By skyforbes 
How to Overcome a Gambling Addiction
This post is about how to overcome a gambling addiction.
There are 5 powerful ways to overcome a gambling addiction and become clean forever.
Gambling is a big fat lie.
Those are the words of my dear friend Santos Rolon Jr from Soldiers of Mastery on YouTube.
Me and Santos almost and I repeat ALMOST had our lives ruined from gambling.
Luckily, we managed to turn it around for the better.
Fortunately, we are both now clean and sober, with absolutely no desire whatsoever to ever place a bet or gamble at all again.
In fact, even with friends I do not play poker, I don’t play the lottery nothing.
I have not stepped foot in a casino of any kind for almost two years of me writing this post.
I have not stepped into a betting shop for the same time.
I have not logged into a online betting app or website for two years and have permanently deleted my accounts and blocked the firewalls.
Like walking away from a toxic person, I have walked away from gambling too.
And what is fantastic is I have no desire at all to ever gambling again.
I never even think about gambling, and do not miss it at all.
Any urge to place a bet is completely gone.
Any urge to go to the casino eradicated.
Any thoughts about betting are so far from my mind.
I watch a lot of sports and constantly betting adverts are thrown in my face, teasing me, and encouraging me to put a bet on the next big game.
It has no effect on me anymore, I am numb to it.
I am almost like a zen master, completely calm and unfazed from the seduction of betting.
So much so that I don’t have any friends anymore who gamblers are, I had to cut them out too.
If you are reading this understand how much I feel your pain.
I was a gambler for 14 years on and off, I suffered in silence, nobody knew my struggles.
Only me, I had all the guilt, the shame and dread on my shoulders.
Every single night I would fall asleep knowing that I did something awful today:
I gambled and lost a lot of money.
However, there are 5 powerful ways you too can overcome this dreadful addiction.
All I ask is that you have an open mind like I did.
Here are 5 ways to overcome a gambling addiction:
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#1 – Identify Your Motives
Ask yourself the following questions:
Why do you gamble?
What do you enjoy about gambling?
What is the reason behind wanting to gamble?
How do you usually gamble?
For me, gambling was a way of switching off from the stresses of life, not realizing that it was causing more harm than good.
In fact, I was brainwashed to believe I enjoyed it.
I would disappear to a casino, a betting shop all alone and just hop from game to game, table to table in pursuit of a win.
I’ve won big in casinos.
I’ve lost bigger in casinos too.
But I never really knew the answers to those questions, I had them in the back of my mind but realized that I needed to address the problem head on.
I was the sort of gambler that when I would enter a casino I knew I was doing wrong already, I knew I was a fool, and that I was making a mistake – but I still carried on betting.
Here were my personal answers to those questions:
Why do you gamble?
Because I believe I can trick the system and make a tonne of money.
Gambling is not an honest living, and on and off I had financial issues with a business that was failing, yet in my worst period I turned to the casinos.
You can NEVER trick the system; it is a mugs game.
You are better off channelling that energy into a new idea or project that can make you money legitimately, rather than trying to win it playing roulette.
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What do you enjoy about gambling?
I love the thrill, the excitement, I enjoy the games itself.
I am a gamer, I play games consoles regularly, and I love them.
The difference between a video game and a game in a casino or online is night and day.
One is a game that can cost me my life savings and more.
Another is a one-time purchase game that can last for hours or even in some cases years e.g. games like Tetris and Candy Crush.
I was conned to thinking the thrill was enough when it was detrimental to my mental health and my wallet.
If it its thrills I seek, I am better off doing extreme sports (which I love).
What is the reason behind wanting to gamble?
To make extra money!
Please understand, you will NEVER make money gambling.
It is NOT a good way of making money, but it is an excellent way of losing it.
How do you usually gamble?
I mix it up, sometimes roulette, sometimes blackjack, whenever I find a new system, I experiment it!
Please learn from my mistakes, there is NO system that wins in a casino.
The house ALWAYS wins in the end, and the longer you play, the more you will realize it.
Do not be fooled by those who have “cracked the code.”
There is no code to crack, and nobody ever posts their failures.
I was the most dangerous type of gambler, meaning I would play anything and everything.
Aka I was that desperate for an extra buck.
The casinos build their huge empires and hotels and restaurants off idiots like me.
Do not make the same mistake.
