened to me. We may know that chasing could lead us to lose more, but we do it now and then. This shows us that chasing is more evident and bold to everyone. It is hard to explain why, but this naturally happens to all gamblers.

That is why gambling could never make us rich. Winning is just a bonus, but losing is really our destiny. So we don't need to argue why but rather accept the meaning of gambling. Win less, lose more. It is better to be clear rather than full of assumptions.

[Inwestour]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

Because at this point psychology kicks in, after a big loss, if you still have money left on your deposit, you of course want to win back, and you start thinking about making a bet on the rest of your balance, with the hope of winning back, and most often another loss will follow. In this case, it will be easier to take a break, because your balance will be 0 and there will be no temptation to make another bet, because for this you will need to replenish the deposit.

[Porfirii]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

I think that this is a human, natural behaviour most of us must will have to live sooner or later.

As I have explained at some point in this forum before, when I was a kid I had a very bad experience which I think that it marked me for life. I lost some tokens in a game and I didn't want to accept the loss, so I kept playing and losing more tokens. In the end, when I had only like 20%-30% of my tokens left, I decided to quit, which was a very bitter sensation. It was the right decision, though, because I could've lost them all if I continued.

Although painful, I think that it was an early lesson that I appreciate now and helps me control myself and to the right thing.

[Kelward]

I always read that when we’re losing big, we should stop to avoid losing even more. But deep inside, if you still have money left, it’s like you want to chase your losses as it feels like you can’t sleep unless you gamble again and try to recover.

Does anyone here experience this from time to time? Because in the end, the real enemy is ourselves.
How do you control yourself and do the right thing?

One of the practical ways to not chase loses is to not have huge amounts of money in our gambling account, if you don't have sufficient balance to gamble with you'd exit when you're losing. The challenge there is that you should have self control not to fund your gambling account and continue the chase. So responsible gambling is having a budget for your gambling funds and being disciplined to stick to your decision, discourage yourself from chasing loses and don't be overconfident to continue gambling when you're winning. It sounds simple but quite difficult to practice but with a constant reminders that you don't want to chase loses and become an addict you'd succeed.

[Cantsay]

You are not alone on that matter brother, I feel the same way. I had 5k PHP and told myself I would just use 1k PHP for playing slots. I said to myself that would be the mark that I should surrender win or lose. As I play, I keep on losing my money and it goes to 2k PHP and so on. It went until 4k PHP losses until thankfully, one slot game gave me x3500 of win (playing at 1 PHP per roll). When I got back a big chunk of what I used, I rested for like 2 days like something was taken out of my system and made me breathe well again.

It's a stressful path. We can avoid it by thinking of all the stress it gives us while we are in the position of chasing our losses. It should not happen again, that's what I told myself.

I’ve been in the same situation like this but in my case I wasn’t lucky enough to win back the money I lost - mine was that I made a deposit into my local gambling site and budgeted that I’d use a part of it for that day gambling and few minutes into my gambling session I already lost what I originally wanted to spend so I said to myself “a few more spins won’t kill me” and I kept spinning till I had nothing left in my account.

This experience was when I newly got into gambling and also some years later. - but it’s not something that occurs to me frequently but the few times I have experienced it I know the awful feeling I felt afterwards and it’s not something I’d wish for someone else to experience that’s why I’d keep saying it as soon as you start losing quit and keep the little profit you’ve made unless you’re ready to let go of your entire bankroll.