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GIVING EVIDENCE TO a British House of Lords select committee in February 2020 on efforts to reduce problem gambling, the then-CEO of the company which owns brands such as Coral and Ladbrokes had a telling statement.
“We do affordability checks [on VIP or high-value customers],” Kenny Alexander said. “We ask for their payslips and—as much as we can—sources of their wealth, et cetera, to verify that they have the money to spend.
I am not going to sugar-coat it: 99% of the customers who play on our sites will lose, so you’re probably losing more if you play more.
This admission from a betting firm CEO was later clarified to say he had used this 99% figure for illustrative purposes and isn’t a statistical figure that represents the actual percentage of bettors that incur losses.
Nonetheless, it is hard to argue that 2020 wasn’t a good year for some of the bookies. Even with retail outlets closed for large swathes of the year due to the pandemic.
This week, Paddy Power’s parent company Flutter announced that revenues had soared by 106% to £4.4 billion last year as online betting rose significantly.
The company said that it had 7.6 million people gambling on its platforms a month, and was recording strong growth in the US.
Flutter’s chief executive Peter Jackson was clear that the trend towards online gambling would continue to be a priority going forward.
He told reporters: “I think there’s definitely going to be a change in people’s shopping habits as a result of this pandemic and I think we’ve seen a real acceleration towards online away from retail.”
However, at a time when we’re living through extended periods of lockdown restrictions, advocates have said there’s an urgent need to address problem gambling which they say is being fuelled by betting online.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie this week on behalf of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland, consultant addictions psychiatrist Professor Colin O’Gara said that issue of problem gambling has “reached a point of no return”.
“There has to be something done about this, and soon,” he said. “We’re really starting to see the effects of the pandemic.”
The first component of this, according to Professor O’Gara, is for those who have successfully managed to stop gambling who now risk relapse.
“People may have had a nice repertoire of activities all upended,” he said. “Maybe they’re unable to attend mutual support meetings, or go the gym, or more recently meet with people, whatever the case may be. It’s kind of created a laboratory-condition for relapse.
Very early on [in the pandemic] sports dropped off, and there was a move towards online casino suites and online slots. Profit figures would suggest that the bookmakers have done well during Covid. The boredom factor for a lot of people is huge, and the isolation factor is huge and these are central tenets of addiction.
Last year, we had the virtual Grand National [a computer-generated version of the race]. And this was a widescale introduction to people for virtual betting and virtual racing. It was presented as a charity thing for the NHS in Britain. It’s that PR machine and the sophistication of the gambling products always working away in the background.
He said the return of sport and its wall-to-wall coverage on TV at a time when many social activities aren’t possible is pushing more and more to betting online.
“It’s my sense within young men that it’s an epidemic of sorts,” he said. “It’s out of control, there’s no other way to describe it.”
Long-delayed legislation that would regulate the gambling industry and introduce a dedicated gambling regulator may now come into effect before the end of the year.
Gambling companies have said they would welcome regulation, and have taken some pre-emptive steps towards safer gambling measures.
Last month, for example, Flutter said it would bring in a ban on credit card betting, increase investment in research, education and treatment to the tune of €3 million and bring in advertisement ban during sports coverage on TV.
Flutter said these latest efforts would complement other measures it was taking to ensure customers in Ireland are offered a safe environment to gamble even before any regulator is in place.
Professor O’Gara, however, said that it’s been absolutely clear over the last decade that self-regulation “doesn’t work”.
“Although [gambling companies] say they want regulation, the reality is that would eventually mean the cohort of individuals who gamble problematically might not be there anymore,” he said.
“That’s the core issue. If you protect vulnerable people, you’ll take a substantial turnover from companies.”
Gambling companies in the past have disputed claims that substantial parts of their revenue and profits come from problem gamblers.
Eoin Coyne’s story
Eoin Coyne, from Youghal in Cork, is in his early 30s. He was due to get married last May but postponed it due to the pandemic. He eventually tied the knot in September and lives in Cork with his wife and children.
He hasn’t had a bet since January 2014.
The first bet he can remember is a tenner on Frank Lampard to score first for England. Lampard scored, netting him €100. Eoin was just 14.
“It kept creeping into my life as such from there,” he told TheJournal.ie.
“That first bet drew me in. I later got a part-time job at the greyhound track. I was obviously in school doing the Leaving Cert then but I’d take half days if there was something like Cheltenham on. Then when I left school, I went to college I got a part-time job in the bookies.
