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on bbc news today the gist of it is ............40 yo takes own life after being furloughed and getting lured back into online gambling ,free bets being offered after he appeared to have taken control of gambling lured him back in .obviously his own decision as to start gambling again but a tragic outcome.
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Very sad but mental health illness probably the cause with gambling along with other things such as gambling a factor. Tragic which ever way it is.
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What about the other 17 or 18 committing suicide on average daily, do they not warrant a mention from the BBC.
Tragic story but let's get it into a sense of perspective |
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correct
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Tragic indeed.friend of mine topped himself 6 or 7 years ago was addicted to the fobt roulette machines,cost him his job,wife & finally his life.felt very guilty at the time as he’d asked me for a loan a few weeks before, he was already into me for a few k so I told him no way if it was going into a roulette machine.incredible really how a very intelligent person can get sucked in by those machines.
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barstool 23 Aug 21 11:12
Very sad but mental health illness probably the cause with gambling along with other things such as gambling a factor. Tragic which ever way it is. ........... I think there are far more people developing mental health problems through gambling, than mentally ill people falling into gambling. |
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I think I followed this case quite closely (his wife posts a lot about it on twitter).
Pretty sure, as saddo says, he was fine until gambling debts, payday loans he couldn't pay, and desperation got to him in the end. He'd had gambling addiction years before, it prob never left him but got worse in recent times. |
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Isn't part of the trouble that once you are sucked in, and way over your head in debt, the only rational course once all other sources of funds are exhausted is to keep gambling, or so it must seem, until that one big win? And if you are offered free bets, where's the possible harm?
It is wrong, of course, but not as obviously irrational as that lunatic who thought he'd made a pact with the devil to kill women in exchange for a lottery win. It could happen, and at a far smaller scale, who among us has not been on a long losing run before getting out on the last? What's the answer? No idea. Games are designed to be enticing but I cannot see how you can stop that. The government can hardly create an enticement limit like a speed limit. There are already affordability checks, or are supposed to be, and god knows they are a PITA for the rest of us. RIP and best wishes to those left behind. |
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I hope not too many 'problem gamblers' were on Audarya yesterday.
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I've just finished the book 'Promise me you'll shoot yourself'
About the epidemic of suicides that went through Germany when they realised they'd lost WW2. Good book. It was mainly women killing their children then trying, and in many cases failing to drown themselves. They were bumping themselves off at a fair lick even by the start of the war; 23,000 a year. |
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I read this story before and although I've been punting since 13 (bookies) I was always gutted but able to take it on the chin. Read about a man who got way in over his head and the whole family was up for eviction. His wife basically said he brought all of this trouble on us and he took the easy route out. She was left with everything to sort out, even debts she had no idea about.
As the dealer said.... What about the other 17 or 18 committing suicide on average daily, do they not warrant a mention from the BBC. Tragic story but let's get it into a sense of perspective I often wonder what what % of these men got over their heads by gambling. Alcohol, drugs and gambling is no respecter of people whether you be a labourer , doctor or solicitor. If it gets a hold of you you can be doomed. Had I not have got a strategy of sorts I could be living in a bedsit drinking cheap wine after doing my dough in. Thankfully IF I don't make a few bob on here I have a second income that pays the bills etc but that wasn't always the case. I'm slightly more responsible now but I know how it feels to be potless. |
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The thing about these type of cases (and there are many similar) I often think is - how terrified an individual can become in front of their own wife/husband/family.
That taking their own life is a better option than a 'mea culpa'. It shows the level of fear they are really feeling at that time. |
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** Always feel sad when someone takes their own life. Sadly, they usually feel very happy before the event because, apparently they know their torture is going to end so there's no way of telling.
The only other thing on the subject I would like to mention is that nobody's immune. |
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the amount of people with gambling addictions in this country since the introduction of smartphones will be nothing short of frightening.
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Individuals with a lower threshold of addiction will get hook-in by free bets and other promos eg hospitality. It's not refuted bookies prey on the weakest to maximise their profits. The present day bookies esp those online are nothing but scumbags; problem gamblers is merely a number to them...until they're brought to book.
Sometimes I wish those head honchos (not founders) of betting firms or their families will get their comeuppance in later lives. I honestly believe until then they'll have no idea as to what adverse gambling consequences are until they experienced them themselves. Every form of gambling must monitored and policed some more closely; limit the number of betting entities on the high street and online; ban all forms of advertising esp mobile; computer and tv (the midnight tv adverts) sicken me to the core when some are at their most vulnerable eg alone in the middle of the night. |
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Perhaps the law should distinguish between matters of skill, like racing or football betting, and games of pure chance like FOBTs and cartoon betting. Allow the former but severely restrict the latter, as in the old days when amusement arcade slot machines could pay out a pound or so.
It is games of chance that have been highly developed to suck in the foolish, and that allow the speed of play to empty an account in short order. More subtly, I suspect but cannot prove that these games of chance are more susceptible of irrational beliefs like god-granted luck. |
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Losers always find a way to lose.
They are persistent. |
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Night after night you can see ads for on line Casino's . A major high street bookie is advertising "play for free and win". Another on line firm has £2,000,000 jackpot waiting to be won. At the same time they surreptitiously close down winning accounts or restricting stakes to selective punters.
