Gambling Experiences
AO Gambling Experiences

Trying to make money

Some people gambled more because they came to see gambling as a way of making money. It makes sense that people come to believe this. People do win money gambling, so they believe they can win money again. Also, people have the message from gambling companies that winning is easy and something you can get good at.

For those on lower incomes, gambling winnings are often more than they are used to earning at work. Those with lower incomes have limited ways of getting funds. Gambling seems like a way of accessing money, for themselves, family, and friends.

Sometimes I look at it and think, well there’s quite a lot of times, and everyone’s in the same boat it is tight sometimes with money and sometimes my wife will come home from shopping even, food shopping and say like, “Oh, we’ve gone over again.” The budget, say £70-80 budget food and it’s come to £90 or whatever and, “It’s a nightmare, this. We can’t keep doing this. We’re going to have to start cutting down on stuff.” Then I might be perhaps going out and having a few pints. Then she’s like looking at me as though, “Well, hold on a minute. I’m paying this extra for the food. You are going out for a few pints. This isn’t fair.”

Again, I look back and I think, yes, I’m not a selfish person, I know I’m not, but at the same time where stuff like that’s concerned, I obviously have been because I should be putting my family first and saying, “Well yes, hold on a minute, I can’t be spending £20-30 going for a drink when we need food or we need essential stuff.”

I think, again, perhaps that was in my head a lot where you’re thinking we are struggling a bit, we’ve not got money, ooh, I know, how about if I start trying to win money? I’m thinking I probably thought like that again, without thinking I am, I’m thinking that’s probably been in my mind as though there’s a way to perhaps get money and then be able to say, “Yes, here’s some money, you can do this, you can do that. Or let’s go out and do this.” When really, it’s just masking the situation. You’re not going to be better off. Again, you’re going down that horrible life which is just going to ruin and upset more people.”

Andy

Well, it could start out being fun and you realize that you can be a fortunate one and win a considerable amount of money on your first-ever bet and think, “Yes, I could quite get used to this”. Maybe just once a week at the time, a quick fix, I need to buy, somebody might want money to pay a bill. Somebody might want a new bike, Christmas presents, whatever.

Some turn to gambling when they lose their job or have no other way of getting money.

Just suddenly I reach there because at the time I am facing the immigration problem. So, I cannot continue my study. So the immigration issue, I cannot continue my study, so no right to work, no study, So it forced me to [my] first addiction, gambling addiction. It’s like my immigration problem that leads me to that addiction. And it’s like easy money comes.

Some people think that gambling is something they could work at to make money. This tends to be sports bettors. They know a lot about their sport, and gambling companies give them lots of information and statistics to study. So they conclude betting is something they can be good at. Although there is some skill in sports betting, it is unpredictable.

Just like I said at the start, it seemed like this was something that out of nowhere, having never really been previously or didn’t even have any knowledge about it, for, “Hang on a minute. This is something I could potentially be good at. I don’t expect to get every single bet right, but it’s something I could make a lot of money in.” I would say being able to make money was the overriding factor, but in terms of the websites themselves, the gambling companies themselves, there was definitely a lot of enticement from there to get you on or at least keep you on. Yes, I would say definitely in the early stages, it was purely money. I didn’t have a kid at that time. I was newly married. I wouldn’t say I had much– I didn’t have much going on, so there was no overriding factor other than that and I just felt it was an easy way, a quick way of making money. I think over the years and over time that obviously as amongst others it got worse and worse.

Paul

I just got completely sucked into that way of life that I was forming opinions all the time on what would and wouldn’t win, backing myself to make money on that and often getting it wrong as every gambler does.

Some people playing games of pure chance, like roulette or slots believe there are tricks or methods to win. Gambling companies encourage them to think this. They keep going to beat the machine.

All time like I’m thinking, so how to win roulette, when I need to put, like all my head is like this. So how can I, I’m just touching the Google, how I can win the roulette, when I need to place, which machine. I’m going to the Chinatown to see how the Chinese people, which number they grab, because Chinese people, they win. This is a fake belief in my mind.

Mizanoor

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