Predator (1987) Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

The gambling industry

I wanted to write a topic today, to get something on paper (virtually) about my experiences with the industry. It's come up in various conversations over the last week and in some rooms. Many will no doubt have a different opinion to me about carrying baggage through into recovery especially negativity from my past. That said I have a healthy hatred for the betting industry and as part of my abstinence (not recovery) for me, it makes it easier to say no to the first bet because I don't want to put a penny in their pockets. The industry is predatory and has certainly preyed on my illness as a compuslvie gambler. 

UK legislation is a joke in this area so I guess I can't blame the operators in terms of legal responsibility but can in moral business ethics. They know exactly what they are doing and making profits through misery of the 3% of gamblers that can't say no. Responsible gambling practices only keeps responsible gamblers doing so and they probably wouldn't cross the line. 

So I wanted to vent my frustrations that they do not take any responsibility in the help they gave me to get to where I ended up in November last year. They all know now and show no remorse

I won't name names but here we go

Up to ten years ago when I went solely online I had one betting account. Over the last ten years I've had around 150 different ones in my name and a whole host in my partner's name that she knew nothing about. In November last year I had over 70 in my name only and a so called safer gambling monthly loss limits of over 17 x my monthly wage ! 

One company set my limit at 85% of my salary (how can they think that's ok). They based my limit on a P60 that four years later was still being used and never asked for an updated one or payslips. My VIP manager would say "we can get away without asking for bank statements". The same thing happened with another VIP account with monthly calls saying the same thing.

They changed a promotion and instead of reducing the number of free spins, instead they doubled the staking to get them. Both VIP managers tried to be my friend and learn about my personal life so they could talk about business and golf. It led me to believe I needed to support them , what a joke.

Another operator sent me free spins changing up the addictiveness of the products on offer. Notice they when you get free spins, they stipulate which slots you can play them on for a reason.

They offer freebies for loyalty which encouraged me to be loyal to them and spend more money

Not one single operator asked for bank statements or they would have seen i couldn't afford the losses and was using multiple platforms.

I would make 20 deposits with some, numerous times with in a couple of hours using up my loss limit but that's not a red flag. One operator over a two year period I lost all of my limit on the 1st of the month for two years but that's not a red flag.

Failed deposits didn't prompt questions.

The banks didn't even question the problem when they are the ones who could see all of them.

Deposit matches and we all know the psychology behind that. It's not free money and you end up losing the bonus and the deposit. Don't get me started on the ones a few years ago that had 40 x turn requirement and games like roulette didn't contribute 100%.

I could do on but to sum the industry up and after complaining to all of them for a lack of protection and abusing me, none of them care for anything other than money. A company that I spent six figures with over the last four years, I self excluded direct and through Gamstop so my account was closed 4 days before my monthly cashback and they refused to pay it because the account wasn't open. Says it all