It really is time that games of chance were restricted to Casino operated license holders only, where only paid up members can play. Likewise a bookmakers license should be only be for betting on actual sports. Not the lottery, cartoon stuff and fobts. Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell well and truly let the Genie out of the bag with their 2005 Gambling Act. Advertising went through the roof and there are now well over 30 million on line betting accounts in the Uk. That genie will be a tough nut to tame now. |
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Apologies Ramruma, had not read your thread. We are somewhat on the same lines I guess.
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No problem, @barstool. It is encouraging.
Re the Gambling Act, I spoke to a Conservative MP on the Select Committee about this. He said they did not foresee a problem because competition between operators would take care of it. Both parties at the time (and maybe even now) had a blind faith in free markets to solve any problem. I say blind faith because even a moment's thought would have told the MPs (and Ministers) that competition would not optimise consumer protection, just the opposite! |
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The former head honcho at the Gambling Commission jumped before he was pushed. His stewardship of Football Index was the last straw. A radical review of the present Betting/Gaming Act is long overdue.
Banning betting adverts on popular social devices and platforms is a good step forward. |
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when the fobts had just started outside my local laddies saturday morning 2 attractive young birds with a little table with balloons and decorations giving out free bets for the fobts saying to anyone who was going in or just passing free £5 bet you cant lose ,fair enough passers by choice wether to take the offer up but i just wonder how many got hooked who would othewise walked straight by the bookies .not blaming the girls of course but the firms knew full well what they were doing
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Very sad to say but since the shop opened up again i have seen an awful lot of people who in my opinion have a problem,trying to talk to them is impossible instead of them realising i am trying to help them they give me abuse.when the 2quid limits came in people thought that people could not do there cash in, take it from me people still do there cash in on them, had many a guy in today who played them for HOURS.a very sad situation it is, no doubt i will get some stick but i dont think there is an answer.
regards Ronnie. |
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no there isnt an answer..the buzz is addictive.
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Certainly do not see why the BBC should highlight a suicide linked to gambling, when they don't for other reasons.
Gamblers have the choice whether to play or not. If your gambling begins to put your family at risk, then weigh up the options. Either walk away from it and have peace of mind or selfishly carry on and put your whole world in danger of falling apart. Not a difficult choice is it? But peoples weakness and selfishness is put down to addiction. Not my fault guvnor, its the bookies offering me free bets. Suicide is a terrible tragedy for the people left behind, but i have less sympathy for gambling being blamed than i would for other reasons. |
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Betfair got around the opt out on marketing mails by putting the bonuses directly into his account and claimed everyone is eligible for such bonuses.
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Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell well and truly let the Genie out of the bag with their 2005 Gambling Act. Advertising went through the roof and there are now well over 30 million on line betting accounts in the Uk.
First: the Act had all party consensus because it had to be passed in time for an election. Second: internet gambling was already well up and running at the time of the Act. The Act limited advertising to EU and a few other areas. Third: the Act gave the UKGC every power it needed to restrict licencees, they didn't use them almost def because of government policy. |
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Sorry, but the Labour party carries the can on this.
It was a Labour Bill introduced by Tony Blair and Tessa Jowell. On line Gambling was less than 10% of the population in 2008. 31 million live accounts in the UK now. Up to 47% of the population bet on line. |
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Online bookies have no moral compass. Their objective from the outset is to get customers hooked on online casinos. Like drug dealers giving free drugs to get folk hooked. Gambling is more addictive than crack cocaine.
This is where they make their big profits from. Addicted problem casino gamblers. The same companies that shut or severely restrict winning accounts from selective winning gamblers. As gamblers, many of us have known of similar cases happening to close friends and family who are no longer here. Very very sad story. Condolences to his family and friends. |
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Night after night you can see ads for on line Casino's
Yes, we have the new Crop of Awareness and take time out Adds from the bookies , Complete shyte , Back door advertising The worse Adverts have to be the pathetic Hills adds ,People in a chip shop on roulette, Barbers the same ,and Tone Muckoy pointing out a winner in a newspaper,he cant get enough money , all to the pathetic Caroline Background music .. |
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I have known a lot of Gamblers in my Time ,there are not many I know that have not done their Bollix at some stage , Myself included
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All part and parcel
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Not sure why politics has been brought into this , most Politicians know foook all about gambling and care less , as Ronnie has stated the 2 quid machine business has probably made no difference ..
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Where do we go next..
No cheap booze in supermarkets(already in scotland) No pub happy hours or cheap shots No 2 for a £1 yum yums, or meal deals in greggs Alcohol abuse and Obesity a massive issue also. Its the million dollar question, should the majority who gamble, drink and eat responsibly suffer because of the minority who cant or dont. |
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The 2005 Act removed restrictions on advertising (which has increased 600% since.)
A total explosion in advertising, tv, on line, the high street, press, everywhere you turn That is the part of the Bill which caused the mess we are in now. |
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the thing is, I drank and gambled irresponsibly sometimes at the dame time when I was young. I learned not to do both (mostly). So most of the majority are the minority from time to time.
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barstool • August 24, 2021 3:29 PM BST
The 2005 Act removed restrictions on advertising (which has increased 600% since.) A total explosion in advertising, tv, on line, the high street, press, everywhere you turn It most def did not, in fact it introduced restrictions. |
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Basically the site we are using right now offered bonuses (which 99% of account holders do not receive) to an obviously vulnerable punter with a history of huge losses.
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Here is the tory repeal of the restriction on advertising in 2014
Repeal of existing offence of advertising foreign gambling (1)Section 331 of the Gambling Act 2005 (offence of advertising foreign gambling) is repealed. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/17/section/3 . |