Smokers

[RED-DOG]

I was watching a player enjoy a cigarette at Notts last night, and although I haven’t smoked for five years, I could have murdered one

I was a terrible smoker, I started when I was about 13, and by the time I was 20 I was on 30 plus a day, by the time I gave up I was on approx 60 a day (I don’t know the exact figure because by that time I couldn’t afford to buy ready made's and was rolling my own)

I had tried many times in the past to give up, all without success, life didn’t seem worth living without a fag. If I was worried, I had a smoke, if I was enjoying something, I enjoyed it more if I smoked, a cup of tea wasn’t the same without a cigarette, It was getting to the stage where I only had sex so that I could enjoy the cigarette after

I got those leaflets that tell you how to stop, first you have to find out what kind of smoker you are, i.e. social, habitual, pleasure, anxiety etc, I was all of them. I used to smoke my last one just before bed, and my first one before I got my pants on

I knew it was killing me, but I didn’t know just how bad I felt until I gave up and started to feel better

I stopped smoking five minutes at a time, it was the only way I could do it, I couldn’t face the thought of never having another cigarette, so I would just not have one for the next five minuets, somehow, I still haven’t had one 

I used one of those nicotine inhalers to help me, and I still keep the end bit of it and use it as a kind of comforter


I will never be one of those ‘Holier than thou’ ex smokers, I know how hard it is to stop and what’s more, I might fall off the wagon myself tomorrow, but I am interested, who among you smoke, why/when did you start, have you tried to give up, did you fail, did you succeed, will you try again, or have you given up giving up?

[ACE2M]

is that what you have in your mouth at the table? At broadway for that sat i couldn't figure out what the f it was.

I have sworn to give up before i'm thirty, seemed a mile off a year ago and now it is 2 weeks away i am shitting it.

[Colchester Kev]

i gave up smoking on 31st June last year... i was smoking 40+ a day and was constantly coughing and wheezing .. I had been smoking since i was 14 and that made 26 years of not one day going by without a smoke... since giving up, my health improved dramatically... no more mornings where the first half hour of waking was spent coughing my guts up , no more getting out of breath when i walked to the shop...absolute bliss.... Then came this years trip to Vegas and ... yes i started smoking again  i hate myself for starting again, every time i light one up i feel ashamed .... the cough has already returned ..... but i WILL give up again, its just a matter of feeling that the time is right for me .

   in fact Im gonna use this thread to make a pledge ..... sunday will be my last day of smoking, from monday when i wake up i will QUIT.

MONDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2005 is the day i stop.

[tikay]

I had my first ciggie when I was 12. It was big to smoke, see.....

Used to light up in th little toilet we had, then when questioned I'd deny I had a cigarette. What a terrible liar I was - the loo must have stunk!

I have given up 3 times, at the behest of the Lady of the Moment.

Lately, I just have no desire to quit.

I must say, I think all cardrooms should be non-smoking though. But if I CAN smoke, I will.

[snoopy1239]

I've never really smoked and never had an urge to. In fact, I find the thought of a cigarette in my mouth completely off-putting.

[Junior Senior]

The air in the notts card room last night reached an all time high for haze! - it was quite sickly at one point.  The air conditioning in that room really isn't good enough to allow 12 hours of smoking by 60 odd smokers. - its just awful,really awful.  If i want a break to go for a pee i get up and go to the loo, i'm sure the smokers could get up and have a fag outside if they really needed one. - works at grosvenors and other casinos so why not do it at Notts.!??

[tikay]

What do you prefer im your mouth then snoopy?

[ACE2M]

Who's up for the let's stop smoking thread?

Total honesty, if you break you break, fair enough but we could all try at the same time.

The first non smoking forum on the net, that would be something!!!

[tikay]

Greg is right.

If you recall, we had a poll, & 90% of folks said they'd prefer the card-rooms to be non-smoking.

So we asked Notts to ban smoking.

It's called giving the customers what they don't want.

Our pleas fell on stony ground. I guess they will leave it until they are forced to ban it by legislation.

[snoopy1239]

What do you prefer im your mouth then snoopy?

I bite my fingernails to a physically painful low, so I guess that's my substitute

[RED-DOG]

I wonder if they will introduce legislation to prevent customers from starving to death

I felt really sorry for margaret last night, with the best will in the world theres no way she can serve 100 people

Disgraceful

[Junior Senior]

Agreed! - your expected to tip about £30 of your winnings when you may only get 2 cups of tea - I'm not tight but at that price i'll bring a flask!!

[tikay]

I believe Margaret "prefers" to work alone, so that she earns more by way of gratuities.

[ShotOfTheDaySoFar]

Hi all -

Would be up for this non-smoking-poker forum thingy... and was also thinking about going from Monday 12th (as it's my birthday on 9/11). So if you're up for it, Kev, or anyone else, I reckon that would be good. Having this forum nagging me when I sit at my PC should help stop that ashtray from filling up without me noticing...

[Ginger]

Hi Red,

Quite ironic this post coming up today, as I was going to post something along these very lines yesterday, asking if anyone had any helpful hints.

I started smoking when I was 13, and continued until I was 21 when I gave up to try for my first child, I too used the "just not having one right now" method, and it worked a dream for me that time. Unfortunately I started again when going through a very messy divorce and I never seemed to have a "good enough" reason to pack it in again.

Well all that has recently changed, having a boyfriend that is a non smoker has forced the issue to be raised once more, and of course he can argue the point better than the kids!  As of the 8th August I have been trying to stop once again with very little success, the "not right now" just isn't working this time, I have tried the patches and tbh, for me they were terrible!!! I wanted to smoke more whilst wearing the damn things than without. I'm now going through chewing gum like it's going out of fashion, and I fall off the wagon on a daily basis and it is only ever for the odd 1/4 of a cig.

The strange thing is, I actually really dislike smoky places, detest the smell of the smoke and the smell of stale smoke on your clothes, and I agree that Notts card room is unbearable, but at the same time I am finding it a huge struggle this time, no matter how much I dislike the horrible habit.

Jane xx