70 replies to this topic

[mangolio]

Been there done that mate - About 10 years ago I confided in my best mate who I trusted 100% and he agreed to handle my money in the short term - sounds pathetic I know- but it worked a treat and I got out of the shit If you have somebody in your life you can trust and confide in I really suggest you bite the bullett and tell them and ask for help!!!! Good luck

I think im gona ask my mum 2 keep my card and only give me what I need, she dont know the half of my gambling though, neither did my ex though and I feel so ashamed of hinding it from them. When I dint get in till so late still in my work clothes my mum asked where I had been, I said at a mates house. Lying to cover it up is when I no it has gone to far but ive been doin it for years now ( ignoring the phone when the ex rang because I know she would hear the machines is just one example.

[mixer2008]

Great advice, James, amazing how understanding good friends are.
Good thread this.

[Gazeyre1966]

Mangolio...I've got no plans for hanging around the arcades either if that's good news to you. I plan to chat about everything else fruit related with a bunch of blokes who know same. Oh, and get pissed and ogle the birds....lol

[mangolio]

I said that in the original thread remember probably got lost under Todd trying to get his end away, giving up any addiction is hard if it was easy they would not call it an addiction, don't beat yourself up about it try again like James said in his post ask someone to 'hide money' for you or even a plan B is have 2 accounts one your bills go out of one your spending cash is in split your wage in 2 so you are 100% sure on a month least the bills are paid trust me when you look at your account and you got £50 left for the month and its only the 10th you learn to leave em alone been there done that and ate the 10p noodles from Asda.

Thanks Alth, Just told my mum where I had been and wot I have been doing with my money and the reason why I am always lending off her for essentials. She wasnt very happy but she is going to help me and take my card from me and only withdraw what I need.

[mangolio]

Mangolio...I've got no plans for hanging around the arcades either if that's good news to you. I plan to chat about everything else fruit related with a bunch of blokes who know same. Oh, and get pissed and ogle the birds....lol

Sounds good to me mate.

[mrmystery83]

Well i'm not doing too bad at the moment. Not losing a lot but still could've done better things with the money i have spent on them. I was gutted the other day when i was too skint to get me photo took with a certain lady mentioned on another thread . At least i'd have had something to keep instead of being really PO'd at another lost opportunity. I've had plenty of them over the years thanks to the machines.

Well don't know what i'll do at the meet. Might have a few quid but only what i can afford. Depends if i have a bit of spare cash by then. If i can't afford to i won't. Famous last words i know but i am getting better than what i used to be. I can actually go out with a bit and still afford my ale. Instead of what i used to do, that was take out a few hundred for the Clubber in the club where i go.

Me and me dad have even had rows over it. Only little ones and next day it's forgotten about, but it's still not nice when it starts to come between you and your family/friends. My mate from work last week gambled more than he could afford. Now he's got £5 till payday! There was another machine in the pub but i wouldn't go near it. When you can see someone else doing it you realise what you look like. All our mates were getting a bit pissed off that he wouldn't sit down etc.

Good luck again to anyone that's trying to quit.

[markdennis]

It seems most addicts play in ARCADES, christ! if anyone wants to play a frutie, then NEVER play in a f*****g arcade. THE NO.1 GOLDEN RULE OF A PRO!

[mangolio]

It seems most addicts play in ARCADES, christ! if anyone wants to play a frutie, then NEVER play in a f*****g arcade. THE NO.1 GOLDEN RULE OF A PRO!

And your point is?

[mrmystery83]

It seems most addicts play in ARCADES, christ! if anyone wants to play a frutie, then NEVER play in a f*****g arcade. THE NO.1 GOLDEN RULE OF A PRO!

But we don't class ourselves as 'pro's'. We're just people trying to give them up. So you mean Arcades are crap and you better off playing in a pub or whatever? We play in Arcades as there are more machines to choose from or to put it another way more varied ways of losing ya money lol

[usedtobetopdog]

oops.. I just posted this twice

[usedtobetopdog]

