Man lost £20,000 in one night after becoming addicted to online gambling!

[harizen]

At first, I thought the article was just promoting a certain gambling recovery program. But it looks like the story was real as there was currently active crowdfunding by the gambler involved. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/craig-walding-1

Kudos to his determination to get out of that addiction as losing the said amount can cause a hard depression to others but he managed to stay in control, with the help of that recovery program.

Out of topic but I'm curious about why he chose to do a fundraising boxing match on 4th December 2021 instead of other things.

[Darker45]

£40,000 is a big amount but this is still a mild case if we look at how gambling addiction could actually ruin more than your finances. Losing money in gambling is normal. Losing £20,000 in a single night may still be normal among VIP rollers, but losing jobs, businesses, properties, families, sanity, even lives is the worst that gambling addiction could cause.

The role of gambling addiction recovery programs, whether government or private, cannot be overemphasized.

[virasisog]

Gambling addiction starts with a little hobby, then gambling becames occasional until you realize that you are in a big trouble being bankrupt with a huge loan. Sometimes when we gamble occassionaly we just find a reason or justify our losses and kept on gambmibg until we lose more. You should know your self too well when are you starting to get hooked up and when to stop. This maybe easier said than done, but imagine the consequences you will have to face when you fall deep into gambling addiction. It is not just you or your finances that are affected, but also the people around you, your family.

[LogitechMouse]

I can just imagine how much he is suffering right now after he lost that huge amount in a span of a month and worse half of that in just one day.

This is the main reason why I don't want to spend too much money in gambling. I don't want to put myself in a situation where I will regret in the end because of putting so much money in gambling. I don't want to get addicted into gambling because there are no benefits into it.

For those gamblers out there, gambling isn't bad at all but what is bad is gambling without any moderation. You can easily get addicted into gambling if you are spending too much money and time into it. Gamble with moderation if you don't want to be the same as what the OP has shared .

[Sithara007]

Everyone who is aged 18 and above are responsible for their own actions. If you don't know when to stop, you should not gamble. As simple as that. I have seen a lot of people getting ruined as a result of gambling addiction. The problem here is that people refuse to admit that they have lost and continue to chase after the losses. And in turn, this results in even heavier losses. And then the church organizations and other lobbying groups use these incidents, to ask for a blanket ban on gambling.

[imstillthebest]

his life was a roller coaster because too many times he fall and got back up . now that he is in top again i hope he stays there  .
 its wrong that he blames the casino promotion because this made him addicted but casinos are only doing it for business .
sorry but if there is one to blame here that was himself because he dont have a control .
the guy has an existing mental health problem and this made the situation worst but he should treated it first before getting into gambling .

[Kittygalore]

Everyone who is aged 18 and above are responsible for their own actions. If you don't know when to stop, you should not gamble. As simple as that. I have seen a lot of people getting ruined as a result of gambling addiction. The problem here is that people refuse to admit that they have lost and continue to chase after the losses. And in turn, this results in even heavier losses. And then the church organizations and other lobbying groups use these incidents, to ask for a blanket ban on gambling.

I agree, if they are capable of doing adult decisions then they should be able to do all adult things, I don't get how some people pick what makes them benefit when they want to be considered an adult, all the good and bad is going to be part of it and you can't pick it. I think 18 is the right number since a lot of countries already agree that 18 is the number.

[zanezane]

his life was a roller coaster because too many times he fall and got back up . now that he is in top again i hope he stays there  .
 its wrong that he blames the casino promotion because this made him addicted but casinos are only doing it for business .
sorry but if there is one to blame here that was himself because he dont have a control .
the guy has an existing mental health problem and this made the situation worst but he should treated it first before getting into gambling .

The problem is that he has a bad rehabilitation on his addiction, in my opinion any addiction treatment/rehabilitation should consist of pre-care, main care and after care, and I like to emphasize on after care because that's the point where a lot of people do a relapse. Gambling addiction is like any other addiction, it needs treatment and people can get addicted again.

