Fuck this world. I'm beyond help. Nobody understands my pain, nobody seems able to help me ease my pain. Try as I might to contribute to this world I'm seen as ...a burden. My poor parents despair, my wife can't cope with me, I can't cope with myself, my son loves me, I try to be at peace with the world and myself, to help others where I can, to shine some happiness into their lives where I can but inside I'm a complete mess, a complete fuck up. Yesterday I lost €3500, then somehow I won it back again, then today I lost it again. Why? I don't know. But I've been seeking help, from reading, from talking with others, from ringing the Samaritans, from ringing Citizens Advice, from the doctor, from the psychiatrist. In the meantime I am dealing with these demons I can't control them anymore. I am shit, worthless piece of crap that can't support my family. We lost our house, I'm going to lose my house again, I can't hold a job, I'm worth nothing to this shit world. Fuck this world. Fuck it.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Fixed Odds Betting Terminals may haunt the bookmaker industry for years to come. I certainly hope so.
Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) are high speed, high stake gambling machines that offer roulette and other casino games on the UK high streets. They came to prominence in 2002 when the casino game roulette was first introduced. At that time the FOBTs were not regulated or categorised by Government and the bookmakers placed them into betting shops without any clear operating parameters agreed with regulatory bodies.
Subsequently the bookmakers convinced the Gaming Board of Great Britain and Government that they could be trusted to self-regulate and the machines were categorised in the Gambling Act 2005. In contravention of the spirit of the law per The Gaming Machines Supply and Regulation 2007 the industry have adapted the FOBTs to take debit card deposits when made over the counter.
Public concerns over harm being caused by the FOBTs have been steadily growing, with an ever increasing number of people losing everything on the machines with consequences on families, employers, and local communities.
At the same time there has been a convergence of other concerns surrounding the FOBTs namely. the proliferation and clustering of betting shops and other exploitative businesses such as Pay Day loan shops in the high streets, and the public have also become tired of non-stop gambling advertising in the media, particularly on TV and across Social Media platforms.
Perhaps most worryingly for the gambling industry though is the alienation of clients of their previous core business, Over the Counter (OTC) bets on horses, dogs, football etc. The bookmaker industry has reinvented traditional betting into a sophisticated trading platform based on a financial algorithm that reduces the position or closes down accounts from anybody adapt at beating the bookmaker.
Whilst bookmakers have always closed down loss making accounts, it is the growth of the FOBT industry to be their core business that has allowed them to decline or restrict bets on such a frequency that even their core customers have been alienated by their business model.
With the success of the Campaign For Fairer Gambling and the sun setting on the exploitative nature of the FOBT business the bookmaker industry may come to regret its strategy of the last 15 years.
I for one hope so. Anthony Franklin.
Subsequently the bookmakers convinced the Gaming Board of Great Britain and Government that they could be trusted to self-regulate and the machines were categorised in the Gambling Act 2005. In contravention of the spirit of the law per The Gaming Machines Supply and Regulation 2007 the industry have adapted the FOBTs to take debit card deposits when made over the counter.
Public concerns over harm being caused by the FOBTs have been steadily growing, with an ever increasing number of people losing everything on the machines with consequences on families, employers, and local communities.
At the same time there has been a convergence of other concerns surrounding the FOBTs namely. the proliferation and clustering of betting shops and other exploitative businesses such as Pay Day loan shops in the high streets, and the public have also become tired of non-stop gambling advertising in the media, particularly on TV and across Social Media platforms.
Perhaps most worryingly for the gambling industry though is the alienation of clients of their previous core business, Over the Counter (OTC) bets on horses, dogs, football etc. The bookmaker industry has reinvented traditional betting into a sophisticated trading platform based on a financial algorithm that reduces the position or closes down accounts from anybody adapt at beating the bookmaker.
Whilst bookmakers have always closed down loss making accounts, it is the growth of the FOBT industry to be their core business that has allowed them to decline or restrict bets on such a frequency that even their core customers have been alienated by their business model.
With the success of the Campaign For Fairer Gambling and the sun setting on the exploitative nature of the FOBT business the bookmaker industry may come to regret its strategy of the last 15 years.
I for one hope so. Anthony Franklin.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The answer to the opportunity to gamble is very simple. Cut it off.
I've been addicted to electronic gambling machines since the age of 11 when I first started playing them in the local seaside town where I went to school. 30 plus years on and I'm still struggling to beat this addiction.
