Hi Iamanon,
Well done on starting a thread here. My advice would be to stay away from all gambling, poker included. It is a gambling addiction, cut out one form of gambling and the addiction will quite happily switch to another one.
You posted here while you are ” very sad and not sure what to do”? Good, that’s generally the time when peole are prepared to listen and put things in place that will help address the addiction.
Your mum has “been through hell.”? I don’t doubt it, mine did too. That probably means that she will be delighted when you tell her what youa re going to do to address the problem. Delighted that you are looking for help. You coulkd show her this site as well – there is a family forum where shye can also get advice and support. She would also see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, you can stop gambling.
The important thing is to use support, if any of us could stop on our own then we wouldnt be in the s**t in the first place.
Keep posting here. if you want to talk to others real time then clcik on theSupport Group link, above, and see the schedule of live groups we have here. Connect to one of them. The open groups are unmoderated and not always occupied but all the other groups always have someone to talk to in them. How about a Gamblers Anonymous meeting? Again a good place to talk to othes in the same position.
Remember, do these things now, while you fele like you do. We all know the pain fades and the urges return, that’s when you need things to be already in place.
Keep posting and hopefully I will talk to you in a group here soon.