Hey, I found that playing the emulators actually puts me off playing the real thing.
I played club road hog emulator and as theres no real cash involved I thought I would just see how long it takes to get the jackpot.
First £20 in and I gambled it all the way up to £120, it automatically banked £40 and I gambled the £80 and LOST.. I thought it must be ready to give the Jackpot...I carried on gambling eveything,,if I got on the board would just take the first thing offered, like 20p or 40p....£440 quid later..and many hours...before I gambled it up to £180..now if that is not a joke then what is..yes I was messing the machine up.. but still, how on earth ???..,,how can it take all that money before it pays another big win...can you imagine if someone lost like that in real life.. where is the percentage..of course after the big win I played normally and it eventually paid out 82% by lots of small wins... this is just an example of why you can't win.
The machines are all set so they will not pay out.. eg a normal £25 jackpot machine...someone loses £70 you think there must be some profit to be made.. but you put in £50 and get back £50, you put in the £50 and get back £53, you put the £53 and get back £48..round and round it goes, each cycle eating up the percentage, and even though the machine has made a profit of £70, after you have played it for an hour then there is no money in it to pay out, because each time you put say £48 and get £46 you are "making money" because it is paying out say 96% and is set on 82%..this is why you cannot win,, of course now and then the machine will pay out... if they didn't then nobody would ever play.. its that thought that the machine is "ready" and will give some profit that keeps us going there. In the past you could refuse wins and push for a "streak".. but now if you refuse wins the machine does not care.. it will just eat up all the money and save it to pay out its percentage by the above way.. meaning you can never get in front..
Of course there are many club machines that used to pay out,, if you seen someone put £150 and not get a jackpot then you could just refuse all wins and go for the jackpot and you might be lucky and put £100 and get £250 or £200.. but the arcade owners did not like this thats why they came up with section 16 rubbish. Even if someone puts £1000 in a section 16 and walks aways with nothing there is no money in the machine ready to pay out. I've actually physically seen someone put £2400 before hitting the Jackpot of £500
So if you have a gambling problem then you should use the emulator and see these facts for yourself, that you cannot win,,, you cannot even shark anymore..the machines are set to stop people sharking.
So next time you get the urge, and your money is burning a hole in your pocket, just switch on the emulator and lose some imaginary money..

[Bencrest]

Works for me. I'd also recommend setting the emulators to 'realistic' payout percentages. Many are released at a nicely inflated 80+% to make for a more entertaining game. The Legal UK minumum is 70%. Stickers on the front of the machine may say 78%, but you have no way of telling that figure is accurate.

Therefore, set all your emulated machines to 70% payout, and you'll get closer to how a machine will play in a pub / arcade. Keep an eye on how much cash you are ACTUALLY putting in between boards, between jackpots, e.t.c.

[carlosgee]

good luck james, cards are bloody evil and it will soon be tener a card

[Bencrest]

how stupid can a person be. i was doing so well and then i fu*ked up by buying shit loads of scratchcards. i have had enough and decided it was time for GA. i only been going two weeks and the diffrence i feel about gambaling is amazing. i realy want to get rid of this naasty sicknes as it is making my life hell and i dont think i can cope with it much more. lets hope i do it this time.

James

With an attitude like that you shouldn't have too much trouble. It's a setback - bit like the one I had. You'll see from my forum signature that I only lasted 2 days on my first attempt, so two weeks is a lot better than I managed for a start!

I think pretty much everyone has an experience like that when they try to give *anything* up, but to be honest it makes you more determined in the long run. Don't beat yourself up over it!

I've never contacted GamCare / GA but I'm sure they can offer you advice and support if you need it.

All the best,

Ben

[mrmystery83]

Yeah we all 'fall off the wagon' now and again mate. Stick at it. You'll get there in the end. It's very easy to replace one form of gambling with another. To get your gambling 'fix'. If your replacing machine with scratchcards in moderation, it would work out cheaper. But it doesn't always work out that way. Good luck.

[f1fan]

I did manage to Quit them once for 2 years if not 3

Then what happens Section 16 machines comes out u get the story and then they make then crap new standard.

Ive deffo packing in and giving up finding MMFE more fun and also u dont lost owt.

As from today thats it only going to use the free £5 tokens i get a month ONLY and thats all.

[lincs1]

As from today thats it only going to use the free £5 tokens i get a month ONLY and thats all.

its good that your giving up but its sad u gotta go in jus to get ya FREE £5's worth of tokes to play machines.

i can jus imagine u taking a bowl in at xmas n saying *please sir can i have some more* pmsl

jus kidding

baH humbug

[jamesb99_1999]

I did manage to Quit them once for 2 years if not 3

Then what happens Section 16 machines comes out u get the story and then they make then crap new standard.

Ive deffo packing in and giving up finding MMFE more fun and also u dont lost owt.

As from today thats it only going to use the free £5 tokens i get a month ONLY and thats all.

Give the tokens away --- All the people who successfully quit it's all or nothing!!! No half measures!! Who really cares about £5 in tokens really???? Good luck, but don't give in to the temptation of the token!