I progressed from playing fruit machines to playing FOBTs and online roulette, 3CP. The amounts I lost increased beyond all correlation to my ability to earn a wage as my addiction progressed to pathological and took over my entire life.
The operators of FOBTs / online gambling sites are equally guilty of doing the minimum for responsible gambling policy in order to maintain the status quo with regards to regulation to prevent gambling harm. The reason for this is quite simple, problem gamblers are making huge profits for the industry.
I don't know exactly how much I've lost over the years but it runs into multiple hundreds of thousands of pounds racked up on debt. The impact on health though is perhaps even more stark. At the very least the impact to one's health after decades of having your mood driven by wins / losses from gambling should not be understated. At its worst problem gamblers feel completely alone, and a burden on society, leading in the very worst cases to suicide.
Once an addict, always an addict and the problem with gambling for addicts is the sheer amount of opportunity to gamble. Its driven into your face by TV adverts, constant bonus promotion emails, SMS messages, high street bookmakers etc. It's literally everywhere.
As a problem gambler I can do my best to be strong and remind myself of the misery it causes me, the pain it causes my family and friends, but is it fair that the industry just bombards me with offers / adverts for gambling but without taking sufficient steps to protect me as a problem gambler who doesn't want to relapse?
The answer to the opportunity to gamble is very simple. Cut it off.
1. Online gambling:
Change the law to require banks on request (by the problem gambler) to block Merchant Category Card (MCC) 7995 gambling transactions. The banks already have the procedure in place to do this as online gambling is illegal already today in some jurisdictions.
2. FOBTs:
Implement a self exclusion database. (by operator or national self exclusion database funded by industry)
Install card readers on all FOBTs with swipe cards issued to customers on request. During log-on the system will authenticate the card against the self exclusion database to check that the user of the card has not self excluded themselves. Any payout requires ID cross checked against the card owner.
Taking just these two steps will almost eradicate the opportunity for a self excluded problem gambler to have a relapse.
Thanks for reading.
Anthony
Please follow me on www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
I progressed from playing fruit machines to playing FOBTs and online roulette, 3CP. The amounts I lost increased beyond all correlation to my ability to earn a wage as my addiction progressed to pathological and took over my entire life.
The operators of FOBTs / online gambling sites are equally guilty of doing the minimum for responsible gambling policy in order to maintain the status quo with regards to regulation to prevent gambling harm. The reason for this is quite simple, problem gamblers are making huge profits for the industry.
I don't know exactly how much I've lost over the years but it runs into multiple hundreds of thousands of pounds racked up on debt. The impact on health though is perhaps even more stark. At the very least the impact to one's health after decades of having your mood driven by wins / losses from gambling should not be understated. At its worst problem gamblers feel completely alone, and a burden on society, leading in the very worst cases to suicide.
Once an addict, always an addict and the problem with gambling for addicts is the sheer amount of opportunity to gamble. Its driven into your face by TV adverts, constant bonus promotion emails, SMS messages, high street bookmakers etc. It's literally everywhere.
As a problem gambler I can do my best to be strong and remind myself of the misery it causes me, the pain it causes my family and friends, but is it fair that the industry just bombards me with offers / adverts for gambling but without taking sufficient steps to protect me as a problem gambler who doesn't want to relapse?
The answer to the opportunity to gamble is very simple. Cut it off.
1. Online gambling:
Change the law to require banks on request (by the problem gambler) to block Merchant Category Card (MCC) 7995 gambling transactions. The banks already have the procedure in place to do this as online gambling is illegal already today in some jurisdictions.
2. FOBTs:
Implement a self exclusion database. (by operator or national self exclusion database funded by industry)
Install card readers on all FOBTs with swipe cards issued to customers on request. During log-on the system will authenticate the card against the self exclusion database to check that the user of the card has not self excluded themselves. Any payout requires ID cross checked against the card owner.
Taking just these two steps will almost eradicate the opportunity for a self excluded problem gambler to have a relapse.
Thanks for reading.
Anthony
Please follow me on www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Online Gambling Addiction - Make it illegal to accept credit cards for online gambling transactions.
In the summer of 2008 I lost more than 50,000 EUR in a
period of just two months playing online roulette and slots via my notebook and
mobile phone.
Tweets by @GamblingHurts
At one point I was actually 16,000 EUR in profit but the
casino concerned kept enticing me back with promotions to keep me playing. Of
course as a gambling addict I couldn’t resist and it wasn’t long before I was
into the red.
Now into the zone of chasing losses the casino had me
completely hooked and they would refund me quite large percentages of my losses
as free credit to keep me going and to ensure that over time they took all of
my money.
