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    ‘I lost 10 years of my life’: how UK betting giant’s unlawful marketing kept suicidal gambler hooked
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    ‘I lost 10 years of my life’: how UK betting giant’s unlawful marketing kept suicidal gambler hooked


    ‘I lost 10 years of my life’: how UK betting giant’s unlawful marketing kept suicidal gambler hooked

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/01/i-lost-10-years-of-my-life-how-uk-betting-giants-unlawful-marketing-kept-suicidal-gambler-hooked?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu

    Posted by zeros3ss

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    8 Comments

    1. LeRosbif49 on

      “Protecting our customer is our number one priority”

      No it really isn’t. I worked in this industry for over 10 years before I the morality of it all caught up with me.

      If people only spent what they could afford to lose, there wouldn’t be half as many betting shops as there are now. They are most prevalent in low income areas, sometimes with more than one of the same firm on the same street.

      I have had regional managers almost scream and shout when whey find out high rollers are self excluding because they have a problem.

      They are there to make money, and the social interaction and intervention is merely a thorn in their side that they have to abide by to maintain their licenses.

    2. WantsToDieBadly on

      I always hate how the extent of “customer care” is useless slogans in the window. I think “when the fun stops STOP” (with the stop in big fun text) has changed to “take time to think “

      Addicted gamblers only think of gambling.

      Also the 24 hour stores are scummy they should be banned

      Like do we really need so much betting stored on the high street

    3. LightBackground9141 on

      I still can’t believe betting is advertised so heavily and isn’t restricted. Surely only a matter of time. You can’t watch football without it being drilled into you.

    4. RandomNonagespecific on

      I signed up to GamStop. I have GamBan on most devices (I actually can’t put it on some). I blocked gambling payments on all my banks.

      But they find a way. Every pay day, I get inundated with texts from different numbers asking me to join their casino or betting sites. As I block them, they add new numbers.

      I’m sure they’ve worked out when I’m at my lowest and target me then

    5. nahitscoolmyguy on

      These companies are predatory.

      Adverts are non-fucking-stop during sporting events both during the event (billboards, shirt sponsors, channel sponsors) and between in the adverts.

      They continually push it down people’s throats. The whole fun stopping thing has never worked for any addict. The fun stopped a while ago…

    6. Serious_Much on

      Gambling should just not be a legal enterprise as a business model. It is insanely harmful and provides no genuine benefit to society.

      Let people privately gamble if they want, but we shouldn’t have megacorps able to advertise at public events like football matches to indoctrinate the vulnerable working class and children

    7. Dernbont on

      There was a programme on R4 5 or so years ago about a chap who had, he admitted, a problem with gambling. He bumbled on many years, losing smallish amounts until one day he won 60-odd grand on fixed odds. Suddenly, he was given an ‘account manager’ by the bookies he won from. He was gently(!) encouraged to keep on gambling, mostly on stuff he hadn’t bet on before. Within 6 months the bookie had all their money back.

    8. Mysterious-Sock39 on

      Watching football it’s just betting commercials constantly,teams come out ,we just going for one last skybet break. Ban all betting commercials and advertising