Just a Reminder.... If You Feel These, You Might Already Be Addicted

[Yamifoud]

I just want to throw this out there for discussion. Most of us here enjoy a bit of gambling, whether it’s sports betting, casinos, or just small plays for fun.
But sometimes, it’s hard to notice when it starts to go over the line. Try to think about it for a second…

Have you felt any of these lately?

• You think about gambling even when you’re not playing.

• You hide your losses or pretend you’re still up.

• You keep playing even when you already lost your budget.

• You get irritated or anxious when you can’t gamble.

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

If a few of these sound familiar, maybe it’s time to take a step back. gambling should be fun, not something that stresses you out or empties your wallet.

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Would be nice to hear how others deal with it.

[Oshosondy]

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

I have been addicted to gambling before, I later overcome it and what I learned is that a good gambler needs to set limit for himself. I later set an amount of money aside every week for gambling and it is a very small amount of money. If I decide to deposit more money than that into the gambling account, I know already that gambling addiction is getting near again as I see using too much of money on gambling as addiction.

[joeperry]

This is true and to some people they know to themselves that they already see some symptoms like this but in their mind it's like "I still got it under control" until they lost everything, I really think addicted gambler is not aware that he is already addicted to it.

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Each person have their own ways to overcome addiction, or not to be addicted to it (prevention). In my case, I usually do things I like, for instance learning new things, playing games online and this actually helps me to get away with gambling, before I can't survive a week without playing at least once a day and now I can survive without playing in a month, though from time to time I still place bet on the teams that I do look forward to just to give some excitement and thrill while watching and some crash game and dice game when I'm really bored.

[swogerino]

I just want to throw this out there for discussion. Most of us here enjoy a bit of gambling, whether it’s sports betting, casinos, or just small plays for fun.
But sometimes, it’s hard to notice when it starts to go over the line. Try to think about it for a second…

Have you felt any of these lately?

• You think about gambling even when you’re not playing.

• You hide your losses or pretend you’re still up.

• You keep playing even when you already lost your budget.

• You get irritated or anxious when you can’t gamble.

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

If a few of these sound familiar, maybe it’s time to take a step back. gambling should be fun, not something that stresses you out or empties your wallet.

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Would be nice to hear how others deal with it.

I have none of such symptoms and yet I am somewhat addicted. I need to play once a week with a lot of money and minimum bet to feel joy during the weekend. I keep doing the same thing and expecting different results which Einstein defined as insanity and he was absolutely spot on for this one. I know what I do is not healthy but once a week I need adrenaline and for me I find thrilling and adrenaline in gambling while dreaming for x50000 max win or an even higher multiplier. I think you should add another option "you do not feel thrilled or energized if you don't gamble at least once a week" to your list. They are all relevant and adding my idea of addiction can make it more inclusive.[/list]

[Yamifoud]

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

I have been addicted to gambling before, I later overcome it and what I learned is that a good gambler needs to set limit for himself. I later set an amount of money aside every week for gambling and it is a very small amount of money. If I decide to deposit more money than that into the gambling account, I know already that gambling addiction is getting near again as I see using too much of money on gambling as addiction.

Good to hear that, i just hope some who see this thread won’t reach that serious level of addiction. it’s not easy to escape once you’re already stuck in it, and sometimes it takes a big hit before people realize it. They say we learn from mistakes, but once it sinks deep into your system, it’s a whole different story. some even end up broke, or worse, homeless.

Really glad to hear your story mate, and the advice you shared,
RESPECT for that.

[mindrust]

It is hard to keep the urge under control. I call it “the urge”, some other people call it “the itch” or “the need”. I saw one person calling it “the great yearning” if you can believe it. (Ridiculous name if you ask me) When the pressure of the urge starts to build up, it takes over my decision making process, I am not myself anymore. It is unstoppable. I need to play. I need to play more till I go broke. Then I need to borrow, and play again. Where is the end? I don’t know. All I know is I want to make all the bets out there. I want to be a bet king. King of the casinos.

Just joking, when I feel any of these feelings and I haven’t felt them for a long time, i just do something else hehe

[Wiwo]

The major problems i have with gambling lately is that i am greedy and easily carried away, because at some point i always have the need to risk high amount thinking that my analysis will be the winning and seeing that odds are in my favor.

I know this is as a result of my history of gambling addiction, at that time i mostly play away my weekly earnings since i get paid into my casinos account, once i see high bankroll i become tempted to gamble more, so i need to work on my limits control.

[Russlenat]

Yeah it’s a good warning for those who haven’t been addicted yet, but for me, I already felt that before, been addicted many times. It’s not easy, really messes with your head. But now I can say I’m free from it, I can handle myself without pressure to gamble again. I’m thankful I got out before the damage got too big.

So I just hope newbies learn by reading, not by experience.
Some things are worth learning the hard way, but gambling addiction isn’t one of them.

[Sim_card]

The major problems i have with gambling lately is that i am greedy and easily carried away, because at some point i always have the need to risk high amount thinking that my analysis will be the winning and seeing that odds are in my favor.

I know this is as a result of my history of gambling addiction, at that time i mostly play away my weekly earnings since i get paid into my casinos account, once i see high bankroll i become tempted to gamble more, so i need to work on my limits control.

You should be very careful with your gambling activities because it shows some kind of eagerness to make profits from gambling which is why you do get carried away when gambling. Gamble for fun at not for profit making because if you're after profits, you will definitely be greedy. You re no longer being paid your signature campaign funds to your casino account therefore, you use set a gambling budget and don't go beyond that if it's been exhausted.

[TopTort777]

"You keep playing even when you already lost your budget." what that suppose to mean? Continue gambling with play money? That does not look dangerous. I lose nothing and such activity barely could trigger addiction.

