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+--- Thread: Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly (/showthread.php?tid=24)
Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly - galveston_gus - 05-06-2026
Want to keep this one real and low key.
I play laid back, weekends mostly, coast life. But I had a stretch a couple months back where I noticed I was opening the app first thing in the morning before coffee. Not to play really, just to check. And when I did play I was not even enjoying it, I was kind of grinding to get back to a Sweeps number in my head.
That was my flag. The morning checking and the grinding feeling instead of the fun feeling.
I took two weeks off, came back, it is fun again now. Smaller, but fun.
So I figured I would ask the room plainly. What was YOUR personal sign that it tipped from entertainment into something else? Not the textbook list. The actual little tell you noticed in yourself.
If anyone reading is in the grinding phase right now, the tools are there, and stepping back works.
RE: Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly - brisket_n_blackjack - 05-08-2026
Mine was lying about it, kinda. Not big lies. But my wife asked how it went and I rounded down. Said I was about even when I wasnt.
That little shading of the truth was the tell for me. If you have to soften the number to somebody you love, you already know.
I didnt quit but I cut way back and I tell her the real number now even when its ugly. Weirdly made it more fun again because theres nothing to hide.
RE: Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly - elpaso_eddie - 05-10-2026
For me it was the time of day creeping. Started as a thing I did after dinner. Then it was lunch breaks. Then I caught myself at a red light wanting to check.
When the activity starts colonizing parts of your day it never used to touch, that is the signal. Has nothing to do with how much money. It is about whether it is renting space in your head it did not used to rent.
Good thread to have honestly. People only ever talk about the wins.
RE: Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly - rgv_rosa - 05-10-2026
this is helpful for me cause I am newer and dont know my own tells yet.
the morning check one scares me a little, I think I do that some days already. not grinding just looking. is that already a yellow flag or is checking normal at the start?
either way I am bookmarking this. the lunch break creep eddie mentioned, I will watch for that one.
RE: Signs it stopped being fun, let's talk plainly - skeptic_in_dallas - 05-12-2026
Rosa, checking itself is not automatically a problem. The question is what feeling is underneath it. Curiosity is fine. Anxiety, or a pull you cannot easily say no to, that is the yellow flag.
The Gus test is a good one. Are you opening it for fun or to fix a number. If it is to fix a number, step back.
Every decent sweeps site has a cooling off and a self exclusion option in settings. Knowing where that button is before you need it is half the battle. Nobody plans to need it.