John Woods - Gambling Addiction Explained: How to STOP Gambling and Regain Control of your Life

Gambling Addiction Explained

How to STOP Gambling and Regain Control of your Life

John Woods

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians, therapist treatment or le gal counsel.

Copyright 2022 b y John Woods

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, contact: .

First paperback edition 2022

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the Bri tish Library

ISBN 978-1-7397045-0-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7397045 -1-3 (eBook)

www.GamblingAddictionE xplained.com

Contents

Ackn owledgements

I would like to thank several people who have supported me at one time or another through my journey of addiction a nd recovery.

A special thank you to my incredible, wonderful, supportive, and very tolerant wife Nikk, for putting up with me for all these years. I would be truly lost without her and will love her until the end of time.

My children, Antony, and Melissa, who I am immensely proud of and who bring so much joy to my life. I love you bot h immensely.

My loving parents to whom I owe so much and are responsible for the best parts of m y character.

To Christina Wright for proofreading my book and fine tuning some of the wording for me who deserves more credit for the production of this work than she will allow m e to bestow.

To friends, old and new, past, and present, who have supported and encouraged me along the way. I am sure they will appreciate my honesty. Thank you to Jason Avery for reaching out to me in one of my darkest hours and giving me the kick up the backside I ne eded, R.I.P.

And finally to my weekly Gamblers Anonymous group who I have the utmost respect and gratitude for and who have been instrumental in my recovery.

1. Hi. My name is John, and I am a Compuls ive Gambler.

A fter more than 30 years of gambling, I placed my final bet on Januar y 5th, 2017.

I want to share the story of the anguish and pain my gambling addiction caused, how I finally overcame it, and the valuable lessons Ive learnt since. My hope is that my honesty will give an understanding of gambling addiction to anyone affected by it, and most importantly, to help others experiencing harm through gambling to find their own way to stop.

I clearly recall as a toddler, someone lifting me up and standing me on a bar stool in front of a fruit machine. I remember watching the lights flashing and the symbols whirring by, as three lemons rolled in, then the winning coins clinking excitedly in the tray below. In Junior school, by the age of 8 or 9, I was regularly playing pitch and toss at break time, for two pence pieces. Never played? Its simple; throw your coins against a wall - the player whose coin is nearest to the wall wins them all. Even then, I remember trying to convince school mates to raise the stakes and play with ten pence pieces. Ten pence was a lot of money to a 9-year-old in 1984. Age 11 and in senior school, we went on a residential trip and I was running a Blackjack game after lights out.

About this time, I really got into fruit machines; engrossed by the flashing lights, exciting features, and above all, the promise of a jackpot. There was a place in town, the Corner Pocket which had pool tables, arcade games and 2 pence-a-play fruit machines with 2.00 jackpots. The thrill of skilfully hitting the right button at just the right time to get you onto that feature board and the promise it held was intoxicating. And there was the nudge-based bandit, with the chance to hit 10 nudges if you got the N, D and E on the win line. It was serious business; crouching down to peer intently through the glass so I could see through the reels and figure out how many nudges I needed for the best win. Or sometimes looking to see how full the hoppers which held the coins were and convincing myself they looked quite full, so it was surely going to pay out soon? Then, there was the buzz of hitting the gamble button for double or nothing - If you hit double, it paid to keep the button pressed in, then if you were quick and able enough, youd take just enough pressure off before slamming it back down again. It was a skilful process, but the Double would stay lit and the winnings would go from 20 pence to 40 pence or 80 pen ce to 1.60.

What a rush it was. How exciting, how strangely at home I felt in that dingy place, spending hours of fun, mostly losing my money. Looking back now, I see that perhaps part of it was the buzz of having others crowding around to watch me play, making me feel both accepted and centre stage, especially as many of them were older. In all honesty, it was probably also the thrill and rush of doing something I knew my parents would not approve of or allow i f they knew.

Ultimately though, the result was usually the same. I spent every penny I had on those fruit machines. Even back then I was incapable of walking out with any money remaining in my pockets. Even though the arcade was a good hours walk from home, I would always end up walking because I never had enough money left for the bus. Even in the middle of winter, cold, dark, and raining, I would walk home. I was used to walking as every morning I was up early before school, and at weekends too, walking a couple of miles for my paper round. Sundays were always a killer with the Sunday magazines and supplements in the papers. There was so much extra on a Sunday, I had to carry two bags at once, one on each shoulder. All those early mornings, out in all weathers, walking miles to earn less than 5 a week. And for what? To blow it all in the Corner Pocket on a Saturday.

When I was 15, I got a job in a local nightclub called Storys, collecting glasses on a Friday and Saturday night. I used to get paid at the end of the night on the Friday. On Saturday nights, on the way into work, I used to stop off in a dodgy restaurant not far from the nightclub. I wasnt interested in the food, but they had a fruit machine in there that I could play. At that time of night, the arcades were closed, and I was too young to go into a pub to play. Needless to say, I often spent all the wages I had picked up the night before, but at least the nightclub paid for a taxi home each night, so at least there was no lon g walk home.

At 17, I started an apprenticeship on the Railway, with British Rail as it was back then. I beat hundreds of applicants to get one of only three places available, and I was paid a massive 117.00 a week. Well, this was fantastic for my gambling. Not only did I now have real money to spend, but more importantly, I had access to more money the joy of bank loans and credit cards. It was like all my Christmases had come at once. Now I could have a real go at this gambling lark, and with a decent amount of money to stake, I was surely going to start making it pay. I had plenty of cash now, what could possib ly go wrong?

I was paid every four weeks on a Friday. By the time I had paid that months loan repayments, credit card bills, payday loans and repaid money borrowed from friends, there was precious little left. What was left went on gambling, and that usually only lasted a couple of days. Soon, I was back to scheming up ways to get more money. Telling lies and sob stories to friends and family, more payday loans, an extension on the current bank loan or increase of credit on the visa, some dodgy deal on the side, whatever was necessary to get some more cash to get me over the next 3 or so weeks. And the cycle of misery continued on an d on and on.