I was gambling max bets on a single number which for this particular casino was £100 per number. Neither my bank nor the online casino saw anything strange in my making multiple £1000 + deposits from my credit cards with sometimes minutes in between.
When I flagged up to the casino that I had a problem they offered a responsible gambling limit of £25,000 monthly! and even more promotions to keep me gambling.
I played at all times of day and night until the money ran out and I had spent more than £50,000 on credit cards.
With the UK online gambling now a £2 billion business gambling addiction has become a serious problem.
It is time to regulate the online gambling industry to protect against gambling addiction and make it illegal to accept credit cards / overdrafts for online gambling transactions.
As an argument for balance between safeguarding vulnerable people like myself and freedom of choice it makes sense.
When I flagged up to the casino that I had a problem they offered a responsible gambling limit of £25,000 monthly! and even more promotions to keep me gambling.
I played at all times of day and night until the money ran out and I had spent more than £50,000 on credit cards.
With the UK online gambling now a £2 billion business gambling addiction has become a serious problem.
It is time to regulate the online gambling industry to protect against gambling addiction and make it illegal to accept credit cards / overdrafts for online gambling transactions.
As an argument for balance between safeguarding vulnerable people like myself and freedom of choice it makes sense.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
My name is Anthony Franklin and this why I support the @stopthefobts campaign.
I started gambling on 'slots' when I was 11 years of age, I was completely hooked by 13 years. So I was still a child. I progressed with my gambling addiction through my teens and into my adulthood playing the slots in the pubs, arcades, railway stations and working mans’ clubs.
Through this time I undoubtedly lost a lot of money but there were limits restricted by the stakes, and the knowledge that jackpots came around infrequently. I was not able to stay off the machines per se but I was able to come off playing one machine and move to another with breaks in-between.
When the FOBTs started to appear in the betting shops I was very quickly completely hooked on them. I would only ever play the roulette and I would always play the same numbers – 3, 15, 26, 28, 29, and 32.
With roulette it was possible to hit one of your numbers in concurrent plays (obviously not a probability) and win a substantial amount of money in a short space of time. For the addict mind this was absolutely disastrous as it reinforced irrational thinking that you could beat the system and win money. This, the high stakes, and the speed of play is why FOBTs are so dangerous.
In addition the industry has in my view circumvented the ‘spirit’ of the Gambling Act 2005 by opening multiple betting shops in close proximity to get around the 4 FOBTs per shop rule. It would be wrong not to also mention internet gambling and online casinos where it is also possible to lose vast sums of money around the clock. And indeed I did.
Playing FOBTs, EGMs and online casinos I have lost £100,000s. This was money I could not afford to lose and included in small part my earnings but also huge amounts of debt that I could never pay back.
For most addicts there are no ‘sane’ limits to the amount of cash that you can feed into FOBTs, I have lost on many occasions a months earnings (several thousand pounds) in one session. I knew that I had a problem but couldn’t admit it to others, so the pain and devastation of losing this amount of money and the feelings of stupidity and subsequent depression I cannot describe.
I want to talk about my loved ones a little too, what did my children do to deserve going without food or clothes as a result of living with my ‘crack cocaine’ gambling addiction. My wife had no idea of my gambling addiction when she met me and even when she knew about my problem, it took her a very long time to grasp the scale of the issue and not before she had also accrued huge debts to try and bail me out. She didn’t really understand the issues either and I was very good at hiding the problem and its scale as well as feeling ashamed.
These machines have input from psychologists in the design process, they are designed to hook people into play, and they are extremely dangerous for some people. It is right and proper for the government to legislate appropriate restrictions for dangerous products, as we regulate drugs, guns etc.
For reference there is a good piece of research by Dr Luke Clarke (Cambridge University) – ‘Near Misses’ that provides some insight into what goes on in the addict brain.
I have had many periods of heavy losses but the last time I had a huge period of losing was in the summer of 2008 when I lost approx. £100,000 playing on FOBTs, EGMs, and online casinos over a two month period.
I lost my home and as a result I now live separately from my wife and son for practical reasons although we are still a family. Nearly five years on I am still penniless, in debt, and for eighteen months unemployed. This is what gambling addiction does to people, it causes pain, misery and it splits families up.
If you are reading this I do hope it convinces you to support the Stop the FOBTs campaign.