"You think about gambling even when you’re not playing." also sound weird. I think of who would win in a MMA fight and some ideas of placing a bet appear. I have valued all the risks. Does it makes me addicted? When I read forum gambling section that is also thinking about gambling in a way. Does that also make addicted?

[_act_]

The major problems i have with gambling lately is that i am greedy and easily carried away, because at some point i always have the need to risk high amount thinking that my analysis will be the winning and seeing that odds are in my favor.

There is no analyses that can give you long term profit in gambling. The analyses can even make things worse because you may think you are getting it but later seeing yourself losing.

I know this is as a result of my history of gambling addiction, at that time i mostly play away my weekly earnings since i get paid into my casinos account, once i see high bankroll i become tempted to gamble more, so i need to work on my limits control.

So sorry about this, but if you can afford to lose your weekly income on this forum, it should not be a problem. But I think it is not what you like. If it is me, I will prefer to just withdraw almost all the money but leave like 5% or less there every week.

[danherbias07]

I think the fact that someone keeps thinking about gambling is a sign that he is addicted to it. Just like smoking and drinking, a person cannot stop thinking about doing it because their body needs it.

The same goes for gambling. It might not be our body that needs it because there's no such thing as an addictive substance in it that we intake. But it's our brain that tells us that we must do it. Either because of greed or because we want to chase our losses.

[passwordnow]

I did hid my losses and I thought that it's normal to do that because it's shameful when people knew how much we've lost. But at the end of my realization, it's normal to show how much I've lost and I don't do that anymore so, which means that I am not a gambling addict although I do sports betting which is the niche that I like to do whenever I want to gamble. Fortunately, not all of those that you've mentioned is a sign for me but it's true that if anyone feels that they're having those signs, they need to check themselves to at least control it before things go worse.

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Would be nice to hear how others deal with it.

I do set my limits but I sometimes go beyond with it but with a very minimal amount if I am in a losing streak. I think aside from planning on how much you'll gamble and for how long you'll do, always discipline yourself and follow the plan that you have set.

[giammangiato]

• You think about gambling even when you’re not playing.

• You hide your losses or pretend you’re still up.

• You keep playing even when you already lost your budget.

• You get irritated or anxious when you can’t gamble.

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

Honestly? I don't have any of these feelings. I like to gamble, I have fun, I don't lose money, I don't get stressed if I lose, and I don't get excited if I win.
I don't hide anything, neither losses nor winnings, from my family, also because what I spend doesn't affect the family budget.
I consider myself fairly balanced; when I don't want or can't spend money on gambling, I play demo slot machines (I just have fun).[/list]

[jcojci]

If you always think about gambling, you may already be addicted to gambling. You are difficult for you to leave gambling from your mind and always think about it. That can make you return to the casino without thinking about your finances. You need to make yourself busy doing many things so you can leave gambling and not think about it. Besides that, you should have control to stay away from gambling no matter if that is difficult. Only self control that helps you from gambling and you should not give up on trying.

[acroman08]

• You think about gambling even when you’re not playing.

• You hide your losses or pretend you’re still up.

• You keep playing even when you already lost your budget.

• You get irritated or anxious when you can’t gamble.

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

I think you should add "you keep chasing your losses" and "you keep gambling money you can't afford to lose"

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

You set rules and strictly follow them. Gambling moderately and responsibly is one of the best ways to avoid developing addicted, but just to be clear, it is not a guarantee that you won't develop addiction even if you follow these rules.[/list]

[Eternad]

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

I have no complaint on other characteristics since it’s truly a sign of early addiction problem but for this specific quote is what I argue mainly because not all user considered as addicted if they get excitement on higher bet as long the amount is within the range that you can afford to lose.

Personally, I’m not happy when betting 0.1$ on each round of the game especially if the time interval on each game is long.

Depending on the type of game, I want to set higher bet amount to make me excited.

[MAAManda]

There are many signs that someone is addicted to gambling. Doing activities secretly is one of them, not wanting what you do to be known by those closest to you. I used to be an addict, but because of the help & support from some friends & family members, I finally broke free from that vicious cycle. Now I feel like I'm being watched for all those activities & I no longer play blindly like I used to, playing just for fun with small bets .

[Kelward]

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Would be nice to hear how others deal with it.

I managed to keep it in control when I became totally aware about the house edge, I understood that a gambler doesn't have a 50 50 chance with the casino, they have the upper hand at taking your money than you taking theirs. I learnt responsible gambling and it has been helping me since, the core of responsible gambling is using amount that you can afford to loose, this alone will save you from addiction. If you use very small amount according to your income to gamble you cannot chase loses because you didn't budget any extra bankroll for it.

[summonerrk]

I just want to throw this out there for discussion. Most of us here enjoy a bit of gambling, whether it’s sports betting, casinos, or just small plays for fun.
But sometimes, it’s hard to notice when it starts to go over the line. Try to think about it for a second…

Have you felt any of these lately?

• You think about gambling even when you’re not playing.

• You hide your losses or pretend you’re still up.

• You keep playing even when you already lost your budget.

• You get irritated or anxious when you can’t gamble.

• You need to bet higher amounts just to feel excited again.

If a few of these sound familiar, maybe it’s time to take a step back. gambling should be fun, not something that stresses you out or empties your wallet.

So I’m curious ... how do you manage to keep it under control?
Do you set limits for yourself, or just try to trust your self-control?

Would be nice to hear how others deal with it.

You're absolutely right in your article; you've very accurately listed all the signs of a person who has completely lost control. Among them, it's clear how the individual becomes compulsive and a fun pastime turns into a dopamine addiction.
Goals become a chemical reaction that the body requires more and more of, so over time, only by increasing the stakes he can feel the old thrill of gambling. That's why we need to be attentive to our emotionals..[/list]