Gambling addiction causing victim to scam his family

[fiulpro]

Here is the article: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40875731.html
Apparently Boyle Sports manipulated a man is a very sad way where he ended up loosing all the money he scammed from a family member. The man had probelms with Gambling and he tried to stop by closing the account on the website and at the end of the day they saw him stopping but kept sending him mails and at the same time, they apparently sent him a 50$ free betting which at the end ending up to be awful for him since he started it again and ended up loosing all the fortune. The whole things is extremely complex like Some Sherlock Holmes story. The person was not infact gullible since to fuel his gambling addiction he scammed his family member and then went to court and pleaded guilty as well blamed it all on the Boyle Sports.
What do you think who was in the wrong ?
I think both the bettor and the Boyle Sports were in the wrong.

It was established that the two accounts, to which the payments totalling €56,000 were made, were a personal bank account and a Boyle Sports account, both in Thomas O’Connell’s name. The payments varied from €100 to €1000 and averaged at just over €200.
“Contact was almost on a daily basis – sometimes a couple of times on a particular day. He admitted that he took €56,000 and impersonated (the solicitor),” Det. Garda Fuller said. O’Connell was actually a client of the solicitor he impersonated. The defendant had a gambling and alcohol addiction.
The phone calls and texts – supposedly from the solicitor - to the victim were a work of fiction by 48-year-old Thomas O’Connell who did not stop until he got his hands on every euro of the €56,000 the victim had inherited.

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[Vaskiy]

Here the gambler is wrong. As a means of promotion gambling platforms used to give free betting bonuses. If this bonus have been given knowing that the user is gonna end gambling, then the gambling platform too is wrong. Myself too have similar experience playing with bonus when I was in long break from gambling, and from my experience it is always good to have self control.

[uneng]

Was the man playing online or at land based casino? If he was going at a physical casino, does it make sense he had to have an account in order to be able to play?

How was the approach of Boyle Sports when offering and tempting him with 50$ free bet promotions? Was it done presentially, through phone calls or email messages? Well, he could have recorded the casino employee tempting him and denounce the gambling house to the responsible authority or just block the email of the casino to stop receiving messages from them. It's shocking it happened during 2 whole years and this gambler didn't have any conscious moment to take action against the issue and to stop abusing the victim.

I think the article lacks further evidences and details needed to help us reach a more accurate conclusion regards this case. Anyway, I don't see this gambler with good eyes, because he caused prejudice to his acquaintance, what means he has no consideration for other people besides himself. For me he looks a dangerous person for this reason. Moreover, once he got caught he just tried to get rid of the consequences by blaming someone else for his actions (the casino in this case).

[Wiwo]

Was the man playing online or at land based casino? If he was going at a physical casino, does it make sense he had to have an account in order to be able to play?

How was the approach of Boyle Sports when offering and tempting him with 50$ free bet promotions? Was it done presentially, through phone calls or email messages? Well, he could have recorded the casino employee tempting him and denounce the gambling house to the responsible authority or just block the email of the casino to stop receiving messages from them. It's shocking it happened during 2 whole years and this gambler didn't have any conscious moment to take action against the issue and to stop abusing the victim.

I think the article lacks further evidences and details needed to help us reach a more accurate conclusion regards this case. Anyway, I don't see this gambler with good eyes, because he caused prejudice to his acquaintance, what means he has no consideration for other people besides himself. For me he looks like a dangerous person for this reason. Moreover, once he got caught he just tried to get rid of the consequences by blaming someone else for his actions (the casino in this case).

I think the man is playing in an online casino because from the article the casino sent him an email with a promotional offer and the man option to go back into gambling, of course, everyone wants free $50 to bet but then one needs self-control. But the act to avoid gambling addiction should be the responsibility of the player, and if the user has an option for self withdrawal and the casino still send him a promotional offer it means the casino is at fault.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

What do you think who was in the wrong ?
I think both the bettor and the Boyle Sports were in the wrong.

