uh oh...(Money advice needed, Badly - kind of long)

[ICDEADPPL]

I wasn't sure what forum to post this in, so if there is a more appropriate one mods plz feel free to move it.

Some background, which may or may not be relevant: I am 18 (live w/parents) and have been playing poker online on and off for about 1 year. Overall I think it has been a good experience for me, and while I am not particularly good/successful compared to most posters here, I have made a few grand off my initial $100 deposit, which I am happy with.

PROBLEM: After taking a 1-month break and cashing out the remainder of my roll after tilting badly, I decided to re-deposit and give it a try again. I transferred $600 to Neteller, and from there to PokerStars. Well, naturally I played uner-rolled and donked it off in a couple of days...So I am bummed, but oh well, life goes on, time to get a real job...

So I quit poker, etc...And then a couple months later I notice an e-mail from Neteller, and it says that my account is outstanding in the amount of $500-something and has been referred to Neteller Account Retention for further action. As it turns out, I had some checks that hadn't cleared at the time when I made that last deposit and overdrew my account. [censored].

As of right now, I have literally less than $40 to my name, and am kind of scared shitless. And yes, I realize I am young and stupid and ignorant etc. But I really don't know what to do right now. As this post suggests I am oblivious to this kind of stuff, but - If I came to my bank and told them my situation, would they possibly be able to cover me and charge interest or something? Or any other options? FWIW, I am not concerned about the money in the long-term, and will be able to pay it off easily within a month or two...It just so happens that right now, I am dead broke and worried sick.

Any advice, help, etc. appreciated very much.

[ottsville]

Come up with a plan to work to make the money...write it out. Make it as detailed as possible. Then go to your parents, tell them the situation and ask them to LOAN(with interest) you the money. Show them that you are learning from your mistake and are man enough to take responsibility for your actions.

[pzhon]

Don't borrow money to gamble. <font color="white">There are a few situations in which it can be a good idea to borrow money to gamble. The OP was not and is not in such a situation.</font>

Get a job, pay off your debts, and only think of poker again when you have money you can afford to lose.

You might be able to get a cash advance from somewhere to cover the $500. A credit card is much more likely to do this than a bank, as a bank would require some collateral or a cosigner with assets that can be seized if you don't pay. A cash advance from a credit card will come with an extremely high rate of interest (plus a fee), and it is a good idea to pay it off as soon as possible.

[ICDEADPPL]

[ QUOTE ]
Then go to your parents,

[/ QUOTE ]

this is really not an option [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[ICDEADPPL]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't borrow money to gamble. <font color="white">There are a few situations in which it can be a good idea to borrow money to gamble. The OP was not and is not in such a situation.</font>

Get a job, pay off your debts, and only think of poker again when you have money you can afford to lose.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed 100% (including the part in white [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ). Although I think I should mention that I didn't (and don't intend to) borrow money for gambling. I have no problem quitting poker and I am not a degenerate, I was just too stupid to balance my checking account.

[ QUOTE ]
You might be able to get a cash advance from somewhere to cover the $500. A credit card is much more likely to do this than a bank, as a bank would require some collateral or a cosigner with assets that can be seized if you don't pay. A cash advance from a credit card will come with an extremely high rate of interest (plus a fee), and it is a good idea to pay it off as soon as possible.

[/ QUOTE ]

As far as assets go...I have an old guitar which I am looking to sell (not just because of this predicament, I have been thinking on and off about selling it for a while - this situation just makes it a bigger priority) that I could get about a min. of 2k and max of maybe 3k. I know an instrument dealer who is helping me look for a buyer, but there's no way to know for sure when I'll find one. Is this something I could use as collateral?

[ICDEADPPL]

BTW:

My "plan of action" prior to making this post was to go to the bank tomorrow and ask if they could cover me, possibly with some kind of interest tacked on. The problems with that are a) I have no idea what to expect, and b) If they say no, I don't know where to go from there.

Here is an idea I just thought of, please tell me if it's stupid or if it has any merit:

I'm sure I have some junk (basically old videogames/systems/etc) that I could sell for a little bit of money (but not much probably). My idea is to take whatever I end up with after selling that stuff (probably $100-150ish) and send it to Neteller. Then send them an e-mail saying something to the effect of "I am going through some financial trouble at the moment. Although this deposit is a small portion of what I owe, I hope it represents that I fully intend to pay back my debts as soon as I am able". And as soon as I sellmy guitar, pay the rest. Again, I don't know if this is stupid or not, it's just something that popped into my head as I'm getting desparate for ideas. I have no idea how sympathetic or "willing to work with people" co's like Neteller are in these situations.

also FWIW I picked up some job applications to several different places on Friday and will return them tomorrow...unfortunately though it will not get me a quick $500+ =\

[SheridanCat]

I know you've said you can't tell your parents, but I want to really encourage you to do just that. They can help you. I know it looks like a bad idea because you screwed up pretty good, but overall it's a minor thing and I have to suggest that your parents don't want to see you screw up your credit rating over this. I'm sure there's an extenuating circumstance that you feel makes it impossible for you to tell them, such as they don't know you're gambling online. But the smart move here is to trust them to help you.

Listen to pzhon. You'll probably have to go with a credit card advance, if you have one. The chance that the bank will give you a credit line to cover this is very slim.

If you have to hock some stuff, you'll just have to do it if you can't talk to your parents.

Good luck to you. You should really consider no longer gambling as well.

[ottsville]

I would also contact Neteller ASAP and explain the situation to them. Being proactive here makes them much more amenable to working with you. Take care of this pronto, because if they pursue legal action, not only may your credit rating get screwed, but if neteller asked you to confirm that you were over 18, or they transferred money to any site that required you to confirm that you were over 18, fraud may into play(although I doubt that they would really want to prosecute). You said you are 18 and have been playing for about a year, so I'm guessing that you started when you were under 18.

[ICDEADPPL]

Thank you, I appreciate the advice although I still don't think telling my parents is an option for various reasons.

Any comments about the idea I mentioned in my last post?

[rothko]

you don't need to give neteller all the details about things you are selling and whatnot. you do, however, need to contact them. explain that you hadn't realized that your account was delinquent and want to clear up the situation. outline a plan to pay back $100/month or so until your balance is cleared. usually, they will be happy that you are cooperating and will work with you. your bank won't give you anything. your only option is to set up a payment plan with neteller.

and there's no reason to be scared. just deal with it and all will be fine.