Trigger Warning! Please read this post only if you're in a stable mental condition and you are not gonna get triggered by the topic of sports betting or only if you're a relative who has had a similar problem.
Hey guys, I have a dilemma I wanted to talk about and I could really use some advice from people who have been in a similar situation. I've been in a long distance relationship with a man for soon 4 years and I've known about his gambling problem for about 2-2.5 years. Before I met him I had never been in contacts with anything gambling related, but in the past 2.5 years I've really learned a lot about how this entire gambling industry works and how an addiction literally changes your brain. I've read so many studies and books about the neurobiology of (gambling) addicts and I know how harmful this is.
I've told my bf too and he should also know how this works and he can see the problem in many forms of gambling. The thing is however, he has been (what he calls) a "fan" of sports betting and he has even read books of "professional sports bettors" and thinks he can earn some extra money with it. Now, I know there are gambling forms that do include a certain skill in it, such as poker for example. I however really don't know what to think of sports betting, since there seem to be "professional sports bettors" (Even tho I'm not sure if that's really true) but it is a form of gambling after all and extremely dangerous. But my bf believes in these people and he wants to try and make money out of that. My bf is however addicted to online casino slot machines and he slips every now and then and loses some money there. But since that happens every now and then, the loses add up and he can't afford those.
It might be worth mentioning that he has been unemployed for about 1.5 years and he can't get a job bc the country he lives in is facing some severe unemployment rate.
So he wants to make money with this sports betting but I really see how it is destorying his life, his finances and mental health because he is an addict and his brain isn't able to make rational decisions when it comes to that. When I try to talk with him about quitting everything, inculding the sports betting, he blames me for not understanding and he wants to explain me it has to do with him not having enough money to "build up a bankroll".
I've tried to tell him he needs to install apps that block everything gambling related, so he can't have access to the online casino slot machines but he wouldn't want that because it also blocks the sports betting websites.
Has anyone ever been in a similar situation and can tell me what I'm supposed to do? I don't want to leave him and I could really use an advice of some sort. How can I get him to install these apps or is there any other way of dealing with this problem?
I've felt like I'm enabling him bc I've let this happen for such a long time but if I try and I demand things he locks me out of his feelings and thoughts and does things behind my back.
I have stumbled upon the fact that a gambler needs to come to the conclusion himself that gambling is harmful in every way before change can start….but I can't just wait and watch the destruction go on until he might realize one day.
Also I want to add that he doesn't have any debt and that's why he thinks he doesn't have such a bad gambling addiction. But the fact that he loses money until he has none left shows that he has a bad one.
He thinks however that this is only a momentary state due to his unemployment. Any thoughts on my situation?
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Long distance? I didn’t finished but get out and find someone else.
I think you should cut your losses with this fella. Him denying he has a problem and is going to become a professional is really sad. Professional bettors win max 55% of the time. They use and study all day. Know everything about what they bet on and still lose almost 50% of the time. Sorry to be a downer.
Have him read and follow the steps in this article if you want to break his gambling addiction. Hit me up in chat if you have any questions. Regards, John [https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1pxt0at/what_happens_to_you_when_youre_addicted_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1pxt0at/what_happens_to_you_when_youre_addicted_to/)