Well, based on the story, I think Boyle Sports isn't wrong in anyway, they are a betting casino and they were only doing their job which is keeping their customer informed and also giving back to thier customers through bonuses, which is what almost every casinos do out there.
The only person wrong here is the bettor, whom according to the story is a gambling as well as achohol addict, when he (the bettor) decided to close his gambling account with Boyle Sports in other to enable him control he's gambling urge, why didn't he also unsubscribe himself from Boyle Sports mailing list? Doing this would have burnt every bridge and closed or stopped any form or kind of temptation that would want to make him go back, but now he ended up falling back due to a $50 free betting bonus.

[Renampun]

both of them are certainly at fault for what happened...

but Boyle sport, who continued to email the man, had the biggest role in the man's loss. sending email is an automatic system that exists in almost all gambling sites and this system must be regulated in such a way by the government so as not to cause harm to others.

[goaldigger]

The site didn’t tell to that gambler to scammed his family so I think this is indeed the fault of the gambler and beside, the site didn’t know he’s already addicted in gambling though that promotion campaign is quiet greedy but you cannot blame that in the site in the first place. Don’t make an excuse if you are already addicted, just accept the fact and start moving on. This situation is very unfortunate for the family of that gambler, I hope they can still support that guy and guide him until he recovers.

[livingfree]

IMO, the gambler.

All of us should be responsible for all of our actions and that's the sad thing that don't happen in others. When they get into trouble and going to that part of scamming your relatives just for your own addiction sake, you're totally in the severe part that's hard to control.

This is not new in case of gambling, there were too many of them that have done crazy things just for them to sustain their gambling addiction.

[coin-investor]

Here is the article: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40875731.html
Apparently Boyle Sports manipulated a man is a very sad way where he ended up loosing all the money he scammed from a family member. The man had probelms with Gambling and he tried to stop by closing the account on the website and at the end of the day they saw him stopping but kept sending him mails and at the same time, they apparently sent him a 50$ free betting which at the end ending up to be awful for him since he started it again and ended up loosing all the fortune. The whole things is extremely complex like Some Sherlock Holmes story. The person was not infact gullible since to fuel his gambling addiction he scammed his family member and then went to court and pleaded guilty as well blamed it all on the Boyle Sports.
What do you think who was in the wrong ?
I think both the bettor and the Boyle Sports were in the wrong.

It's not really complex if you understand the mindset of a compulsive gambler, this kind of gambler will do anything and everything just to continue gambling, losing or winning he will not stop gambling and when caught he will blame everybody that he can blame or will include people to his crime if he has a crime committed, and this story is just an example of it.


The casino is partly to blame for keep feeding him and baiting him to play but they can defend their action by stating there's a glitch in the system or there is a 24 hours pause period, either way, the gambler is the one to blame, and since he pleads guilty he should be rehabilitated and make him pay for the damages.

[Hydrogen]

There have been similar stories published in the news over the years. Whales who lost their fortunes gambling are an interesting trend.

Meet The Man Who Lost $200 Million Gambling In Vegas… IN ONE YEAR!

Las Vegas has a name for big time, big money gamblers. They are called whales and they are the lifeblood of every casino on the Strip. When a whale lands in your casino and starts betting tens of thousands (or more!) dollars at a time, executives do whatever it takes to keep him or her happy and gambling in your casino. In terms of whales, Nebraska-born businessman Terry Watanabe was a whale of a whale. Actually, he was a whale of a whale, of a whale, of a whale of a whale. During a year-long gambling streak, Terry lost a mind melting $204 million dollars at two Vegas casinos. Both gambling halls are owned by Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and Watanabe's staggering losses alone accounted for 5.6% of gambling revenue for the parent company that year. Who is Terry Watanabe and how did this truly shocking gambling loss go down?

(story continues at link below)

https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/meet-man-lost-200-million-gambling-vegas-one-year/

The above story is an example of a whale losing $200 million to gambling addiction. There are other whales who also lost a lot of money.

It seems that gambling addiction affects everyone from the rich to the poor.