You can follow me on twitter @ www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
You can follow me on facebook @ www.facebook.com/gamblinghurts
I campaign for the following:
1. Lower FOBT maximum stake from £100 to £2.
2. Increase minimum age for Category D machines to 18.
3. Remove FOBTs from betting shops.
4. Tax online casinos at point of access.
5. Ban the use of credit cards for gambling transactions.
I started gambling on 'slots' when I was 11 years of age, I was completely hooked by 13 years. So I was still a child. I progressed with my gambling addiction through my teens and into my adulthood playing the slots in the pubs, arcades, railway stations and working mans’ clubs.
Through this time I undoubtedly lost a lot of money but there were limits restricted by the stakes, and the knowledge that jackpots came around infrequently. I was not able to stay off the machines per se but I was able to come off playing one machine and move to another with breaks in-between.
When the FOBTs started to appear in the betting shops I was very quickly completely hooked on them. I would only ever play the roulette and I would always play the same numbers – 3, 15, 26, 28, 29, and 32.
With roulette it was possible to hit one of your numbers in concurrent plays (obviously not a probability) and win a substantial amount of money in a short space of time. For the addict mind this was absolutely disastrous as it reinforced irrational thinking that you could beat the system and win money. This, the high stakes, and the speed of play is why FOBTs are so dangerous.
In addition the industry has in my view circumvented the ‘spirit’ of the Gambling Act 2005 by opening multiple betting shops in close proximity to get around the 4 FOBTs per shop rule. It would be wrong not to also mention internet gambling and online casinos where it is also possible to lose vast sums of money around the clock. And indeed I did.
Playing FOBTs, EGMs and online casinos I have lost £100,000s. This was money I could not afford to lose and included in small part my earnings but also huge amounts of debt that I could never pay back.
For most addicts there are no ‘sane’ limits to the amount of cash that you can feed into FOBTs, I have lost on many occasions a months earnings (several thousand pounds) in one session. I knew that I had a problem but couldn’t admit it to others, so the pain and devastation of losing this amount of money and the feelings of stupidity and subsequent depression I cannot describe.
I want to talk about my loved ones a little too, what did my children do to deserve going without food or clothes as a result of living with my ‘crack cocaine’ gambling addiction. My wife had no idea of my gambling addiction when she met me and even when she knew about my problem, it took her a very long time to grasp the scale of the issue and not before she had also accrued huge debts to try and bail me out. She didn’t really understand the issues either and I was very good at hiding the problem and its scale as well as feeling ashamed.
These machines have input from psychologists in the design process, they are designed to hook people into play, and they are extremely dangerous for some people. It is right and proper for the government to legislate appropriate restrictions for dangerous products, as we regulate drugs, guns etc.
For reference there is a good piece of research by Dr Luke Clarke (Cambridge University) – ‘Near Misses’ that provides some insight into what goes on in the addict brain.
I have had many periods of heavy losses but the last time I had a huge period of losing was in the summer of 2008 when I lost approx. £100,000 playing on FOBTs, EGMs, and online casinos over a two month period.
I lost my home and as a result I now live separately from my wife and son for practical reasons although we are still a family. Nearly five years on I am still penniless, in debt, and for eighteen months unemployed. This is what gambling addiction does to people, it causes pain, misery and it splits families up.
If you are reading this I do hope it convinces you to support the Stop the FOBTs campaign.
You can follow me on twitter @ www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
You can follow me on facebook @ www.facebook.com/gamblinghurts
I campaign for the following:
1. Lower FOBT maximum stake from £100 to £2.
2. Increase minimum age for Category D machines to 18.
3. Remove FOBTs from betting shops.
4. Tax online casinos at point of access.
5. Ban the use of credit cards for gambling transactions.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Food or Betting Terminals (FOBTs)
Removing high stakes casino style betting terminals from the high street is something I'm really passionate about and is something I can speak about from personal experience having lost £100,000s in these betting terminals both in the UK and across Europe.
The reality for hundreds of thousands of kids in the UK, and millions around the world is that they are going without food and other living essentials because they live with a parent who is addicted to high stake casino style electronic gambling terminals.
In the UK these machines are known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). They were introduced into British betting shops in 2001 after the then Chancellor Gordon Brown abolished duty on individual bets in favour of a tax on bookmakers gross profits. 
2012 FOBT statistics
Recent research shows that 23% of FOBT players are addicted. That is more than 300,000 people addicted to these betting terminals alone.
The UK Gambling industry as a whole are contributing a miserly £5 million to combating gambling addiction whilst they cash in to the tune of £850 million a year from FOBT misery and depriving kids and families from having food on the table.
