This is my first day treating gambling as an addiction/illness itself and not like just a bad hobby. I'm a 25 (M) and my story with gambling starts about 3 years ago in the Qatar World Cup. I started betting in small things like the match winner or a Messi goal with 10$-15$ and breaking even a lot (I wasn't working or generating any money thats why the small bets). At that time I didn't watch football, I didn't enjoy football at all, but when I started betting I realized it was really enjoying it like my different friend groups(I believe I felt a bit segregated because in my country if you are a man and don't like football or any sport people think feminine or gay).
As the time passed after the WC I was watching the Champions and started betting again but just a few matches. I got a job that payed well(in crypto) 2 years ago and I really enjoyed it, then I got another one that made me get out of my parents house to try something different because I was getting more money. 3 Months ago I quit because the company sucked but I realized I didn't had anything more to do with my time so I started watching football again, this time with NBA, watching sports picks on Twitter. I didn't see anything wrong, I felt like a grown man taking my own choices. After getting bored of waiting 1 or 2 days per football matches to occur, I discovered the Stake casino so I started betting there and getting some profits that didn't last long.
Gambling and making some money made me comfortable not looking for a job or do anything else. I lost 450$ and deleted my stake account, after I week I was putting money in a soccer match once again but in another website(crypto made all easy to deposit and withdraw), then I started betting with my savings money and just being normal about it.
Today I lost 1500$ (worth 1 month of working at my last job) and I realized I lost sense of my money. Seeing just numbers in my crypto wallet made me lose sight and the value of it. I always thought I was a smart kid, good at math and stuff. For god sake I'm a programmer myself and I know how easily they can rig casino games in code but they don't need to because in the long run the house always gets it. I don't like to do anything, I don't have any hobby, I'm out of shape, I'm not getting more knowledge for try to get a new job. When I spend money in real things I feel nothing, even in tech gadgets or new phones. I'm not the owner of my own mind. I tend to blame society, the layoffs crisis or my career(programmer) for this and indeed I think there is a lot of things happening that are not in my control.
Everything nowadays is gambling: trading, crypto, prediction markets, sports, videogames. Society is f*cked p indeed and I know I was sort of a victim, but I will not surrender for this sht.
I made some sums and I realized I lost 3000$ overall with gambling(15k with "the not withdrawed wins") and that's A LOT for my country(250$ min wage). I come from a medium-poor class family and my dad was working for less than 100$ per month when I was conceived. I can't believe I played with so much money like it meant nothing. I know this is not a lot for you guys out there but you gotta understand that I live in a third-world country.
Anyways guys wish me the best cause tomorrow it will be my day 1 and I really hope to get through this to start living normal again. Any advice or comment will be very appreciated.
View Reddit by Hungry-Telephone7792 – View Source

What country do you live in? I worked 6 days a week all my 20s and lost all my savings on stake it’s rough