“All my friends were into sport, so it was definitely a social thing. Looking back now I can see more clearly. When Cheltenham was over, say, my friends would go on and continue with their day. Whereas for me, I was waiting for the evening racing in Wolverhampton to start or betting on midweek matches in the Championship.”
As he got older, gambling became a larger part of Eoin’s life. At age 18, he wouldn’t go to the bookies every day. He didn’t think about gambling every day. But it had begun to make inroads.
He was spending more and more time in the William Hill on the College Road in Cork. More time there than on his studies, and he eventually dropped out.
At the time, he didn’t see it as a problem. His part-time job was in a bookies. Eoin believed that he was dealing with the problem gamblers on the other side of the counter.
“I saw people bet on virtual racing from 10am until closing time at night,” he said. “They were betting on virtual roulette, everything. They were spending a lot more time than I was.
That’s how I rationalised what I was doing. I was still seeing my mates and going out at the weekend. I was looking at others, and saying they were the ones with the problem.
Even if he wasn’t in a position to admit it, yet, he was exhibiting behaviours that can be common for a lot of problem gamblers.
“I kind of glamourised my wins, and tried to minimise the losses,” he said. “If I’d a big win, I’d be telling everybody about it. If I was out on the weekend, I’d be buying shots for all the lads. If I’d lost all my money, I’d turn off my phone and I wouldn’t answer texts. I’d try and hide away from it.”
Eoin managed to have a seven-month hiatus from gambling beginning in late-2011. He started betting again on the day of the Grand National race in 2012 when other colleagues were putting a few quid on a horse. “I fell into it there again,” he said.
By that time, he was planning on moving to London and was trying to save up as much as he could for the move. But he was still gambling all the time.
When he eventually made the move heading into 2013, he got a job at the same bookies over in London. A moment that he says was a “turning point” is when he was held up at gunpoint by armed robbers in the shop. He gave up working in the bookies after that but found himself spending more and more time in them during his free time.
“I used gambling as a way of coping [after the experience of the robbery],” he said. “I was thinking about it all the time. Before I went to bed, in the shower.
“How much money I had to bet. Everything focused with how I was going to gamble. It became a daily occurrence from May 2013 onwards. It was out of control.”
Eoin began to borrow money off family members and friends. He’d bet all of his money if he had £10 in his pocket or if he had £100. Football, horse racing, greyhounds. He would constantly place bets to chase what he’d lost.
“I’d give ridiculous excuses as to why I needed the money,” he said. “I’d told my girlfriend I’d stopped but I kept gambling.
Two weeks from payday, I had £1 left. I’d no savings and no money in my bank account. I’d exhausted all my avenues. I went into a Paddy Power on the Seven Sisters Road and I bet £1 on this outrageous soccer accumulator. Something like 5000/1. I got the docket back and just threw it in the bin. It was a lightbulb moment. I was thinking I just cannot put myself through this torture anymore. It was torture for seven-eight months. It consumed so much of my head… I realised what I was doing. The best way of saying it is that I wasn’t the person I thought I wanted to be. That’s when it came to a head.
Eoin went and sought help with a UK-based charity called Gamcare, and began one-on-one therapy with an addiction counsellor. It helped him to get back on track. The support from a welfare officer at a GAA club he played for in London was also a massive help.
Moving home with his young family helped too.
He still attends therapy sessions regularly. But hasn’t bet since.
Eoin Coyne didn’t lose millions or tens of thousands of euro on gambling. But at a young age, he was betting everything he had.
“The thing about the industry is that all the slogans are about it being fun and entertainment,” he said.
“They have that slogan When The Fun Stops Stops,” he said, referencing a slogan that appears on many adverts from bookmakers and in a small section on their advertising branding. “Imagine telling a heroin addict, or a smoker, or an alcoholic, when the fun stops stop. It’s an addiction.
I have a problem with the narrative that it’s harmless. For a lot of people it is. But if it’s that easy, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I wasn’t losing millions. But I was betting everything. So many are in the position I was in. Our attitude needs to change around the culture of gambling. It can’t be so normalised that you have to have a bet if you’re sitting watching a match with friends.
They’ve turned soccer matches into a casino. You can bet on who’ll have the next corner or the next throw in. Pure flip of a coin stuff. Red or black. It’s not a normal bet. They know exactly how to extract money from people. It’s like basically having a casino in your pocket.
Eoin added that he would like to see greater regulation of the industry, and backed Labour Senator Mark Wall’s proposal to ban gambling advertisements.
