I was watching a game of football the other day on TV. They weren't really teams that I cared about but football is football. About 20 minutes in I noticed that both the teams had gambling websites sponsoring them. They do that now? Online gambling sites can sponsor football teams? Yes, it has been the case for a few years now.
During half-time I actually for once (not subconsciously) paid attention to the advertisements purely because the first one was a bet in-play for what the score will end up being for the football match. The next advertisement after that was one for another online casino offering a free welcome bonus (stating in small writing at the bottom that "terms and conditions apply" but doesn't state the likely fact that if you accept the welcome bonus you would have to gamble it an estimated average worth of 2000 times that amount before you will be able to withdraw anything INCLUDING your own money). The advertisement after that was one for a payday loan. "If you're short of a bit of money then a payday loan could be just what you need" (not stating that if you take one out, it could lead to financial catastrophe and ruin your life with it's 2000% interest). Only a few days ago in the newspaper there was a story of a man in hospital. He had attempted to commit suicide after he had become involved with payday loan companies. He ended up doing what a lot of people do and that was to take a 2nd payday loan to help pay towards the 1st one and then a 3rd one to help pay towards the 2nd one and then on and on and on..... The man had a wife and 2 kids. One payday loan company kept trying to ring him whilst he was in hospital and even took all the money from his account whilst he was in there. That is what they do. They are legal and there are more and more payday loan companies emerging just as there are more and more bookmakers and more and more online casinos. There was an actual suicide not so long ago of an 18 year old man who got addicted to gambling on his phone. He took out payday loans to fund his habit and then got into a load of debt but couldn't handle it anymore when it all spiraled out of control. Just 18 years old.
People say things like "The credit crunch has made a lot of people go out of business as less people can afford to buy things."
But that is a load of nonsense. Where did the credit crunch come from? Why are so many people becoming more broke? Why are so many people all of a sudden struggling more than they were a few years ago?
The answer to me is so simple. It's because of gambling.
In the town I live there used to be 3 betting establishments in the town centre. Now there are 6. Each 30 seconds (if that) walk away from each other. Shops are closing down in place of more betting shops. Within a 10 mile radius from my house there are over 100 betting establishments! They are becoming so common that you can't go down the street without one being near by.
With all the advertising, sponsoring of betting shops, online gambling and payday loans that are so easily available that a lot of them now boast how fast they can get money into your account (some as little as 10 minutes), is it any wonder that this country is seriously getting fucked? Anyone can get addicted and once you are, it is very hard to get out of. You'll constantly be trying to chase your money back to no avail. If you would be lucky enough to win your money back, you won't stop. It is a downward spiral. And it's happening to more and more people. Now there are so many easy ways to get money from payday loan companies when it should be more difficult to get loans if there are more people out of work then there used to be. A gambler if he had a job, could lose his wage the very day he got it, take out a payday loan, lose that too and then take out another and another. I write "COULD" lose his wage and take out payday loans but I don't know if that is the right word because people ARE doing just that. Hundreds everyday.
There are addicted gamblers who if there were no betting shops would spend their money on other things. Things in normal retail shops maybe, thus funding their business and keeping it afloat. With people having no money to buy things that they would normally buy if they hadn't lost their money, that is the reason shops (apart from betting shops) are losing money and going out of business.
In 2004 the then Prime Minister, the absolutely idiotic Tony Blair said that "Super Casinos would regenerate run-down areas of Britain." How he thought that would be possible I really don't know.
The fixed odds betting terminals or what most people just refer to as "roulette machines" in betting shops apparently take in just under half of the betting shops' profit. Which I think is very surprising as I really thought it would be more. They are dubbed as "The crack cocaine of the betting industry".
Apparently in 2011, in the UK, more than £1 Billion was lost on these machines.
According to research done by a channel 4 documentary, the target areas are mostly poorer areas that have high unemployment.
A couple of months ago, the Labour deputy party leader Harriet Harman said that they made a "mistake" over the gambling laws and that it had ruined peoples' lives. She said the following:-
"I got the most heartrending letters and emails and calls that I've ever had in 30 years of being an MP, just saying 'Please do something about this. It's ruined my life, it's ruined my family, it's really dangerous and the problem is it's getting worse and that's why we need the law to be changed so that something can be done about it'.
Yet nothing does get done about it. It was 4 months ago when she said this, yet things are getting worse! Now there are payday loans available everywhere too! You can download casinos and betting apps on your phone! You can't walk down the street without coming across a bookmakers. The only people that would notice this would be a gambler or someone that knows a gambler. The only people who first hand really notice how damaging gambling already is, again is the people who gamble and maybe the people who know that they gamble and maybe the staff in the betting shops.
It is curious how some people think that if you were a gambling addict, it's not as bad or as serious as being an alcoholic or as a drug addict. Why is this the case? Why do people think this? How many more suicides will it take for this shit government to finally open their eyes and do something? Stop the advertisements, stop the growth of the betting shops. Close them down.
But another huge problem with gambling is how secretive it can be kept. There are no physical signs unlike an alcoholic or a drug addict. A gambling addict can easily just lose all his/her money, then go back to work or back home without anyone knowing at all. Gambling is often referred to as "The hidden addiction".
Worldwide, suicide rates because of gambling are very high. Higher than cocaine or alcohol or any other substance. The reason for this? It's because there is only so much cocaine your body can take. There is only so much alcohol your body could take before you end up in hospital or dead. But in gambling there are no limits. You could lose £100,000 in a day. If you could get access to more, you would lose that too. A very scary fact that I read 3 months ago is that worldwide 1 in 5 problem gamblers attempt to kill themselves. About 80% of problem gamblers think about killing themselves. Only 5% of problem gamblers attempt to get treatment.
The simple fact is that gambling kills you because it doesn't kill you.
The shame, the frustration, the loss of faith, the realisation after it is over can all make a problem gambler want to end their lives. Dealing with the lies you have to tell people. The pathetic excuses why you can't go out, or buy anything and being to ashamed to tell anyone the truth is not easy.
With alcohol, drugs or substance abuse if a person was strong enough to quit that, then their lives can get better. With a gambler, more often than not, they are in debt. If the debt is substantially higher than what they earn, the high of gambling is gone but the desperation to get out of debt isn't. It only takes one big win to get life back on track. Even if you're not in debt, the thought of all he money you have lost is always in the back of your mind. That would only go if you happened to have a big win. And that is why it is just a bottomless pit which more and more people are getting into.
Talking of pits, a few months ago a gambling addict was being hounded by creditors. He ended up digging a hole under his kitchen and hid their for 2 months. Talk about symbolism. People end up alone. They are that ashamed, they do things like this.
One thing I do want to point out is that being addicted to gambling ISN'T a moral failure. People need to realise that you can be addicted to a behaviour and it really needs to be addressed because there are more and more people, some who are genuine good people who are becoming trapped in this sick vicious cycle. Unfortunately it looks like things are going to get a lot worse.
