It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose, the end result is always the same; you end up with nothing. The winning just makes the addiction worse. You get more and more controlled.
I also felt I needed to stop at 1 point, but it’s easy talking afterwards. At that moment you’re caught and the only thing you can do is gambling.
Use this anger or frustration of having nothing at the moment to have everything with the next paycheck. Do all the things you couldn’t do now, don’t try gamble it again. You’ll get stuck and the addiction just gets stronger. I’ve been there, wasted paycheck after paycheck for a year long. You don’t want to get there.
I didn’t want to stop neither, I just wanted to win. Problem is winning is not possible when you’re a compulsive gambler. You’ll just want to win more and more (there’s no limit), till you finally lose it all again. You can waste a few more years to get to that insight, but that would be regrettable.
Wish you the best.
Dave