Over the past week, US betting companies have been targeted by new lawsuits alleging they encourage problem gambling. In the UK, Bet365 was blamed for failing to intervene and prevent the death of a 19-year-old gambler. It raises questions of how much operators are to blame when gamblers lose control. We spoke with one recovered gambling addict to hear how he overcame the problem and who he feels was to blame.
An inquest in the UK concluded that Arthur Soames took his own life due to mental health distress exacerbated by gambling. The coroner noted that on the day he committed suicide, Soames had “exhausted all viable funds and credit” available to him.
“I felt like that,” recalls another UK citizen who admits to having suffered from a gambling addiction. He wished to remain anonymous as he had never revealed the extent of the problem to friends and family.
“I took out bank loans, maxed out my overdraft, and I had nothing left. I remember placing accumulators (parlays for those in the US) that would have recovered some losses. I had one that looked like it was going to win, but some team in some country I’d never heard of scored in the last minute for it to lose. I broke down on the floor, screaming.”
We asked the anonymous gambler how he recovered in an interview this week.
“I searched on the internet for ways to get out of debt. Then I found these things called Debt Management Plans. I contacted StepChange, and they were great. They contacted my banks, froze the interest on my loans, and I set up a repayment plan.”
StepChange is a free service in the UK that helps people manage their debts. With a manageable payment plan, his finances were back under control, but the temptation to gamble remained strong.
“I still had the idea that maybe I could win it all back. I’d been up before. I think I had about £10,000 ($13,000) in my bank at one point. But then I lost it all and just kept losing, trying to recover the losses.
“I lost all that £10,000 and then about another £10,000. The biggest thing was chasing losses. I would gamble on sports, and if I lost my bets, I would go to the online casino and play blackjack or roulette, hoping to win it back. Then I’d lose on them and keep gambling more to get it back.”
He recalls a day when he lost over £7,000 in one session.
“I used to have a strategy where I’d make a line of how much I wanted to win. So, say I wanted to win £100, I’d have five 20s in a line. Then I’d place a bet adding up two numbers. So if I won then I’d cross off two numbers, but if I lost then I’d only add one. So, in theory I can make money winning less times than losing. Playing a 50-50 shot like black or red on roulette, I thought it was a good strategy. And it worked. That’s what won me £10,000. But then it didn’t work, and I lost about 12 spins in a row.“
The gambler’s fallacy is that if the roulette wheel lands on red, it’s more likely to be black in the next spin. So, some roulette strategies advise upping stakes, doubling down. These kinds of traps can lead players to lose huge amounts.
A better strategy may be the one employed by AC Milan manager Max Allegri. He gave huge tips to the croupier, so he would purposefully try to spin the wheel to land on a winning bet.
“I kept betting on red, but it kept landing on black. The numbers on my line kept getting bigger, and soon I ran out of money in my bank account. I think I lost over £2,000 on one spin. I wasn’t even getting paid that in a month.”
How did he stop?
“After I got into the debt management plan, I changed my mindset. I think I finally realised that I was never going to get back that £10,000 I won. I gave up.”
“I also left the UK. That helped. I wasn’t surrounded by gambling shops anymore and didn’t see any gambling ads.”
Are Gambling Companies to Blame?
There have been increasing calls to ban gambling advertising in the UK. The Premier League will stop displaying betting companies on the front of shirts from next season, but anti-gambling groups want the government to go further and limit all promotions.
“There is an abundance of evidence that gambling is harmful to a significant proportion of people who engage with it as well as to those around them, and that advertising is key to getting people to start gambling, and to gambling more once they’ve started,” says the Coalition to End Gambling Advertising (CEGA). “There is also evidence that gambling advertising threatens peoples’ recovery from addiction when they have been able to stop.”
The gambler we spoke to said changing his environment was key to stopping gambling. He moved to a country where betting was scarce and made new friends who didn’t talk about gambling.
Is a ban on gambling ads the solution, then?
“I don’t know if ads have to be banned. I think most people can bet with no problems, but for me, I just lose control. It’s the same with other stuff. I’ve struggled with alcohol, drugs, smoking, you name it.”
Do you blame gambling companies?
“No. It was me that lost the money. I placed the bets. I don’t think they did anything especially to encourage me. I think the important thing is for people to be aware. Know your odds of winning. Think about how much you can afford to lose and never chase losses. Money will eventually come back. It took me about four years to pay back all the money I lost. When I started paying it back, it felt like it’d take forever, but I paid it all back about eight years ago now.”
Last week, we spoke to Robert Walker, who has just written a book about DraftKings and the backlash the company has faced over claims it encourages problem gambling.
Walker similarly advocated that gamblers take responsibility and be aware of why operators offer them incentives, such as free bets, to gamble.
Empathy Is Everything
Are you still tempted to gamble?
“Not really. Sometimes I have a bet on football (soccer), but I know I’m not going to make any money. After I paid off all my debt, I’ve hardly placed any bets.”
Did you seek any other help?
“No. I didn’t tell anyone about it. The shame stopped me. I know people say that you shouldn’t be afraid of getting help, but I think it’s better to just keep it to myself. I know if I told friends or family, they’d be shocked. And they’d judge me. I don’t want to be labeled a gambling addict. It feels like a failure, like I’m weak.”
Noah Vineberg, another recovering gambling addict, says that “empathy is everything.” He added, “Recovery is the greatest gift you’ll ever give yourself.”
If you are struggling with gambling and want to tell your story, get in touch at adam@casinobeats.com. There are also resources to help in the UK and the US.
The post Former Gambling Addict Talks About Losing Control & Road to Recovery appeared first on CasinoBeats.
Over the past week, US betting companies have been targeted by new lawsuits alleging they encourage problem gambling. In the UK, Bet365 was blamed for failing to intervene and prevent the death of a 19-year-old gambler. It raises questions of how much operators are to blame when gamblers lose control. We spoke with one recovered
The post Former Gambling Addict Talks About Losing Control & Road to Recovery appeared first on CasinoBeats.