I know Colin.
But all I read in the various threads are people doing it all the time and I am sure many if not most know very well what they are doing.
Why SE in the first place, if you are not serious about getting your gambling under control?????????
The onus is not just on the casino. We are talking about adult people here, not kids with temper tantrums. IMO, a SE is something like an admission that you have a gambling problem. As with any diet where the food is just one part to lose weight and stay slimmer, executing an SE can only be a part of the solution. Easy to blame casinos all the time.
Would love to hear what all the OPs posting on CM with a SE issue are actively doing to curb their addiction other than doing an SE. Most just open a new account somewhere else, don't they?
To my recollection, I very rarely read something like:
"I did the SE AND gave up control of my finances to my spouse/partner/parent/friend, I installed Gamblock on my devices, I started going to AG meetings etc. because I want to get my gambling under control."
Most posts are looking purely for tips how to get a refund of the lost deposits, isn't it?
I just don't buy these types of comments anymore:
"i didn't know they were in the same group", "they should have blocked me, can I have my money back", "I SE'ed to control my gambling but opened another account in a moment of madness/frustration/add as you please" etc. You want to be serious about getting control of your addiction, THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
I agree with Harry on many things.
It’s time the whole human race took accountability for their actions.
We are each responsible for our own choices and, whilst addiction of whatever form can affect this choice, it doesn’t negate the fact that choices have consequences. Cause and effect.
To put gambling and SE into a different context....
I grew up in relative poverty. My Dad was a heavy drinker, he knew he had a problem and ‘tried’ unsuccessfully to cut down/stop a few times.
The landlords of the pubs he frequented were surely aware of his drinking problems. I’m pretty sure my mum is likely to have pleaded at times for them not to serve him.
Would it be reasonable for me to blame the pub owners/ brewery companies and claim back the money that he passed over the bar throughout the years? No that is a ludicrous suggestion.
Thats different though. The pub landlords didn't have a legal requirement to refuse service to him. Thats how gambling differs to most other things. Of course people should take responsibility for their actions, and yes, people try it on, however, they don't have a legal responsibility to do so, the casinos do.
One or two lines of code is all it should take to check a new account against the licenses SE list on registration and/or deposit. They manage to do it on withdrawal so can certainly do it at an earlier point. The casinos don't do it simply because, they know a problem gambler is likely to lose a lot before doing a withdrawal, which they can then refuse. It is a no lose for the casino, they will 100% refuse a withdrawal, yet rarely will refund deposits.
Yes players try to defraud casinos, and I'm sure a high percentage of people posting about it are attempting to defraud them, but not all are. Any other business will attempt to negate fraud as much as possible. Casinos can, when registration is submitted, check fields Surname, postcode, date of birth, payment card etc against the SE list for the license holder/group of companies, and if 2 fields match, instantly suspend the account until it is manually checked. Most casinos don't do that though, the ONLY reason they would keep allowing attempted fraud, is because they are making more money from the SE'd customers who, when caught, don't get their money back. Further than that, there is clear precedent from the UKGC that in cases like this, deposits should be refunded, yet, again, most casinos refuse, again, because they are fully aware that 99% of cases won't get to the UKGC and therefore they will never be forced to refund.
The casinos, in a lot of cases, are solely to blame for attempts at defrauding them. Yes the customers doing so should have some sort of penalty, but even then, that shouldn't be up to the casino to decide. If a customer changes some details to get round a SE then deposits could be donated to charity, if a customer has not changed any details, just signed up to another site within the group, then deposits should be returned to the customer.
At the very very least, when you go to self exclude, there should be a pop up at some point saying 'When you self exclude from us, you are also automatically excluded from all sites within our group, at this current time, these are xx,xx,xx,xx etc. Our license is located here (link), if you are opening an account before your self exclusion has been removed, please check the link to ensure the casino you are opening an account with is not listed. If you manage to circumvent our checks then this will void all bets, and you will not be paid any winnings. This information will also be emailed to you for future help'. Any casino rep is welcome to chime in with the reasons you don't do this?
But then, you know, the casinos would lose revenue, so thats unlikely to happen in the near future.
