A police officer, who has once lost £250,000 due to his gambling addiction, said that the gambling industry has ignored the problems and gambling-related harm faced by its customers.
After only a week ago an all-party parliamentary group made a recommendation for some changes to the online gambling sector that would be aimed at protecting the most vulnerable members of society, Alex Macey has also called for improved regulation of the sector. According to him, betting companies have exploited problem gamblers thanks to the practices they use.
Mr Macey, a former problem gambler, was one of the individuals who recently gave evidence to the Members of Parliament from the cross-party parliamentary group. He revealed for the BBC that he started gambling as a child after being fascinated by so-called fruit machines, and later moved on to controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) at bookmakers’ shops. He also started gambling online.
As revealed by the former gambling addict, he would normally spend approximately 60% of his income as a police officer on gambling. He further shared that gambling cost him more than money, as he started missing out things such as holidays with his daughter. The police officer described the activities as highly addictive and confessed that he was gambling even at times when he was supposed to spend time with his child at the cinema.
Gambling Companies Take Advantage of Vulnerable Players, Mr Macey Says
Mr Macey described the impact gambling had on him as a feeling of guilt, stupidity and, of course, shame. He said that as a gambler, he was fully aware of the fact that he was doing something “ridiculous”.
He further shared that he has communicated with other problem gamblers who were, however, much worse as they had lost their homes and much more money than him. Mr Macey has explained that in his opinion, the British gambling industry has been ignoring gambling addicts for quite some time, with gambling operators not actually doing something to help such people.
What is worse, he revealed that gambling companies are taking advantage by the vulnerable individuals and revealed that he continued to receive gambling operators’ marketing emails even after he tried to exclude himself from online gambling sites and two years after he placed his last bet.
As Casino Guardian already reported, the Gambling Related harm All-Party Parliamentary Group recommended that treatment of gambling addiction should be provided by the National Health Service (NHS). The Group also suggested that online gambling should be subject to the same maximum betting limits allowed on land-based electronic gambling machines.
Unfortunately, stricter regulation could lead to further problems for British gamblers. As explained by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), an over-regulated gambling market could also be a risk, as it could push people to start gambling with unregulated gambling websites that are even more dangerous.
- Author
Daniel Williams
