Tips £5 Betfair Win led to this....

He remains angry — with himself most of all, but also with what he describes as the ‘evil, avaricious online gaming companies who prey upon those on their uppers at a time when, financially and socially, they are at their most vulnerable’.


yes, because, you know, they came to his door with henchmen saying 'yoose better play now, ya hears?'
 
And that my friends can happen to everyone if you don't have your act together with online gambling.
Casino's dragging you in with the foresight of big wins and all you end up with is misery and an empy bank account.
This is a sad story and defo not an isolated incident.

The other side of the story that is often forgotten!
 
yes, because, you know, they came to his door with henchmen saying 'yoose better play now, ya hears?'

Some people try things not knowing what could materialise in the future. I pity those who have lost almost everything due to gambling. It's a bad addiction and if some people don't get help they may end up paying the ultimate price.

It's nice to glamorise the industry and assume that 'You fucked Up - Sorry' but there is also the humane part of it all. I have seen many people lose everything they owned, marriages broken and so forth - The Gent in the article is just one of MILLIONS.

I blame the individual, however its a sick habit if not controlled - Just like alcohol and drugs. There are different circumstances people find themselves in - a lot of people are unforgiving - but that's them. I am one who feels for these people. Why?

An interesting story - I had a friend - A Hot Blonde Lady who was lesbian. I plucked up the courage to ask her one day - "Were you born like this or did something happen to make you prefer women"?

The answer I got was shocking - She had been abused as a child by men and sought comfort and security with women. She was too afraid to be with a man because of her experiences ... This has nothing to do with Gambling, however it proves that sometimes we don't know what circumstances lead people to do what they do... Walk a day in their shoes and maybe ... just maybe we may have some compassion.

Nate
 
I've more compassion for the mother and son than the guy who blew it all chasing losses. Sure, it sucks, but people who have addictive natures should be choosing different hobbies than online gambling, at least if they can't control their impulses. Compassion is fine, but where does it end? Let's have all casinos set our limits to one deposit a day? Two?
Which guy is the one with an addiction problem and sickness we should feel bad for, over one who's just reckless and selfish?

Sure, this case is to the extreme. But moderation comes with anything - drinking, sex, eating, Hell, even fitness. It's a shame he lost it all. It's a bigger shame his kid won't have a college fund.
 
This is where gambling differs from drug/alcohol addiction. The means to fund 2 bottles of scotch a day or a gram of coke can often be easily maintained by the addict without affecting other financial commitments. Gambling is unique in that the addict can spend infinite amounts to get their buzz.
 
yes, but that doesnt mean the casinos are to blame - there's also self-responsibility - saying the media advertising big wins and casinos promoting big hits is no different than saying we all feed addictions by posting our screenshots - and I'm not stopping posting my good hits because someone may or may not have an addictive personality, and I'm not going to ask newbies to pass a screening before reading my post.

Is the internet to blame because someone's a sex addict, bars because there's alcoholics, and gyms for jar-heads?
The guy has an addiction. It sucks.
 
That's horrible. I'm sorry but that guy deserved to have his kids taken away from him. He left his son whose mentally handicapped in the car for two hours while he proceeded to place bets on Roulette? He knew his son was in the car that whole time, two whole hours, what if something bad happened? What if the child choked? The artical said the child had tears streaming down his face. I can imagine this would have been a very traumatizing experience. Sounds like he was playing russian roulette with his child's life. I have no sympathy for him. Thats disgusting and IMO he should feel guilty.
 
The article brings out an important point. Most gamblers cannot accept losing leading to a loss-chasing scenario. That's also the reason we have a martingale system. In a gambler's mind, winning is easy and it matters not to win a bet at odds-on. Betting heavily on favourites on horse racing and other sports is just what the betting shops need as the odds are tilted in such a way that any slight disruption to the results lands them a windfall. For those familiar with English Premier soccer straight win bets on the 2 Manchester teams have faltered badly this season so far and they are usually regarded as dead certs. There is no dead cert in gambling so wager a fiver or tenner on outsiders and enjoy.
 