He also wrote a poem about his experiences that he said has resonated with others in the same position he was in, which you can see below.
Regulation
The kind of regulation that would bring gambling laws in Ireland into the 21st Century could set to be finally forthcoming from the government this year.
Ireland is almost two decades behind the UK in the set up of a gambling regulator, and there are no official studies that accurately estimate the scale of the problem in Ireland.
Figures in Northern Ireland have suggested that 2.3% of the population are problem gamblers. If that figure was replicated here, it would mean at least 100,000 people in Ireland are problem gamblers.
Last last year, the College of Psychiatrists in Ireland published a position paper calling for urgent regulation, research and treatments in Ireland in this area.
Professor O’Gara, who was the lead author of that paper, said a recent meeting with Junior Minister James Browne filled with him hope that the government will move on the area of regulation before the end of the year. Having said, he’s also aware that heavy lobbying could also be done in the meantime on the matter.
“There is a lot being planned,” he said. “I’m hopeful and relatively confident. I do believe [Browne] is determined to get an office for gambling control in by the autumn.
I think things can move quickly, if we can get a basic framework in place. The next thing is to properly levy the industry so that funds come through. That can be used for [support] services and research. Very quickly, then, you might see data coming through that’ll help us to tackle this.
In the wake of the pandemic, Dr O’Gara said it’ll be very important to tackle the “epidemic” of problem gambling that is affecting Irish society, particularly its young men.
“A lot of people are being harmed,” he said. “It’s a stigma and one of the worst stigmas out there. It’s such a shame. Because it’s a medical illness like any others. A huge amount of funding needs to go towards education, and towards awareness.
“When somebody falls foul of this, it’s not their fault. They need to understand that. We need to ensure they get the help they need.”
If you need help with gambling addiction, get in touch with Gamblers Anonymous via one of their regional contacts, Problem Gambling Ireland on 089 241 5401 or other services listed here.
For those in need of mental health support, help is available via:
A list of HSE and HSE-funded services can be found here.
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The gambling ads should be banned. Every second ad is for bingo or one of the bookies. I feel so sorry for people with a gambling problem at this time.
@Anna Carr: I have noticed a large increase over the last 6 months of targeted social media advertising for betting sites. No matter how many times I tell the sites that I am not interested in gambling sites, the advertisements keep coming.
It’s relentless.
I also find the ‘when the fun stops, stop’ responsible gambling advisory messages to be nothing more than a box ticker for the gambling sites.
@Anna Carr: they make it look such fun. Parasites.
@Gary Mander: Exactly. Taking it off TV wouldn’t make one difference. Most if not all people who bet have access through their phone. I’d ban betting websites long before tv
@Anna Carr: definitely, I like my couple of small bets on the golf every weekend but you can see these online games, bingo etc are so seductive. If they can ban advertising on things like cigarettes they can ban advertising on these online games.
@Tim Oconnell: You’ve no idea Tim how accurate that word is, Parasites, they will take everything and leave you with nothing..
Only one winner I’m afraid… Should be made illegal..You may have some change winning with a live event but virtual racing, roulette and similar .. the algorithm used make sure you eventually lose…and they maintain it’s not fixed.
@Rory Murphy: You only ever hear about the wins, never the losses. Also, half of English Premiership soccer teams are sponsored by gambling organizations, with only 3 teams having no ties to gambling companies at all …. All the youngsters are buying into this at an early age, enabling them as they get older, to lose everything at the touch of a button…. Scary.
@Rory Murphy: it needs better regulation, if it was banned it would go underground.
Every bookies should have a sign up on the door stating the profit that they have made in the last year.
@Ned Gerblansky: The idea is sound, but every man & his wife knows that Jeff Besos is a multi-billionaire …and that doesn’t stop the short-sighted Amazon shoppers adding to his pile, at the expense of the local family shop…
@Martin Galvin: yeah because that’s *totally* the same…
How many people have you heard of stealing money at work to fund their Amazon habit?
@Pseud O’Nym: I don’t want to speak for Ned, but I think you’ve missed the point …. The sign was to make gamblers aware that all they are doing is making the bookies rich at their expense ….
Did I touch a nerve with my Amazon analogy and ‘Oh, it’s such a laugh that the DPD guy knows my name….’
@Martin Galvin: Aahhhh no, Mart, you didn’t, thanks for asking though.
I think the point that the OP was making was that if punters realised how much money the bookies made it might make them think twice about what their chances of staying ahead are.
