Socially responsible online casino

[Balroak]

Hi all I'm a first time poster here and not sure where the best place to post is .

Over the past 5 months I have been noticing I have been loosing control while gambling online at scratch cards and slots . As soon as I loss any amount of money I start to chase my losses. If I lose £50 I will keep depositing money to try to recoup my loses . I've been on a roller coaster ride sometimes I've been up thousands and the same night down thousands . I started with low bets and over the past 5 months it has rose to £200 a spin/scratch which is normal now . On one night it was £500 a spin but that was a one off. Just before Christmas I won £57k on a £200 a spin slot. I paid of all my debts and had 30k in the bank . I promised myself I would never gamble again. That lasted just over 3 weeks . I started again and went up to 60k I'm my bank account. I did not realise that was me pulled back in . I lost 1k and to try and win it back I ended up 35k down in one night and felt as low as I have ever felt . Over the next week I had lost all my money trying to chase my loses . I kept trying to walk away but had an uncontrollable urge to keep clicking the spin trying to get my money back . I then went into my over draft and managed to get lucky and won so I had 14k in my account . i done self exclusion on the casinos I was a member of. I stopped playing for about a week but could not stop thinking about trying to get back to the 60k I had .

I joined another casino and got my bank account up to 30k . On Tuesday night I I lost control and deposited 34k in the one night and lost it all over the space of 2 hours . I just can't control my urge to gamble and was partly in denial . Now im in my overdraft and I was wanting to put a deposit on a house which I can no longer do. I'm on here to ask is it socially responsible for a casino to allow someone to deposit and lose that amount in such a short space of time . After I contacted the casino for a bonus the sent me a responsible gaming email and then asked for my personal info such as I'd and utility bill if I wanted to withdraw in the future . I do take responsibility for my actions even though I know I can't control myself . But surely it not right for a casino to allow my to deposit that much without alarm bells ringing. Can anyone help and give me advice thanks .

 

[Jono777]

The onus is on the player I am afraid

Although 'Sketchy' in parts most casinos offer a range of Responsible Gambling tools from cool off periods to total life times self exclusion.

As painful as it is to read this I strongly feel any approach to the casino will be met with a "You didn't think about this when winning" attitude. On top of the fact they will state they have measures to protect players such as yourself in place.

I also strongly advise that you quit altogether, you seem to be well out of control (no offence) and it will only lead to bigger chases, bigger losses and a thoroughly miserable future.

Seen it too many times unfortunately, gambling has a real nasty side and the good times are long forgotten.

 

[dunover]

Hi all I'm a first time poster here and not sure where the best place to post is .

Over the past 5 months I have been noticing I have been loosing control while gambling online at scratch cards and slots . As soon as I loss any amount of money I start to chase my losses. If I lose £50 I will keep depositing money to try to recoup my loses . I've been on a roller coaster ride sometimes I've been up thousands and the same night down thousands . I started with low bets and over the past 5 months it has rose to £200 a spin/scratch which is normal now . On one night it was £500 a spin but that was a one off. Just before Christmas I won £57k on a £200 a spin slot. I paid of all my debts and had 30k in the bank . I promised myself I would never gamble again. That lasted just over 3 weeks . I started again and went up to 60k I'm my bank account. I did not realise that was me pulled back in . I lost 1k and to try and win it back I ended up 35k down in one night and felt as low as I have ever felt . Over the next week I had lost all my money trying to chase my loses . I kept trying to walk away but had an uncontrollable urge to keep clicking the spin trying to get my money back . I then went into my over draft and managed to get lucky and won so I had 14k in my account . i done self exclusion on the casinos I was a member of. I stopped playing for about a week but could not stop thinking about trying to get back to the 60k I had .

I joined another casino and got my bank account up to 30k . On Tuesday night I I lost control and deposited 34k in the one night and lost it all over the space of 2 hours . I just can't control my urge to gamble and was partly in denial . Now im in my overdraft and I was wanting to put a deposit on a house which I can no longer do. I'm on here to ask is it socially responsible for a casino to allow someone to deposit and lose that amount in such a short space of time . After I contacted the casino for a bonus the sent me a responsible gaming email and then asked for my personal info such as I'd and utility bill if I wanted to withdraw in the future . I do take responsibility for my actions even though I know I can't control myself . But surely it not right for a casino to allow my to deposit that much without alarm bells ringing. Can anyone help and give me advice thanks .

Crikey! One of the big bookies recently had to pay costs of 810,000 Pounds to the UKGC for doing this, not checking when a person stealing from their employer managed to lose 430k online. Your 30k in your bank was NEVER money, just the means of gambling for your next session - and that's exactly what you did. You will now be thinking everything in life is pointless, as say you earn 2k a month from work you know it'll take years to replace that spunked money, to save for that house deposit. So then you get the mind-set of "why bother, I'm defeated" and the whole process will carry on, this time funded by borrowing and that will bankrupt you soon and you'll never own a house.

You must:

Write off the losses.

On a day by day basis recover, make a plan even if it's years long and every day you don't gamble will be crossed off and that target will soon approach, no debts and a nice pile saved.

If you don't, you will be doomed.

Casinos ALWAYS spot problem gambling, usually by amounts staked, AFTER they have taken it, not while they are taking it.

 

[Deeplay]

Really sorry to read of your woes and I mean that. But as Dunover said its down to you in the end. When you won big you can ask was it socially responsible for a casino to give you such a massive amount of money. Not having a go just saying. You have a real problem with gambling and you need to stop like right now! Forget claiming any money back from the casino. Also as John said take it from now - 1 DAY AT A TIME.

If you try chase the losses you will loose your shirt. Kill it dead from now. SE from everywhere. If need be give your bank cards to someone you trust. Allow yourself NO access to money. Install something like gamblock on all your pcs/ phones. And reach out and get help and support. Sites such as gamecare offer online and offline support as do gamblingtherapy.com < the latter has a very good active forum.

But you need to quit if you cant control it.

I went over the edge in the past - granted not to your level. But I learned the art of resposnible gambling which I employ every single day now. Deposit limits every where, taking a break when needed and never ever chases the losses.

Good luck on this - dont focus on if its socially right or not as it all depends on how you view it. Focus on quitting. As the TV advert says "When the fun stops STOP"

gl

 

[Balroak]

That's for all your advice and well wishes . I was not thinking about claiming anything back from the casino but to highlight that the casino might allow this to happen to other players . When I joined the new casino my betting must of been out of the ordinary with my bets and deposit amounts . I went from having 14k to 30k by depositing loads of my 14k in just a short period of time and doing £100-£200 a spin. Then I withdrew all my winnings without the casino in touch with me. It was a few days after I had withdrawn my winning when I deposited 34k in the one night and when I sent my VIP manager a email saying I had a bad session to see if I could get a bonus so I could gamble more. That was the point when they sent me a responsible gambling email and asking me for my I'd so I could withdraw future winnings until then the were not interested and the email about I.D. just seemed like they were covering themselves and not interested in me. Since my lose I have contacted my account manager with no reply .

I was wondering if I have grounds to report the casino to stop this happening to other people like myself who can not control their gambling urges .

I will take everyone's advice and try to take one day at a time and move on from what has been a very unpleasant chapter in my life. I am in control in every other part of my life it's just gambling and can't I understand why I can't control myself when I'm very self aware what I'm doing at the time but it's like someone else is at the driving wheel take me along for the ride.

Thanks everyone for taking your time to read and reply to my story . All your thoughts and advice and experience is very welcome .