Hi prayingfo - Each of us has our own puzzle pieces that fit together which created our gambling addiction. I haven't lost a bank account but it doesn't mean my addiction isn't any less serious. What we all have in common is that we have thrown our money away in one way or another, hoping we will get more. Symptoms may include loss of bank accounts or in my case - taking out hundreds of dollars in cash from credit cards to fuel the addiction. Whatever the symptoms, it's important that we work on fighting the urge to go gambling and repairing ourselves financially and spiritually. So plz don't think any worse of yourself than the rest of us. You can win the battle and leave the casino in the dust for good. :-)

well guess i lost all my credit cards cause i maxed em out, so yeah guess i did loose those accounts.

Oh yes, You are not the only one. I had to close one account last year to stop 3 payday loans that were draining my account dry. That was really scarey. This year I had to let one go because of the bankrupsy and dirrect deposit advance. So now my husband and I share a checking account and we are going to close it as soon as we can because the bank is Wells Fargo, the same ones trying to take our house. They are ruthless! I would not recomend that bank to my worst enemy. I'm gonna look at a credit union account. It's so humiliating what this disease does to our financial lives. I've just got to start over. The good thing is I have no credit anymore so I can't get into any more debt. I don't care about my credit score right now. I just want to may my bills, save my house and live a quiet & simple life.

OMG cherbear, how do you get those flipping places to stop?? I have a few payday loans too and they are a big part of the reason I cannot get ahead on my REAL bills!! If you close the acct, don't they start wage garnishment? Any advice? They are my fault for getting them, but they are killing me!! :(

Well, I did some research on the internet and found out that the payday loans I got on line were actually illegal in MN. They charged way too high interest. It was like 600%. I found a blog on line where somebody wrote a letter I could use to notify each of them their loan was illegal and I told them I would only pay the banance due and no more. Then I went to my bank and I closed my acct which was also recomended. I told the bank to put a stop on all ACH auto payments. One of them started after me right away with threatening calls. One had a lawyer sending me threatening letters and the third had an east Indian loan shark harrasing me at work about every 5 minutes for 3 weeks! He said he would get me fired and I would go to jail. I had to get my employer to tell him to stop. Then, I ended up filng for chapter 13 bankrupsy. I gave them to the attorney to be sure they would be stopped. Those internet pay day loans are the worst thing I ever did! It also got my computer all screwed up from all kinds of crazy adds ard viruses. All I can say is I will never do that again! My gambling took me so low. I had no gas to get to work and no money for food and checks were bouncing all over. I was absolutely desperate.
So, I don't know what kind of loans you got but I sure hope you can stop them. Check with your state to see if they have laws to protect you. If not, the only thing you can do is to close the acct. They will come after you but at least they can no longer drain your checking acct. Then you tell them the only thing you will do is set up a reasonable payment plan without all that interest on top or forget it. Lukily there is no debtors prison! It's another thing to ruin your credit but at least you can have your paycheck again. I don't care too about my credit right now. I don't want any loans or credit cards anyway. I just want to save up for things I need and pay my bills. I'm at the bottom now so I can only go up from here.

Thank you for your feedback. I will try what you said. I'm with you on the credit thing...I could care less at this point...just want NORMALCY!! That's all I want! I don't want to feel guilt and shame all the time! I think of all the things I could have done to make our lives better with that money and I am just sick that I could have let things get so bad. See that's the thing...I am such a different person when I am not at the casino. I lose all sense of reason and responsibility and have absolutely NO control on there. Then I get off and it all sinks in...it's just not me!! I know better!!! I am a very well-educated person who has NO business getting myself into all this...that is why I have finally realized that I cannot ever go back. I become this ugly selfish person that I hate, and the only way to ever get over it is to never ever go back...It's only been 5 weeks, but I already feel like a new person...not saying it's easy, but feel so much better about myself. Thanks so much for your support. :)

Yes, I have been there and when they did I was so devastated, I think they did give me quite a few chances, I had been negative a lot...and once they allowed me 2 months to bring my account that was -$8000 to repay the money.
The last straw was and this was November of 2011, I deposited a check for $300 to be able to withdraw $300, and guess what it was my own personal check!! That's what gambling did to me; they had let it go a few times, since I had direct deposit and it would cover the negative, however this last time - they just sent me a letter were closing your account and please send a cashiers check to cover the negative. They also said their reporting me to some check company, maybe 2. I was so upset I wrote a letter, spoke to a few people, had a good story and said someone had access to my account - they didn't care and didn't buy it, also they would not give me a reason why they closed it though of course I knew why. This was another that I was ashamed about - to lose a bank account with a bank I had for 15+ years and know it was all me. I qucikly resorted to another bank option before I think I became reported I haven't checked anywhere specifically I want to forget that happened and move on - nothing can change it - but so screwed up another thing that I brought onto myself thru my gambling addiction. At that end it all catches up, their so much you can getaway with in life...though I didn't hurt anyone else to get that $300, at the end of the day I really hurt myself and my future!!

Gambling addiction takes you to places you would never normally go. Many gamblers end up stealing things. Some that have jobs handling money end up getting fired for embezlement and theft. I met some really nice people in treatment that stole money to gamble and then they tried to comit suicide.

Omg, Niki...I can so relate to that. I was also very negative too in my accounts and would try to come up with every excuse in the book to get fees waived. I would write checks left and right when the casino would let me and try to win to cover those checks plus more. I remember this one night a few years back, I wrote two big checks to the casino (when I was allowed to). The second one was written because I had blown the whole first one. :( I remember when I was writing the second check, the girl gave me the most disgusted look....like she couldn't believe what I was doing. I felt so ashamed, but do you think that stopped me? Well, when I wrote that second check, by some miracle, I hit a jackpot of $3,400. I went proudly back to the same girl to buy back both checks. Then I had to explain to my husband why I didn't come home with the whole thing. He knew I could cash checks but I was not planning on telling him I blew the whole first one...I just told him that once I won the $$ I splurged a little, and he was ok with that because I actually walked off that night, the only reason being was because I had felt deathly sick that I blew the whole first check, and I had made a promise to God I would leave if I won. I honestly thought I would be struck dead if I didn't get my ass out immediately when I hit that jackpot. Otherwise I would have put it all back in and then some, my usual habit. The point is, there I would go again, deceiving my husband and best friend. NO MORE of that!!!!! My husband and I had a wake to go to last night. We hired a sitter and it was the perfect night to hit the casino afterward, but for the first time in I don't know how many years, we said NO!! We actually went on a real dinner/movie date! We laughed again, even held hands, lol....and had NO guilt! It felt sooooo good and I always want to feel like this. Sorry for the rant....I appreciate all you guys...you are the reason I haven't been to the casino in 5 weeks and I am so grateful! :)

It's so sad...