I need help to beat my fixed odds betting terminals addiction - Tony Franklin

15^th September 2017

I’ve struggled my whole life with gambling addiction since the age of 10 / 11.

Today I’ve made my formal application to the UK’s only NHS specialist gambling clinic in London, the National Problem Gambling Clinic for help and I hope it will come quickly.

I’m addicted to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and had a prolific relapse over a week which ended on the 12^th September with me losing £2,740 in less than hour.

I’ve previously beaten an internet gambling addiction and haven’t gambled online for over 10 years. I was able to effectively self-exclude and download software to prevent me accessing online gambling sites.

Although I’ve tried to self-exclude from the bookmakers there is NO EFFECTIVE solution to do so and they have continued to allow me to access their shops and lose substantial monies even though they know my ‘tragic case’.

I’ve tried to use all the self-help tools, and knowledge that I’ve gained over the years to beat my addiction but ultimately the availability and ease of access to such ruinous high speed, high stake machines has had the better of me. I am completely paralysed and broken. Totally destroyed by these machines.

I have to accept that I need the professional help and expertise of Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones clinic and I really hope that I will be able to overcome this addiction which has totally consumed me. I am not a nice person to be around and I have hurt so many people along the way.

I love my daughter, Sophie, my son Samko my son Jacob, my grandson Charlie and all of my family and friends who have done their best to help me. I need to help myself.

I will continue to talk about my addiction openly and use my story as best I can to help others and to raise awareness of this horrible addiction.

Thank you.

Tony Franklin (GamblingHurts)

Plant life in the jungle - the electronic gambling machines cradle to grave schema and Credit Reference Agency Affordability Checks

Pressure is mounting on the whole electronic gambling machine industry ahead of the Government's long awaited review due October into Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) and reducing the maximum stake to £2.

The simple fact though is the whole gambling industry has long ignored the harm caused by its addictive by design electronic gambling machine products including FOBTs, online roulette, and casino slots.

It has preferred to repeat over and over its narrative that responsible gambling is fun, and that it signposts people to help in the small number of cases where appropriate.

The problem now facing the industry is that it has become almost impossible to maintain this narrative in the face of a number of high profile failures to keep harm and crime out of gambling and increasing evidence from the Gambling Commission that electronic gambling machines make huge and disproportionate profit from a very small number of customers with gambling addiction.

The solution is actually very simple:

1) Implement the requirement that regardless of sector customers have to open an account to play any electronic gambling machine product.
2) Implement the requirement that as part of the account opening process ID and affordability checks are done via the Credit Reference Agencies and that a responsible gambling limit is set.
3) Implement the requirement for player tracking software with alerts for risky play activity including chasing losses.

With the current media interest relaying information to its audience daily about gambling harm the industry is very sensitive to any proposals for robust and effective solutions to stop gambling harm that would seriously impact its profits in the process.

This is when you can spot the industry plant life frantically trying to justify the continuation of half baked solutions that allow the misery money to keep flowing.

It must not be allowed to happen.