We all know how shops work.
Please change the law so that money grabbing bookies can’t advertise. The YouTube ads pop up daily for me, despite the fact that I’ve never placed an online bet in my life! I can’t fathom how they’re allowed to advertise, when they’ve been directly responsible for so much misery. If alcohol and cigs can’t advertise, they shouldn’t be allowed to either!
How is it possible that this discretionary spend, in contrast to all others, has avoided taxation at the point of purchase. What is going on.
@Gerry Ryan: Couldn’t agree with you more Gerry. All the other vices are either taxed to the hilt to discourage them or are illegal. Gambling gets a free ride, a real heads ratchet for me.
@John Kelly: head scratcher even!
I know this is a UK channel, but I was watching the snooker the other day with my 8 year old, and after evert frame there is an ad break. There were five gambling ads in a row on the first two frames and after that I turned off that channel at the end of each frame. This was during the day. Its completely wrong. Even the irish channels are as bad. They have gamble safely ads on all day, which is still getting in to my kids heads. Its everywhere they turn.
Yet they will limit accounts very quick if you show that you are using your brain.
@John: limit or outright ban.its shocking that this is not talked about.exchange all the way
10 years ago I volunteered as an aftercare facilitator for a treatment centre. At the time gambling addiction was becoming more commonplace but still wasn’t on a par with alcoholism and drug addiction. To put that in perspective, in a room of twelve people recovering from addiction, only one was a compulsive gambler. I know my own addictive personality and how easy it is to succumb to old habits. I shudder to think what damage the last year of lockdown and isolation has done to recovering addicts and how many people are now out there in the throes of a full blown addiction. Without meaning to put a pessimistic spin on the future and it’s just my opinion,but when we do emerge from this pandemic, the strain the mental health and addiction services will be under will be unmanageable
Slowly but surely over the next 5 years the insid1ous take over of football in particular, by gambling will be reversed. every premier league club in England promotes one of these parasites. An additional downside of no pubs is that I see and hear the ads during breaks on Sky Sports. And my kids see them too. It’s an assault on vulnerable sports fans. As for people who endlessly bang on about odds as if that shows some sort of knowledge ofv the game, good God do they’ve any idea how utterly bor ing they are. Why not tell us about your fantasy football team too? Ban all ads. Ban all sponsorship. Gambling is to sports what cigarettes once were. A c4ncer.
Nobody forces you to download a betting app. Nobody forces you to register with that betting app. Nobody forces you to link your bank card to that betting app. Nobody forces you to place a bet with that betting app.
@John ScouseSlayer Macken: aye but would you say to an alcoholic nobody made you have that bottle of vodka? It is true but it is also besides the point because it is an addiction.
@John ScouseSlayer Macken: you wouldnt rob a car.
@John ScouseSlayer Macken: Well you clearly understand addiction
@John ScouseSlayer Macken: you’re right there but it’s all part of the game, lure you in slowly then slowly bleed you dry
I worked for the big Irish bookie online business for 9 years.
If you win big, they’ll give you a chance to lose it back. If you don’t, then you are closed on “trading restrictions” or “commercial grounds”
If you win small and consistently, closed. “Trading restriction”.
If they think you are linked to a stable, or have any inside info, they’ll restrict you max bet so you can still get on something and they can see who you are betting on. The traders in there have a few hundred accounts they’ll monitor for info.
If you consistently lose big, they’ll increase your stake factor so you can bet higher than the normal max bet.
A book running at 110% is fine. It’s how a bookmaker makes its money, but they aren’t content to have that. They make it even more unfair.
@Noel Tate: then, they’ll allow customer to switch between and max out multiple cards.
If a regular customer explicitly says they have a problem, they’ll close their account permanently. But if a big customer says they have a problem, someone in senior management will speak to them and maybe “they’ll just close their account for 30 or 90 days to take a break”.
I witnessed that happen about 10 times in my time there.
@Noel Tate: if a big customer hasn’t bet for a while “hey here’s a free £50 bet. But you have to spend £50 to get it first. And then boom, that person is spending away again and maxing out their cards.
I know a lot of people still working there or recently left who I speak to regularly. Nothing has really changed. Managers being called in the middle of the night to authorise large free bets to get someone who has just won a big casino/games jackpot to keep betting. People with obvious problems being encouraged with specials to keep betting.
The “responsible gaming” teams which have been hired are just lip service. Generally only initiatives which won’t affect turnover are signed off.
