When the chips are down : what it's like to gamble everything away

Brits now spend 1bn pounds a week on fixed-odds betting terminals - our readers talk about the human cost of this habit

Britain has a gambling problem: figures show that nearly 1bn pounds a week is being spent on fixed-odds betting terminals. Campaigners say the industry has been allowed to grow unchecked over the past five years, despite problem gambling being linked to violence and poor mental health.

But how dangerous can a this habit be? We asked you to tell us your experiences. 

'Sometimes I was losing 200 pounds a night in three bets'

I started gambling pretty much as soon as I turned 18. I got hooked on the idea of in-play betting: keeping tabs on a game as it was through and betting on the next game, based on statistics provided by the company. The odds here are low (evens usually) but by putting on big money you can win a lot. You can also lose a lot: sometimes I was losing 200 pounds a night, in three bets.

I hid this from my family and my friends, at one point I even slept at the bottom of the stairs for a week so I could get to the post before my parents to hide my bank statement from them.

My parents did eventually find out. My father couldn't understand why I was so keen to listen to the Grand National, and why I was so happy with the result (I won 210 pounds on it). Having been aware that I was gambling, but not the horrific extent of it, he demanded to see my bank accounts. That's when I broke down into tears and confessed everything. My parents lost trust in me, but they were and are very supportive. I am now proudly a year clean.

More information needs to be circulated about gambling because young people, like myself, can easily start without realizing the gravity of what they are doing.

'It was shame that made me stop'

I've been around gambling all my life, my grandfather ran illegal betting on the Liverpool docks before high-street betting shops were legalized in 1961.

I'd have a bet from the age of 14 and it was little more than a hobby until I was in my mid-20s. Then it became a problem. I would gamble all my money on the horses, often paying bills and my mortgage late because of my betting habits. My then wife eventually got wise to me and made sure that my wages went directly to her to pay the bills.

It was shame that made me stop. I went to my mother's to borrow 100 pounds until payday and she didn't have cash and so she gave me her bankcard and pin number. I did 850 pounds in an afternoon on "sure things". She never said anything about it, but money up and gave the money back to her. She wouldn't take it. "No son, you'd not have borrowed it if you wasn't in trouble," she told me.

Gambling gave me permission to love and hate myself. Close your eyes for a minute and think of the best thing that ever happened to you, imagine the noise, the smell, what it felt like. Now think of the worst thing that ever happened to you - feel the despair. Gambling gave me all those feelings in half an hour at the bookies. It was fantastic and awful in equal measures.

'Fixed-odds betting terminals are more addictive than cocaine'

I started gambling when I was around 18, just 5p-a-go fruit machines or 1 pound bets on football acca's. I then stared playing the bigger fruit machines in snooker clubs and then eventually fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT). This is by far the most addictive form of gambling that's easily accessible to anyone. I could lose 80 pounds in one night on fruit machine, but with a FOBT you can lose that in literally seconds.

I remember being paid from my job back when I was 19 (around 900 pounds) I went to town to buy clothes and then went in then bookies. I left with nothing in my wallet, all because of the roulette on an FOBT. I had to walk five miles home because I didn't have any money left. 

Am I a mug? Yes, but people don't understand how addictive these things are, they are worse than cocaine and alcohol. You get lost in your own little world and have tunnel vision, nothing matters only that next spin whatever the consequences.

At one point I was around 17,000 pounds in debt, almost entirely because of gambling. I borrowed off anyone including my ex-girlfriend (gambling eventually tore our relationship apart).

I met my current girlfriend over two years ago and promised myself I wouldn't let FOBT ruin our relationship. We play the lottery and I still do my football bets but FOBT are not more a part of my life. Plus I'm going to be a dad in 6 weeks; for me I've seen the light. Unfortunately this isn't the case for thousands.

'I'm in a financial ruin as a result of gambling'

I am in financial ruin, and have been for many years as a result of my gambling. There have been at least 50 occasions I can think of where, within an hour of getting paid, I lost every single penny in a bookies on roulette machines. I would allow my mind to make up any number of stories to obtain money from family or friends, and even if I hadn't eaten for days my first call would always be the bookies. That of course was when I was trusted by people, but over time it becomes quite apparent that you are a gambler, and you can't even trust yourself.

The reason these machines are such a problem is because you can't walk down a street in London without seeing at least one branch of every major betting outlet.

'I've ruined my relationships with friends and family'

I was hooked on FOBT machines instantly. I only went in search of the quick win and the machines allowed me to do this. This led to a life of misery, one where I ruined relationships with friends and family (some of which will never be mended).

I blew my student loans and money left over by family for university. I maxed out my overdraft, and at 21 I was in 12,000 pounds of debt. I was able to have this cleared by my parents but after abstaining through willpower along after a few months I was back on it.

By the time I was 25 I was 25,000 pounds in debt - and that doesn't include thousands I stole from friends and family. In total I have lost around 90,000 pounds, which includes inheritance. At 27 I should have a house and a job I love, but instead I made ends meet in order to pay a debt which will tie me down for the next five years.