Crush Gambling Addiction Forever
Having a gambling problem isn’t always instantly recognisable, and even though there are many out there that don’t see they have a problem, there are times when it just catches up with you and you need somewhere to turn to for help.
Our UK guide to crushing your gambling addiction forever covers topics such as:
- How to reduce your gambling
- Negative areas in your gambling habit
- Way to recognise the possible development of a gambling problem
- How to make a giant leap and recognise you have a gambling problem
- Helping those that already have made that giant leap admitting a admitting a problem
- A list of useful websites that are there to help with all of the above
- Assisting those that know someone with a gambling problem
A quick history behind today’s current gambling problems
In the past gambling was a problem mainly due to loan sharking and debts. It caused so many problems in the Old West of USA, in the colonial days when the European power houses took over most of the world and for the great Asian empires.
One of the final solutions as modernisation took place during the days of the Enlightenment and then the Industrial Revolution was to legalise/control gambling.
Legalisation helped to some extent and made it easier for people to gamble safely. In addition, new governments and the rule of law made it more difficult for loan sharks to ply their trade, but only served to reduce this side of the problem. There are even still today many loan sharks and illegitimate casinos in operation.
At this time gambling become a problem for only a select few obsessive personalities, and was restricted to the live casinos. However, the changing times and the introduction of the World Wide Web has made it easier for people to gamble, and much easier for them to hide their gambling habit as they can gamble from their mobile phone as well as from the privacy of their own homes.
A gambling problem can start from something as harmless of a flutter on the tables, but this can turn into a fully blown problem over time should self-control become lost in a swamp of losses.
You are not the only one with a gambling problem
It is always very important to understand that if you do feel that you have a gambling problem, you are certainly not alone out there.
Currently studies show that there are around 8% of online gamblers around the world that have lost self-control when it comes to real money gaming online. The big problem for these people is turning this around and regaining that self-control in order to beat the negative effects of temptation.
It is human nature to want to win and beat the tables, but in reality many online gamblers with a problem don’t realise that the tables are in fact winning, and the game is already over. The main thing to do in order to win is to understand that it is the tables that are now winning and that it is your turn to win by cutting down and not giving the tables what they want – this is the very first step to getting over a gambling problem.
Check out how to spot whether you have a gambling problem by reading through our list of “13 Unlucky Gaming Habits”.
Here are ‘7 Unlucky Gambling Habits’
If you have any 1 of these 7 unlucky habits, then you need to reassess your gambling habits in order to either quit gambling altogether or at least reduce that particular bad habit in order to bring your game back under control and to continue gambling in a more sociable capacity.
- Losing sleep over losses when gambling
- Gambling late into the nigh affecting your life’s commitments such as work or studies, being late for work or cancelling social activities
- Stress as a result of gambling too long or due to losses incurred during a gambling session. Punching walls, smashing things, angry with friends or family
- Repeatedly depositing more money to chase you losses on single sessions
- Gambling for long periods of time without a taking a break affecting your health, eating patterns and social life
- Getting into debt by using your overdraft, credit cards, loans or borrowing money from friends and family to pay for your gambling habit
- Failing to pay bills because you spent the money gambling
Just 1 of these problems could result in your gambling habits becoming a problem as many of these problems are caused by a chain reaction. For example, you could play for too long and lose your concentration and start to make careless bets maybe due to tiredness, anger, or a combination of both.
An example of problem gambling
As a result of a losing streak or several, you may feel like your luck is about to change and deposit more cash. Both anger and tiredness plus the fact that you may not be thinking straight can always result in careless bets that are just a waste of money. The classic scenario is when someone that bets £5 a bet will go for a big £100 bet just to prove the casino is against them.
Breaking these types of habit
These types of habits are the times when you need a break, and you also need to understand how variation works. With these 2 concepts conquered you can actually avoid the risks of becoming a problem gambler.
Online casino tools used to reduce your gambling habits
Luckily there are now several tools and plenty of publication online that can help you reduce or completely eliminate a gambling problem.
Here are some the main topics we will cover:
- Understanding how variation works
- Self-exclusion tools
- Deposit limit tools
- Talk to someone
By following each one of these steps one-by-one, you will be able to find a solution to any of the ‘7 Unlucky Gambling Habits’ mentioned above.
- Understanding how variation works
You may be wondering how understanding variation can help with a gambling problem, and your thoughts are well founded. The simple answer is that by understating variation, this can help you both psychologically and strategically.
Psychologically speaking, knowing what an upswing and a downswing is may help reduce your stress a little if you get aggressive, angry or switch to an irrational betting pattern when you go on a downswing. It is not that the casino is against you, or your bad luck – it is just that time when the coin lands on tails way more than heads despite the fact that the odds are 50/50 all the way.
This is exactly what happens when you gamble. You may go through a long winning streak or times where your sessions end evens. Nonetheless, we all have to go through a downswing too. It is literally the same as flipping a coin in a friendly game of heads or tails. Sometimes your opponent will constantly win, and you put it down to luck.
However, if you both continue playing day by day to a set budget, eventually variation will even out and you will start to gain your money back. As long as you keep the stakes the same and don’t lose your temper, and stick to your budget, you will eventually make your money.
Safe in the knowledge that it is just the law of averages passing by, you can reduce bad tempered betting patterns.