I wonder if its gambling that is at fault. Or whether some lack impulse control. Perhaps they don't know how to lose gracefully and never back down from a gambling fight. Its sad. But its real life.

[Ulven]

A problem gambler will do anything, and everything, to continue gambling. He will lie, cheat and steal to be able to gamble. When caught he will blame everybody that he can blame or any crimes committed !!he will include people for his crime if he has one!!!

[agustina2]

I think both the bettor and the Boyle Sports were in the wrong.

You should also share your own view on why Boyle Sports were also wrong. Technically, they didn't do anything wrong unless they have terms on their service that they will stop any promotional activities on their users if requested. In the story you have shared, the gambler just didn't use the account and decided to stop but emails won't be stopped sending because there's no unsubscription action done by the bettor.

The bettor is wrong here because if the dedication to stop gambling is serious, whatever promotional emails they received are supposed to be ignored. The bettor wasn't able to fight the temptation and now ended up with the worst result.

[Rengga Jati]

The man had probelms with Gambling and he tried to stop by closing the account on the website and at the end of the day they saw him stopping but kept sending him mails and at the same time, they apparently sent him a 50$ free betting which at the end ending up to be awful for him since he started it again and ended up loosing all the fortune.

Indeed, some gambling platforms like this won't let any users lose and they give sweet things to get those users back.
Isn't there a stipulation that should be related to gambling addiction and on a platform? Sometimes there are platforms that provide services related to gambling addiction, but I also doubt whether it really works or not. Because once again if they lose a user, they lose one of the income.
In this case, he tried but failed because of sweet effort from the site, this will exactly destroy the willingness to stop

The person was not infact gullible since to fuel his gambling addiction he scammed his family member and then went to court and pleaded guilty as well blamed it all on the Boyle Sports.

No matter who he is, even if it's part of the family, if he is at fault, he should be. This is also in order to give him and teaches him a lesson.
And I do agree with you, both the boy and also the site has each mistake. But I am sure that the site doesn't accept the blame and will ignore

[uneng]

Was the man playing online or at land based casino? If he was going at a physical casino, does it make sense he had to have an account in order to be able to play?

How was the approach of Boyle Sports when offering and tempting him with 50$ free bet promotions? Was it done presentially, through phone calls or email messages? Well, he could have recorded the casino employee tempting him and denounce the gambling house to the responsible authority or just block the email of the casino to stop receiving messages from them. It's shocking it happened during 2 whole years and this gambler didn't have any conscious moment to take action against the issue and to stop abusing the victim.

I think the article lacks further evidences and details needed to help us reach a more accurate conclusion regards this case. Anyway, I don't see this gambler with good eyes, because he caused prejudice to his acquaintance, what means he has no consideration for other people besides himself. For me he looks like a dangerous person for this reason. Moreover, once he got caught he just tried to get rid of the consequences by blaming someone else for his actions (the casino in this case).

I think the man is playing in an online casino because from the article the casino sent him an email with a promotional offer and the man option to go back into gambling, of course, everyone wants free $50 to bet but then one needs self-control. But the act to avoid gambling addiction should be the responsibility of the player, and if the user has an option for self withdrawal and the casino still send him a promotional offer it means the casino is at fault.

I failed to spot the mention to emails on the article. It just says the casino "has sent him him a €50 free bet", so I got confused. Moreover, Boyle Sports is a popular brand in Ireland (where the story happened) and United Kingdom with more than 320 franchises total. It made me thought the man could be betting presentially at one of the houses of the brand. That is why I think the casino's approach to this man should be made more clear by the media covering the case.

[bittraffic]

They've learned it from the best casinos with self exclusion services but kept sending emails. The power of email + the $50 free bet made Boyle Sports very successful.

Its not enough to lose all his money but he scammed his relatives.  The addiction is really that strong to him that the crimes you think only in the movies will happen like impersonating someone seems easy for him.

