How I gambled for a year (and never won) - maybe you can learn something

Hello,
I started my gambling career (lol) playing poker right after my 18th birthday, it was always my dream to be a pro player and I thought it was an easy way to make money - ''Why isn't everyone doing that? It's so easy !!!'' I didn't realize that someone has to lose for people to win. (maybe I did realize, but I'm the best right ?)
The first day I played I put in 20$, won like 2 dollars and immediately after that lost everything. "Oh that was dumb, better try again tomorrow." The next day I put in around a 100 $, because they offered bonuses (oh the damned bonuses). Yeah I lost that. But they kept offering bonuses and I was still the best poker player alive so I put in another 150 $ and lost that, because I always got really mad at some lucky bastards and started shoving all my money down their throats .

Blackjack

A week or 2 after that, I got a blackjack bonus. (yay bonuses) I knew blackjack was a game of luck and I chose to stay away, but a bonus was a bonus, right ? I won around 40 $ using the bonus and I thought I'm the best blackjack player ever, so I just started putting lots and lots of $ in it. It turned out, I actually wasn't the best. I never could walk away when I was winning, only when I lost everything. Whenever I won a 100$ I wanted 105$, lost the 5$ - there was no way for me to leave with 95 $, gotta get the 5$ back , right ? I always kept playing till I was back at the 100$ (or till I lost everything - most of the time). When I got back at 100$ I went to sleep super happy, woke up early and lost it all. - Losing a 100$ in the morning can ruin your whole day.

There were times where I won and actually was able to leave, but I just sat home and felt extremely empty without the thrill of the game. I felt like a gentleman playing casino games, there were times where I played blackjack AND poker at the same time. (and bragged about it, lol) There were times where I put in 20 $ and left with 150$ - I felt like a god. The funny (or sad) part is, I never took any of the money out. It always sat in my casino account, waiting for me to get bored.(very smart, I know)

The feeling I got when I won, is unmatched by anything I ever felt. (except maybe the feeling I had when I went to bed, having lost what I would normally make in a month)
I stopped playing, because I ran out of money - I sunk in around 1200 $ (that's a lot - I'm a poor student, my entire life savings )

Betting

I didn't gamble for a couple of months, until one of my friends got me into sports betting. I was winning like crazy, even more then I did in blackjack or poker. I'll keep it quick and just say that you never win if you don't walk away(and I'm not good at walking away). At the moment I've been clean for a long time and don't have any urges to gamble. I expelled myself from my favorite sites, so I can't go back. I know there are 1000s of gambling sites, but expelling just felt good.

Final words

I lost around 1500$ gambling. I wrote this post for people that think about getting into gambling or are currently stuck chasing losses - remember, the house always wins in the end, just let go - you will save a lot of money that way, trust me :)

For those of you who think that you can gamble a couple times and not get hooked, maybe you can, but remember - I thought the same.

I know it's very hard to leave when they have your money and you still think there's a chance to win it back, but think about what you'll do when you win your money back - probably play some more, right ? Don't be like me, don't chase losses. Please :)

Alright that's about it, thank you very much for reading . :) Feel free to ask questions in the comments, I'll try to answer what I can. :) Please share this story, maybe you will save people some money and more importantly pain.