Strategically speaking, understanding variation will help you make better decisions with the way that you place your best and use your bank roll. Sticking to your budget is very important to be able to continue playing sensibly rather than showing traits of a gambling addiction.
- Self-Exclusion Tools
These are probably the most useful gambling tools you can have at your disposal in order to reduce the amount you gamble.
On your online casino there should be a section most likely in the menu, allowing you to ban yourself playing any of the real money games on the site. This has several key advantages working in your favour.
- Gives you a cooling off period
- Helps you save a ton of cash
- Stops you from chasing you losses
- Gives you a short to long time out period
How does it work?
This works by giving the option to self-exclude yourself for the following periods of time:
- 1 hour
- 2 hours
- 12 hours
- 24 hours
- 48 hours
- 1 week
- 2 weeks
- 1 month
- 3 months
- 6 months
- 12 months
- Forever!
The last one means that you will never be able to play at this online casino ago. You need to use this with caution because you cannot sign up for the casino with new account as multi-accounting is forbidden – therefore your account never deleted and you will still be able to log on and use the play money games.
Irreversible Settings
Once you have self-excluded yourself, you cannot reverse the decision to do so. You can email, plead and beg the casino, but there is nothing they can do to reverse the settings selected.
This is why a password protection asking you to reconfirm your password before applying the settings. The software has been programmed to make it impossible to reverse the decision to self-exclude.
- Deposit limit tools
This is a great option to stop yourself chasing your losses, and it is not as strict as the self-exclusion tool making it a popular method to use if it is available at your online casino.
You can set your deposit limit so you can only deposit a maximum amount of cash over the following time periods:
- Daily limit
- Weekly limit
- Monthly limit
The decision to use this tool is not permanent, and so you can change the settings at any time you please. Do note that you cannot change them immediately. Any new deposit limit setting will take time to take effect.
A key advantage to this is that if you like to habitually deposit more cash to chase your losses, you are stopped from doing this because it takes time for changes to happen effectively giving you a cooling off period. You also keep yourself from going broke if you are the type of player that cleans out his/her account regularly, and lastly, you can play within your limits so you never have problems paying your bills or monthly expenses.
- Talking to someone about a gambling problem
When all the above fail to stop gambling becoming a problem, then the first point of call is to seek advice. Fortunately, in today’s hotly disputed online gambling world there is plenty of help at hand.
We have put together a list of the most used and reputable online gambling help websites from around the world. Some of the best sites have the following characteristics that help to support those that have a gambling problem.
- Free telephone support
- Free real time chat windows
- Call back services
- Free email support
- Social Media connections
It doesn’t matter what level your problem is currently at, you can contact any of these websites to talk about your problem. Plus, there are plenty of ways to get in touch and talk about how you can get your gambling under control or quit gambling altogether.
List of online websites available for free advice:
www.helpguide.org/articles/addiction/gambling-addiction-and-problem-gambling.htm
www.gamblinghelponline.org.au
www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk
www.missionaustralia.com.au
www.gansw.org.au
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/addiction/Pages/gamblingaddiction.aspx
www.gamblingtherapy.org
www.gamcare.org.uk
www.smartrecovery.org/addiction/gambling_addiction.html
All these websites are there to help. They are independent and government funded organisation set-up with secure, private and confidential contact methods. All conversations are private, plus your name and private details are never shared.
What happens if you are trying to help someone with a gambling problem?
There are 2 main situation where problem gamblers may need help.
- The person has confided in your asking for help
- You are trying to find a way to get a problem gambler to admit they have a problem
In both cases all the websites mentioned above are also there to help people in your situation. The first point of call is always finding credible advice from those that have dealt with online gamblers on many occasions.
Your best approach is to make a list of problems your friend or family member you are trying to help. As with alcoholics, drug addicts and those with other addictive problems, gambling can ruin a home. It can also destroy careers. Any and all negative problems should be clearly defined.
If you are unsure where to start, then that is not a problem. The support teams on these websites can point in the right direction. In short, as much information as possible should be gathered in order to help you start to deal with an online gamblers problem.
A final word
Admitting you have a problem or assisting someone that has already admitted they have a gambling problem is not an easy task. Probably the most difficult task is getting someone to admit they have a problem, or if you are a gambler, then admitting to yourself that you have a problem that needs dealing with.
Take a look at our list of ‘7 Unlucky Gambling Habits’ and see if you as a gambler, or someone that you know is a compulsive gambler, has an addiction with real money gambling. This can in fact be an online gambling problem or a problem gambling at casinos, bookies, betting shops and/or anywhere that takes bets.
One key component that can actually help problem gamblers is simply understanding how probability and variation works. This may help understanding up and down swings in gambling helping online casino players become more strategical in the way that they play and approach their online gambling.
Luckily strict licencing laws mean that the online casinos today have sections on their sites that help people to reduce their gambling by using self-exclusion tools that can cease any real money gambling. In addition, there are deposit limit tools that can stop players from going over their limit and help online casino players stick to set gambling budgets.
Should the online tools not work, then there are plenty of websites out there that can help. All these websites have support teams and all information is completely private and confidential. Many of them have real time chat support, social media and telephone support; some even offer a call back service if you leave your number.
The main point is to understand that if you have a gambling problem, or if you know someone with a gambling problem is understand that you are not alone, and there is help out there.