[lienfaye]

I read the article, its a story of his struggle, depression and how he made his way to recover on that hopeless part of his life. A first game that seems for entertainment to him unfortunately led to addiction that he cant control. Spending huge money to feed his addiction turn to worst of thinking to commit his own life for losing the money plus having debt. Its a common story of a gambler who became addicted but the good part is, it has a happy ending, he overcome that dark moment and managed to lift himself with the help of the Cardiff-based support service helping those people to recover and become a better person.

This is a good example for gamblers to think before deciding to play, because gambling can be addicting for a person who have no discipline and has no self control. Its fun at first but the mindset of being eager to win is one of the reason why we keep trying until we didnt realize that we lose a lot.

[imstillthebest]

his life was a roller coaster because too many times he fall and got back up . now that he is in top again i hope he stays there  .
 its wrong that he blames the casino promotion because this made him addicted but casinos are only doing it for business .
sorry but if there is one to blame here that was himself because he dont have a control .
the guy has an existing mental health problem and this made the situation worst but he should treated it first before getting into gambling .

The problem is that he has a bad rehabilitation on his addiction, in my opinion any addiction treatment/rehabilitation should consist of pre-care, main care and after care, and I like to emphasize on after care because that's the point where a lot of people do a relapse. Gambling addiction is like any other addiction, it needs treatment and people can get addicted again.

pre care and main care are important because if it done right the gambler wont become addicted again but if they are not sure of the pre care and main care that they do thats the time they need to conduct a after care  .
 all types of addiction is seriously dangerous and should be treated imediately by the help of a parent , relative and friends of the addicted person if they cant be able to surrender themselves in the rehabilation centers  .

[iTradeChips]

Yeah, I read the article and I see that this kind of gambling addiction is very very damgerous, for in this kind of game, these people will hope that by gambling they would be able to change their lives by winning very big, not thinking of the consequences if in case they have used up all the money and they end up in huge debt. If the person is not mentally stable in such times of crisis it will end up being depressed and might have suicidal thoughts. Remember, only gamble money you are willing to lose and that's it. If you lose it all then go home and don't gamble again.

[xSkylarx]

Yeah, I read the article and I see that this kind of gambling addiction is very very damgerous, for in this kind of game, these people will hope that by gambling they would be able to change their lives by winning very big, not thinking of the consequences if in case they have used up all the money and they end up in huge debt. If the person is not mentally stable in such times of crisis it will end up being depressed and might have suicidal thoughts. Remember, only gamble money you are willing to lose and that's it. If you lose it all then go home and don't gamble again.

I pity the man who lose that 20k euro in one night, I saw the article and all those happen because of the pandemic. He is struggling with his mental health and he found gambling to relieve his stress on it. His addiction consumed him that it almost ruined his life. Good thing he found a group that helps with addiction and started a new life. I hope some members here don't release their frustration on gambling because of the pandemic, find someone you can talk to, or have a hobby that is not related to gambling.

I had never really struggled with my mental health before, but then I felt unstable and everything got completely out of control.

[peter0425]

After becoming addicted to online casino games in March last year, he lost £40,000 in the space of a month, losing half of that in just one night.

After losing that money too, he found himself in massive debt, and contemplated taking his own life.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man-lost-20000-one-night-24067466

I don't know why they are caught up in this moment but I think people know the risks yet they still try. Was it appropriate for him to call the gambling firm wrong or he was right? (See the last part of the article or better read the 3 mins. article instead)

There are others that has much more than this, I am watching players in Roobet.com betting 20k usd per round that means what story in OP is just a Peanut compared to that gambler.
though maybe they are more capable than what the story tells.

Prevernt yourself from engaging in gambling to much , because I've been there before.

[Slow death]

I do not believe the news as it is told.

Newspapers live by causing emotions in people, both positive and negative, and the Mirror even more so.

The way the story is told, it seems as if the protagonist had an ideal life, without any previous problems, and suddenly, overnight, he developed a serious gambling addiction problem.
maybe drugs as noted in a comment:

“I was a train wreck,” he said. “I was shut off, I was drinking more, I felt so down, so hopeless and so ashamed - I didn’t want to tell anyone, not even my family.