@Noel Tate: to give credit, the credit card ban is a good step.
Although, I can still bet away all of my families savings in a matter of hours and they wouldn’t bat an eyelid. But they might contact me to give me a free bet to get me back.
@Noel Tate: very interesting Noel thanks for sharing this
Gambling is a business designed to take you’re money and it’s as simple as that. My wife works in a bookies and has done for over 15 years. Her old boss drove an Aston Martin, went to Las Vegas 5 times a year, had his mortgage paid off before he was 40 and retired at 45. He was incredibly generous to his staff and customers, he would have food delivered to all of his shops on a Saturday and Sunday and the reason for that was to keep punters in his shops. Keep them there and keep them gambling. He always made money no matter what. If one guy won 10k the losses of the other punters would more than cover it. The more you gamble the more you lose.
I gamble on a daily basis and I’m up nearly €18k this year. Not everyone loses. Just the ones who make bad bets.
@Ger Walsh: tax free, very nice, about time you paid your way
@Ger Walsh: Winnings like that would suggest you’re very lucky or put down big sums on short price bets, either way, well played sir.
@Ger Walsh: any tips then?
@Ger Walsh: Sounds like you have a problem, up 18k this year but probably down 18k when you add in the other years.
@Ger Walsh: I know someone that took company funds to gamble – up in the region of 100k which was to go to valuable resources for the community. Yes, he may have won at times but it was all put back to fund his habit. Justify your winnings but you WILL lose at some point. Taking pleasure in telling about your wins is exactly like the guy above was. You’ve an addiction.
@Laura Halpenny: yes and consistent winning is not tolerated by bookies. They’ll cut him off we won’t be able to take any more bets on football, horses or whatever you’re winning money at. In the online world it is easier for them to keep track of who is winning and losing.
@Jamo: That’s it Jamo. I had a friend in college who would often tell about his big bets that paid off and all the money he won. He never told me about all the times he lost. It would nearly make you seem like he was winning all the time but he obviously wasn’t.
@Ger Walsh: send me on your tips
@Ger Walsh: that would make a great ad for the bookies
“Come to Paddy Power – not everybody loses”
@Ger Walsh: you’re one of a very few who win big but dont worry as you only ever borrow from the bookies, they get it all back in the end.
@Ger Walsh: It’s very, very easy to be up over a short period of time.
As my wise old relative used say ‘you never see a bookie on a bicycle…’
Any discussion on gambling here tends to target the big bad betting companies yet the elephant in the room is allowed continue unabated, the lottery.
Its a disgrace how this sham has been allowed to position itself in some sort of morally superior level in society while going completely unquestioned.
Go in to most shops and the prominence it secures is would be the envy of any marketing department.
I think I counted 28 different ‘game’ on display recently. And clearly targeting mainly at middle to low income families.
It’s about time this comes under close scrutiny given that the chances of winning anything are ridiculous, you’d have a far better chance backing a 500/1 three legged donkey in a derby than this scam. Yet most won’t tackle it because of the huge advertising revenue it brings to the so called press.
The Saturday morning lynch mob is been activated. Ban EVERYTHING and lockdown forever!!!
@Full Circle: daft
Disgusting companies, preying on gambling addicts. Definitely should not be given air time on tv or allowed to advertise.
If anyone fancies listening to a brilliant story where the bookies get taken Google “a very Irish coup”.its a radio documentary that was on RTE.its a fantastic listen.
The first check of twitter today and theres a load of Paddy Power ads for Cheltenham. As if the gambling apps dominance of ads over video platforms wasn’t enough.
I have met people with severe problems with gambling… some people don’t realise the grip gambling can have on a person.. an addiction where u could loose everything in one morning.. and some get to d stage where they feel they have no choice but to take there own life… to people that don’t have a gambling problem it irrelevant if add are shown or not.. but for person in addiction it could mean life or death….. SO why not get rid of the the adds.. it could really help some people.
It’s a murky world all tied up in the money where a man is photographed sitting on a dead horse and he gets torn to shreds while the industry itself ignores hundreds of horse deaths at racetracks every year and all to protect the ‘industry’ which has tentacles from rural Irish villages to Wall St.
Some comment here are saying taking gambling ads off tv will do nothing, so why did they bother with all the anti smoking ads. Smoking kills and I know a few dead gambling addicts. ?
Can we not just create a vaccine for the gambling pandemic.
@Trevor Conroy:
Where can I acquire this vaccine
I bet there isn’t…
have your say