Identify your motives and realize how foolish they are.
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#2 – Educate Yourself on Gambling
After realizing your motives and triggers start educating yourself on the gambling industry.
Why are the casinos so lavish and huge and expensive looking?
Because they are profiting off the addicts who are paying for everything.
I met a year ago a man who built his fortune running casinos abroad.
I sat with him over an old fashion and a cigar and wanted to know the cold hard truth.
I was actually sober at the time, but he laid it to me straight:
“There is no system that can beat the house at all.
You are a fool if you think you can.
I have had people turn in their homes, cars, boats and even their family possessions.
Just so they can bet and try chase their losses.
It is not illegal to own a casino (depending on your countries laws etc) and gambling is something that has been going on for centuries.
The gambler knows the risks when setting foot into the casino.
All we do is provide them the chance to play.”
When I realized my triggers were wrong, and my motives were incorrect, educating myself on the industry itself sealed the deal on sobriety.
There is nothing wrong with the gambling industry at the end of the day it is their business model.
But I have the choice as do you, to make their wallets thicker, and mine smaller.
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#3 – Decide to Go Sober
How good is your word?
When you make a promise how likely are you to stick to it?
I was very wishy washy with my word, especially with gambling.
I used to say, “this is it, no more gambling,” and sure enough that very same day I would be back in the casino on the slots again.
There was once a time when somebodies word embodied their entire persona.
My point is, decide to go sober and stick to it.
Do not say “I will bet one more time and have one last blowout,” no I am saying that at all, but instead to stand up look in the mirror and go “this is it.”
That was what I did, I had a dreadfully depressing two days in bed after the worst gambling loss of my entire life.
I was in bed numb, crying and I did not ever want to feel like that again.
I stood up and went to my mirror and said, “this is it, this is the day I go sober.”
I deleted and blocked all the gambling apps, I banned myself from all casinos, and cancelled everything I could.
I am proud to say that really was the last day I ever gambled, and the last I ever wanted to.
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#4 – Ignore Willpower
Why do most diets fail?
Because people’s willpower caves in, and sure enough they are back to stuffing their faces with cakes and ice cream.
Willpower will only get you so far in your pursuit over overcoming your gambling addiction.
But instead to reprogram your mind and identify your triggers is a better more logical approach to sobriety.
Rather than fighting an urge to gamble, instead realize that the industry is one sided and that you cannot beat the system.
You are rigged to lose, and why would you waste your time on something that will make you broke and miserable?
There is more to life than feeling awful about yourself and your finances.
Gambling has the double blow of feeling low about our self-esteem and our finances.
When you are and can be in control of both.
You can look in the mirror proud to say, “I had no desire to gamble today.”
And what is more you will become RICHER by looking at your bank balance at all the money you have saved.
Yes, you can become rich giving up gambling!
#5 – Replace Gambling with a Hobby
One of the greatest things about giving up gambling is you have more time on your hands to pursue something else.
Also whenever I used to leave the casino, I used to hate leaving most of the time empty handed.
I never valued money more than when I quit gambling.
Couse if I valued money, I would never had been a gambler would I?
And I used to look at my empty wallet and bare bank balance thinking, “just look at what I could have spent that money on.”
One awful moment I could have spent the money on a vacation!
But it was the having nothing to show for it that really upset me on top of everything else.
That is why I decided to get into collecting.
Collecting is something I genuinely enjoy and do not worry I am not addicted to that!
Here is a list of things that I personally love to collect things:
Comic books
Sneakers
Vinyl Toys
And through this hobby I have met some wonderful people, and I have invested wisely to the point that my collectable portfolio is indeed rising!
I channel the energy from gambling into collecting, and I have even made money from doing so flipping stuff and trading too.
What a wonderful thing to do rather than going into a casino and blowing it all on red.
My advice is for you channel your energy into something you are passionate about, a hobby or even a business.
You will have more time on your hands from gambling now, so rather than sitting down dwelling on your losses, turn your life around and get into a hobby!
I look at my collection with pride and when I look around at it all I see where the money has gone, and I am delighted by it.
Rather than going into the casino and losing it all, and feeling miserable.
In Summary:
#1 – Identify Your Motives
#2 – Educate Yourself on Gambling
#3 – Decide to Go Sober
#4 – Ignore Willpower
#5 – Replace Gambling with a Hobby