That's horrible. I'm sorry but that guy deserved to have his kids taken away from him. He left his son whose mentally handicapped in the car for two hours while he proceeded to place bets on Roulette? He knew his son was in the car that whole time, two whole hours, what if something bad happened? What if the child choked? The artical said the child had tears streaming down his face. I can imagine this would have been a very traumatizing experience. Sounds like he was playing russian roulette with his child's life. I have no sympathy for him. Thats disgusting and IMO he should feel guilty.

I have to agree. I'd have had a lot more sympathy for this man if the shock of what could have happened to the child had been his AH-HAH moment, but he continued to gamble and lie and neglect everything else until he had no other option. The only reason he stopped is that he ran out of money, I'll bet that if his mother had showed up and he still had a couple grand in the bank, he probably wouldn't have gone with her. The guy had plenty of money to begin with, so gambling wasn't about making a few extra bucks or even about entertainment for him - it was all this power trip about winning.

I know what it's like to battle with addiction and sooner or later you have to realize that the choices you make are your own responsibility, not the fault of the pusher or the media or the greedy so and so who took your cash. You need to see what it is and you need to OWN it before there's ever a chance of getting better.

This story actually reminds me of that woman a year or two back who won a huge amount in a casino - was it a million or two, I can't remember - anyhow she just gambled it back.
 
It's worth me saying to Dionysus that I didn't post this thread as an attack on the availability of online gambling or as an attempt to moralize! I could have posted a story about 3 car-crash deaths but it would not have come with a suggestion that all licences be rescinded and private vehicles controlled or banned.

The reason is that the guy is an army Major. This means he's educated, comes from a good background and has an honourable profession. This would be the rationale behind the story as it demonstrates how addiction can affect anyone.
As Marky pointed out, the gambling controlled him to the point of a lifetime of shame resulting from his actions especially the incident with the baby in the car. Several lives ruined due to one man's lack of control.

Occasionally these stories serve to remind us how close to the wind we are sailing, how we could fall from grace at a vulnerable point. There may be some on here unknown to us who have more reason than others to be frightened by the tale. As they say in the special forces here (and probably where you are) "if you ain't scared, you ain't prepared".
 
It's worth me saying to Dionysus that I didn't post this thread as an attack on the availability of online gambling or as an attempt to moralize! I could have posted a story about 3 car-crash deaths but it would not have come with a suggestion that all licences be rescinded and private vehicles controlled or banned.

The reason is that the guy is an army Major. This means he's educated, comes from a good background and has an honourable profession. This would be the rationale behind the story as it demonstrates how addiction can affect anyone.
As Marky pointed out, the gambling controlled him to the point of a lifetime of shame resulting from his actions especially the incident with the baby in the car. Several lives ruined due to one man's lack of control.

Occasionally these stories serve to remind us how close to the wind we are sailing, how we could fall from grace at a vulnerable point. There may be some on here unknown to us who have more reason than others to be frightened by the tale. As they say in the special forces here (and probably where you are) "if you ain't scared, you ain't prepared".

? why's it worth saying it to me specifically? It wouldn't have mattered to me what the reason behind the post was - I comment on most threads here - you could have posted a picture of a bunny eating grass, and I'd have thrown my 2 cents in. Whether you posted to support online gambling, against online gambling, or because you liked the article because it had a font you particularly liked lol.
I popped open the article to read it, and was drawn to the guy's rationalization of his habits
 
These kind of things are a darmn hard dilemma. Like we see with drugs, and places where gambling are illegal, there's no point of banning them, as there will always be a black market that wants to make money. Regulation is however a important thing. Seeing how Bet365 handled the case with Baasland, the addict who lost like 4-5 millions, there is IMO no question that the market needs to be regulated a bit more when it comes to problem-gamblers. Giving bonuses to a problem-gambler to get him to come back is just disgusting.

One thing i like about the gambling laws here in Norway, is that one cant be held resposible for gambling debt if the lender knew the money would be spent on gambling. Ofcourse the worst addicts will get around it, but atleast it's a bit harder to max a credit card on impulse.

The most important thing though is that everyone in a society has a safety net, everyone can make mistakes, and i do gladly pay a bit more tax to see these people get the help they need, no matter what mistakes they have done.
 
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A good gambler would use his common sense better, i guess he wanted FAST INTEREST , He took big risks and paid for it
 

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