Hi Steev,
First of all, thanks for your response and you make some very fair comments! I’ll try to answer them in order…
I think I am a problem gambler, yes. Not sure on compulsive, but I probably am at times. RE ruining your life, not entirely. I think I am definitely capable of ruining my life through gambling, which is probably my main worry!
The 6 months was without any gambling at all. It has crossed my mind that the addiction could easily be shifted to a different form of gambling, but think I struggle with handing over money in cash, whereas online it is all too easy to add a zero or two and click deposit.
“What would your girlfriend say if she finds out you are in debt from gambling and are still gambling?” Very good point. She is very black or white in her viewpoint on most matters, and absolutely would not understand it, nor see any difference.
Your point about giving up the idea of the ‘big win’ was actually something that helped me hugely when I stopped before. The goal has always been to win big, but I asked myself the following – “If you haven’t won big in the last ten years of trying, why would you manage it this time?”
Thanks again Steev.