These machines are dangerous, yet the vast majority of the UK population, more than 96% don't play them and most don't even know what they are or care about their existence.
Our government continues to allow a product that is harmful for nearly a quarter of its users to be available and marketed.
Its time to take action and to join the campaign to STOP THE FOBTs.
High stakes casino style betting terminals have different names in different regions.
- UK (FOBTs), Australia (pokies), - Mainland Europe & Canada (VLT, Novamatic), - USA (slots)
You can follow/connect me on facebook, twitter, Linkedin. Thanks for your interest.
www.facebook.com/gamblinghurts
www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyfranklin2
The reality for hundreds of thousands of kids in the UK, and millions around the world is that they are going without food and other living essentials because they live with a parent who is addicted to high stake casino style electronic gambling terminals.
In the UK these machines are known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). They were introduced into British betting shops in 2001 after the then Chancellor Gordon Brown abolished duty on individual bets in favour of a tax on bookmakers gross profits. 
2012 FOBT statistics
- UK install base 34,000 FOBT (2012)
- Generate £3.68 billion profits. (Source Daily Mail)
- Estimated £46 billion staked. (Source William Hill/Ladbrokes)
Recent research shows that 23% of FOBT players are addicted. That is more than 300,000 people addicted to these betting terminals alone.
The UK Gambling industry as a whole are contributing a miserly £5 million to combating gambling addiction whilst they cash in to the tune of £850 million a year from FOBT misery and depriving kids and families from having food on the table.
These machines are dangerous, yet the vast majority of the UK population, more than 96% don't play them and most don't even know what they are or care about their existence.
Our government continues to allow a product that is harmful for nearly a quarter of its users to be available and marketed.
Its time to take action and to join the campaign to STOP THE FOBTs.
High stakes casino style betting terminals have different names in different regions.
- UK (FOBTs), Australia (pokies), - Mainland Europe & Canada (VLT, Novamatic), - USA (slots)
You can follow/connect me on facebook, twitter, Linkedin. Thanks for your interest.
www.facebook.com/gamblinghurts
www.twitter.com/gamblinghurts
www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyfranklin2
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Don Foster MP announces government review of FOBTs
The Coalition’s all powerful quad – Mr Cameron, Mr Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander – has agreed to reject a call from the Commons culture committee for there to be fewer restrictions on B2 gaming machines. (FOBTs)
Instead Don Foster MP has announced that there will be a review of the FOBTs by the Responsible in Gambling Trust (RGT) that will look into stakes, numbers of machines and prize levels.
There is still a concern though in gambling reform circles that unless the gambling industry trustees are made to step down from the Responsible in Gambling Trust (RGT) the review of FOBTs will not be impartial and unbiased.
Full details can be read in the Daily Mail Tough new curbs high stake gambling machines bid protect problem punters.html
As you might expect William Hill has reacted to the government announcement with its usual story line: Government is gambling with peoples jobs.
A few low paid minimum wage jobs and one off tax payments* to the treasury does not offset the damage caused by FOBTs to individuals, families, and communities up and down the country as well as to the economy. See also my previous post: Time for Anger: Gov't backs FOBT Human Misery over sustainable economic growth.
*Gambling profits are typically transferred out of the local economy and offshore and therefore taxation is one off.
The indifference of the betting shop companies to the human cost of addiction caused by FOBTs is frankly vile. William Hill in response to Don Foster's announcement state: -
'Media stories that focus on isolated cases of problem gambling are sad, but again, not a basis for sound gambling policy.'
The Grasp Group, a charity set-up to raise awareness of problem gambling & reform the industry has many members who have lost thousands of pounds, sometimes tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds to FOBT addiction. These are not isolated cases of problem gambling but a serious problem that will grow to epidemic proportions if not dealt with now.
The betting shop corporates do not take any responsibility for the serious harm caused by installing electronic roulette every few yards down the high street along with numerous other casino games on their FOBT terminals. They are completely indifferent to lives ruined, or lives lost as a result of gambling addiction.
Gambling addiction has become known as the 'secret addiction' as the problem gambler often hides their problem from friends and family for many years. Often the existence or extent of the problem only becomes known about when the gambler hits rock bottom.
William Hill's response demonstrates clearly that they are only interested in seeking to protect their financial position with tired arguments that increasingly the public and the press have grown wise to.
The government must act now to correct the errors of the Gambling Act 2005 that allowed roulette, and other casino games to take over our high streets every few yards.
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