Hi Rob,
Read your post. I too am a gambling addict, I have lost hundreds of thousands of pounds on the horses. Always managed to kid myself there’s an edge to be had, whether that be a bit of inside information, an angle into a race or some tipster providing a race breakdown. Of course it sometimes falls into place- this just feeds the delusion for bigger and worse future losses.
I am in big trouble at the moment but have had periods of my life when I’ve not gambled. The pain does heal but you need to take some measures to support your recovery.
I have done this in the past and have found doing the following is a great help.
Banned myself from all the online bookies, pretty easy to do.
Stop watching , listening to or reading about racing. Let’s not kid ourselves but that cheeky 15 min watch of channel 4 racing or AtR is the start of us going back to having a bet.
I treat myself and my girlfriend now and again without having to gamble first. I know it can be tough, pretty much every penny I’ve spent on most things in the last few years has been money I’ve won gambling. It doesn’t have to be that way and I find something small to reward myself not gambling can help.
Don’t go into any bookies unless it’s to self exclude. I am excluded from every bookies near where I work and feel much safer this way.
From one ex punter to another- there is no way of winning betting on horses long term. Anyone that claims this to be the case is lying or is deluded by the fact they are having a good day. I have landed some large horse bets in my time- very satisfying but ultimately self defeating as like night follows day the losing runs return and the stakes go up.
Betting on horse racing takes brains- use them for something else- you’d probably be surprised at what you can achieve without having all your time and energy sapped by gambling.