Bold is mine.

it really is necessary to investigate this story further, he said he made occasional bets on the weekends when watching a game, if he did it for a long time then what changed and made him start being addicted out of nowhere? did he have control of himself and out of nowhere he becomes addicted? this story is very strange. his argument to justify how he became addicted Is that the lockdown changed his routine and made him stay at home doing nothing (at least that's what i understand) so as he had nothing useful to do he decided to drown his hurts in the game of chance and became addicted. this story is very strange. it looks like a conspiracy against the lockdown

There are others that has much more than this, I am watching players in Roobet.com betting 20k usd per round that means what story in OP is just a Peanut compared to that gambler.

maybe these players are people in control of themselves and have a lot of money. The problem is in doing something that the person does not know and that he knows he has no money to do. Addiction is something that anyone can have, but if the person is in control of himself and has a lot of money then nothing prevents him from spending a lot of money on gambling

[swogerino]

I don't condemn him though.I know the feelings of a real gambler and I know what he must have thought at those moments.He must have thought I am spinning a few more spins with max bet and if I hit that jackpot I solve my financial problems once and for all but this almost never happens.He learned the lesson in the hardest way and I am sure now he will not be back to gamble anymore.I have tried the same with small amounts 1000 EUR where I have played 20 spins with 50 EUR bet but lost in a lightning fast amount of time all of the money.

[btc78]

This is the problem if we are hiding our gambling activity to our family or the people we love because we don't know that we are already becoming addicted and losing our behavior in right manner.

and in the end? we lose everything including our family and Life.

Never gamble on our own. let people knows our activity so there are others that will remind us about our changes .

[iTradeChips]

Yeah, sometimes you need to lose it all for you to come to your senses. I have lost amounts as well when I was in college. We have these small fiestas and then what we call the color game. You choose a color and then your money will double if the color that you choose is the one that showed up on top of the color dice. Lost so so many times after winning a few and one evening I even lost 2,000 PHP in one sitting. It is only through sheer discipline that patience that I learned how to play not with emotions but with a plan. When I play poker at a poker club, and this is a physical one at that, I tend to control my winnings and losses. Treating it as a business rather than entertainment. Helped me financially then and made me what I am now in crypto space. I seldom gamble for money nowadays but when me and the blokes play we play poker using small coins just to entertain ourselves.

[Vishnu.Reang]

IMO, people with unsound mental state should not be allowed to gamble. In many of the countries around the world, before being able to purchase a firearm, you need to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The same should be made mandatory for gambling as well. Those who are vulnerable to gambling addiction should not be allowed in to casinos or online sites. I agree that for online gambling, it is very difficult to implement the rules. But it is necessary to implement strict rules.

[traderethereum]

That is the risk from being addicted and we read about that news.
Being addicted is what we must avoid, no matter if that will work hard for us because gambling will always seduce us to come back and play the other gambling games.
I am sure we do not want to lose that much so we really need to avoid that thing and make sure that we have control.
It is good that he can tell his dad and his friends to get help from them and go to rehabilitation.
I think both are not wrong but the responsibility will still be on him or other people as he will decide what he will do later.

[Taskford]

Yeah, I read the article and I see that this kind of gambling addiction is very very damgerous, for in this kind of game, these people will hope that by gambling they would be able to change their lives by winning very big, not thinking of the consequences if in case they have used up all the money and they end up in huge debt. If the person is not mentally stable in such times of crisis it will end up being depressed and might have suicidal thoughts. Remember, only gamble money you are willing to lose and that's it. If you lose it all then go home and don't gamble again.

I pity the man who lose that 20k euro in one night, I saw the article and all those happen because of the pandemic. He is struggling with his mental health and he found gambling to relieve his stress on it. His addiction consumed him that it almost ruined his life. Good thing he found a group that helps with addiction and started a new life.

Its dumb decision for someone to take gambling as final resort where they can burst their emotion since this really add the problem, Imagine how big can we possibly lose since we arr out ot focus and we ill became more lonely specially when we already drain out our capital.

This is a good story to read and lucky for him he found a good group where he can eliminate his addiction and hopefully other can think about it in advance that there's no good benefits we can ger if we became addicted and doesn't have a self control.