Not something I suffer from personally as I bet modestly. I have to say though it's a topic that is of interest to me. I think it's because I gamble myself and being "in to" the topic is a strong warning to be sensible and not go crazy. There is some brilliant books out there from brave sufferers who have told their story and it's not a surprise so many are part of sport, where you get so much downtime and need to find ways to fill your day. I have read Saved by Peter and Steph Shilton about the millions he's lost from gambling. Paul Merson book Hooked is another fascinating read about his addiction to having bet, resulting in his wife being in full control of finances and giving him pocket money. I am currently nearing the end of Mite Bite by Patrick Foster who was briefly a Cricket professional but didn't make it and is now five years clean.
I don't think the government do enough to help people and the white paper from them should have been released by now. William Hills were fined a record amount the other week for letting people lose silly sums in tiny lengths of time....
At school you're taught about so many things but not about keeping control of your finances and being sensible with money. You don't get warned about the risks of chasing losses and now it's even worse because kids gamble through buying stuff to play computer games. It's easy for people to hide their addiction too because of technology. Someone is always drunk? Alcoholic. Someone is always high? Drug addict. Someone is always gambling? How you know? It's easier to gamble on your phone and you're not seen daily in a bookies. I am sure millions of people know a sad story about someone who got caught in this horrible addiction.
I don't think the government do enough to help people and the white paper from them should have been released by now. William Hills were fined a record amount the other week for letting people lose silly sums in tiny lengths of time....
William Hill to pay record £19.2m for ‘widespread and alarming’ failures
Group admits string of transgressions, days before reforms of gambling laws are finalised
www.theguardian.com
At school you're taught about so many things but not about keeping control of your finances and being sensible with money. You don't get warned about the risks of chasing losses and now it's even worse because kids gamble through buying stuff to play computer games. It's easy for people to hide their addiction too because of technology. Someone is always drunk? Alcoholic. Someone is always high? Drug addict. Someone is always gambling? How you know? It's easier to gamble on your phone and you're not seen daily in a bookies. I am sure millions of people know a sad story about someone who got caught in this horrible addiction.