[Maus0728]

Here is the article: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40875731.html
Apparently Boyle Sports manipulated a man is a very sad way where he ended up loosing all the money he scammed from a family member. The man had probelms with Gambling and he tried to stop by closing the account on the website and at the end of the day they saw him stopping but kept sending him mails and at the same time, they apparently sent him a 50$ free betting which at the end ending up to be awful for him since he started it again and ended up loosing all the fortune. The whole things is extremely complex like Some Sherlock Holmes story. The person was not infact gullible since to fuel his gambling addiction he scammed his family member and then went to court and pleaded guilty as well blamed it all on the Boyle Sports.
What do you think who was in the wrong ?
I think both the bettor and the Boyle Sports were in the wrong.

It was established that the two accounts, to which the payments totalling €56,000 were made, were a personal bank account and a Boyle Sports account, both in Thomas O’Connell’s name. The payments varied from €100 to €1000 and averaged at just over €200.
“Contact was almost on a daily basis – sometimes a couple of times on a particular day. He admitted that he took €56,000 and impersonated (the solicitor),” Det. Garda Fuller said. O’Connell was actually a client of the solicitor he impersonated. The defendant had a gambling and alcohol addiction.
The phone calls and texts – supposedly from the solicitor - to the victim were a work of fiction by 48-year-old Thomas O’Connell who did not stop until he got his hands on every euro of the €56,000 the victim had inherited.

if my understanding to the matter is right, then...

I've already seen a post in this forum where a user suggest that we somehow should take notice of the Gambling Exclusion program of gambling platforms. When a user of a platform would want to exclude himself, the platforms should stop sending emails of the bonuses and just don't let him access the website at all. This isn't really a problem from the gambler but from the both of the gambler and the one who've sent the promotion. If an addict tried and let himself change, no one should urge him the opposite. Yet, some websites are really desperate whenever they know that someone is addicted to gambling and they will keep making him play more.

[AmoreJaz]

They've learned it from the best casinos with self exclusion services but kept sending emails. The power of email + the $50 free bet made Boyle Sports very successful.

Its not enough to lose all his money but he scammed his relatives.  The addiction is really that strong to him that the crimes you think only in the movies will happen like impersonating someone seems easy for him.

when you're too deep with your addiction, i believe you will do things that are out of logic anymore. the reasoning is out of context as you want to fulfill your gambling desires. i guess, this situation is not by any means the first and definitely not the last. as long as gambling industry exists, there will be individuals that will go beyond their normal actions just to feed their impulses.

[harizen]

I remember a thread here blaming the platform for still sending emails and promotions even though the user already demanded to stop it in the mission and goal of totally stopping doing gambling. Although that platform admits there's a problem with the system, seems not appropriate for me to fully blame the platform where in fact, it's impossible that people will not encounter any gambling-related stuff even just by a simple walking in the street.

Here in OP's shared story, I won't blame the platform here but the gambler itself. We should be responsible and serious if we really like to stop gambling. Only we can help ourselves to fight the temptation of gambling.

[Darker45]

Where did you get the subject of this topic? Did you read the news? I read the article and nowhere did it mention that the suspect scammed his family. The money he took did not come from a family member. It came from an acquaintance.

Anyway, it is crystal clear who's in the wrong here. It is the defendant. Whatever alibi he will raise to defend his case, he cannot be excused from the theft that he committed. That he pretended to be a prominent Cork solicitor could also be a different case of identity theft or usurpation.

Of course, I am not a lawyer. I am interested how this case would be judged. Either way, Boyle Sports should also be held partly accountable for their actions considering that their promotional offers could have actually played a role in the victim's gambling addiction. Well, it depends on existing local laws.

[Kemarit]

As the saying goes "it takes two to tango", so both is to blame here.

But I heard similar stories in the past though, know the guy personally and then he pulled the same act, scamming his family so that he can continue with his gambling addiction (horse racing and other card games). Nevertheless, he was forgiven by his family and change his attitude for the good. Lesson here is that there is still time to mend things specially our gambling addiction and stop.