Genuine Question - RE Gamstop

I would presume it's because the government earn money from gambling websites the responsible gambling bit is nearly always at the end . I'm going to look next time an advert comes on see if gamstop is in the small print at the bottom. That's a good question and obviously something that is bugging you. The number of adverts on bugs me a lot the other night in a 5 minute advert break there were 3different gambling websites advertised

There was a 3 minute piece on sky news the other day saying they were going to legislate loot boxes on games as gambling which I think is right . I saw a post from another forum user earlier today about it and there was a young girl 11 yes old in the paper had spent over £4000 off her dad's debit card purchasing loot boxes she thought it was like monopoly money. The interesting thing on the sky news piece was they said that there has been no rise in problem gambling. Would be interesting to see Gamcare stats especially through the lockdown. This site has lots of new comer posts every day.

I would say because it costs a lot to advertise on radio, even with a nationwide event discount, and how would you select the stations to best give coverage. Plus, it's a very small percentage of the population who are problem gamblers, so I would target those people in the places where it's most likely to catch them, ie the bookies, online and on the help sites. 

If someone googles "help with problem gambling" or words to that affect then they'll come across forums like this and then through here you can be directed towards self help like blockers. Besides, Gamstop is one form of help which works better with other help too, like GA or the counselling that Gamcare offer.

Chris.

I feel for you and trust me - I know the story inside out.I just logged on here after losing all my savings I had accrued (about 10k) since I had bet last.I had been off for 13 months and had saved like a Trojan for a deposit on a house but all gone.

Had my last bet about 2 hours ago and if my Mrs knew,I would be finished.I have to duck and dive and pretend all is great when I have done the dough.

I have lost everything to gambling over the years - houses,cars,access to my kids,trust and many other things and only 3 weeks ago,I chose to go back and do all the same bs again.

You are not alone - we are all in this boat of insanity and it is a case of get busy staying off it and living or keep betting and dying for me.

I hope I can start again and I plan to document the past three weeks somewhere so I don’t forget the misery of this.

Best wishes 

The casinos advertising aren't willingly going to promote anything that might impact on their profits. They've been forced to add a nod to 'responsible' gambling in the TV adverts but you can sense the reluctance when it's a case of blink and you'll miss the nanosecond recommending the limp 'stop when the fun stops'.

The industry will never reform unprompted hence the need for effective legislated regulation.

Hi DD

I think you know the answer to to own question.

First there is no such thing as responsible gambling. The act of gambling even a pound is not a responsible thing to do by any definition of the word responsible.

Risking money on a whim is never a responsible thing to do with money. There may be all sorts of reasons why a gambler justifies the act but responsibility can never be one of them. Thats why those adverts wind me up considerably. The notion that we are suddenly responsible by only gambling X is a complete nonsense. A compulsive gambler is long past setting limits as you all well know

Its like saying to somebody smoke responsibly or drink responsibly. Both of those substances are toxins to the system whether users like to face that fact or not. Alcohol and gambling still get the do it " responsibly" tag as they are still the more acceptable faces of addiction. However smoking gets warning packets or pictures of lung disease because thats now the naughtiest of the three. I was an extremely casual smoker but the removal of packs of 10 stopped that. I grumbled slightly but its actually doing me a great favour. Still on sale though as its a big tax revenue earner. Thats the crux of it...if the government were not taking a pretty penny the whole lot would be illegal because the government would just be faced with the horrendous consequences.

Not nice to know we are the acceptable face of addiction in the grand money making scheme is it! 

A pusher will not willingly harm their own income stream.  Problem gamblers make up a large percentage of gambling den profits.

I think Gamcare is mentioned but the problem is that no would be gambler is reading the small print. The advertising does not show the extreme dangers of gambling because its all brushed under the carpet.

The government want to to think is just a silly little flutter and a few greedy people get their knuckles rapped...they should know better! I know its a dangerous drug and mind control addiction that affects millions of people 

Gambling needs a government health warning. Short of a ban it needs heavy regulation now

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Posted by: Joydivider

Not nice to know we are the acceptable face of addiction in the grand money making scheme is it! 

A pusher will not willingly harm their own income stream.  Problem gamblers make up a large percentage of gambling den profits.

I think Gamcare is mentioned but the problem is that no would be gambler is reading the small print. The advertising does not show the extreme dangers of gambling because its all brushed under the carpet.

The government want to to think is just a silly little flutter and a few greedy people get their knuckles rapped...they should know better! I know its a dangerous drug and mind control addiction that affects millions of people 

Gambling needs a government health warning. Short of a ban it needs heavy regulation now

This explains it perfectly - the gambling industry will only do things when they are forced to by the government (and then usually after many years of delaying tactics - the £2 FOBT was a perfect example) and the government does not really want to do anything to reduce gambling as it is such an easy revenue earner.

I think the possible difference between gambling and smoking/alcohol/poor eating habits is over the years it became increasingly obvious to government that the costs of dealing with the associated health issues of these  for society started to outweigh the tax benefits. If you look over the last 30 years or so smoking has been hit pretty hard by increased regulation/tax together with fairly hard hitting public information to try and get people to stop altogether. Alcohol less so but there have been attempts to reduce consumption and there is advertising to remind us to have days off and keep below a recommended weekly number of units. The growing obesity problem is being addressed through more education, better labelling of products, taxes of specific unhealthy food/drinks - we regularly have TV adverts paid for by the government suggesting we eat better and get more exercise.

I am not sure where problem gambling sits in terms of its impact to society and therefore how much the government will ever do now or at some point in the future to try and reduce the amount of gambling. Is the sickening truth that despite the horrors that gambling has put so many people through that we really are "the acceptable face of addiction"? Not a very nice thought really. 

To be honest I think 

It's down to the betting industry's funding the gambling commission ect we need to have an outside agency like the ombudsmen in gambling plus I also believe that things are starting to turn against the gambling company's and due to the changes and the new report due out there not going to have it all in their own way anymore 

Yes but the serious problems associated with gambling have become very clear for a long time now. Many more people have joined the forum and the problem has gone exponential

Who is it that cant see the homelessness the family breakups the prison sentences and suicides directly associated with gambling. It drains communities and the misery has a severe knock on effect

Its easy to start reading up on gambling as a drug addiction and split mind illness. Many in the medical and professional domains know how it acts. They know how this acts on the human brain. Its far darker than a bit of harmless entertainment Are they advising the government?..I dont really know.

Its easy to see why people get addicted and I dont really blame them. They are asked to face responsibility but something very devious was pushed upon them. Can you blame them for trying the bright lights so readily on offer. Can you blame them for wanting another go? They want the reward that's being advertised at them

If the government wasn't making a pretty penny these issues would be unacceptable. Just like all the vices that the government tax, I am an acceptable casualty in the money making scheme.

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Well said joydivider

I'm a true believe in the government and them allowing things to slide by due to the vast income these companies draw in for them and when something does go wrong and they've got to look like there doing something. What is it they do but fine them,I don't receive any off that fine do you? As I've said before we need an ombudsmen in the gambling industry who is independent atleast then things may be abit better holding these industries to account when they've mucked up As they seem to do a lot off in my opinion but that's only how I feel everyone is different