At the height of her addiction, Marie Ellefsen would spend £150 a day on feeding her addiction
12:43, 05 May 2025Updated 12:45, 05 May 2025
Marie Ellefsen, who had a £150 a day scratch card addiction. (Image: James Linsell Clark/SWNS)
A mum has finally kicked her £150-a-day scratch card addiction – after spending nearly £100,000 on the habit. Marie Ellefsen said she was hooked when she won £20 on her first-ever scratch card – a £1 ticket, 15 years ago.
The 45-year-old used the win to buy 20 more straight away and didn’t win on any of them. The then mum-of-two started chasing the jackpot by buying the tickets daily, and within three months she was spending £10 a day on the cards.
If she won she always used the money to get more cards – even for wins of £100. Marie started picking up four £10 cards a day after winning £500 in December 2021 – which she used to treat her family for Christmas. Her addiction escalated to spending up to £150 a day after she won another £500 in November 2023, and she started making special trips out to the shops just to buy cards.
Mum-of-six Marie was traipsing to at least three shops a day to hide her habit. She said she felt ashamed because she funded her gambling with benefit money and borrowing from her husband Michael, now 52, a furniture maker.
Marie estimates she’s spent roughly £98,500 on scratch cards over the years. Her secretive behaviour and the massive amount of money she was burning through somehow penetrated her consciousness and she realised she had a problem.
Marie outside one of the shops she used to buy scratch cards from (Image: James Linsell Clark/SWNS)
Speaking of how it began, Marie said: “I’d always seen them in the shops and wondered about them – I kept noticing them more and more then decided to buy one. Very quickly I was obsessing over what I’d do with the money when I won the jackpot.
“I don’t think they should be advertised. They are brightly coloured to pull people in. I think they should be locked away like cigarettes and tobacco are now.
“I’m so ashamed to say it but I was using my benefit money. I’d never make a conscious choice to do that – I was just hooked.”
Marie, who gets universal credit, used to buy the family essentials before using up the rest of her money on scratch cards. If she ran out of cash she’d ask Michael to sub her – and told him the money was for food.
If you want help to stop gambling
Treatment and support groups are available for people who want to stop gambling:
GamCare GamCare offers free information, support and counselling for problem gamblers in the UK.
It runs the National Gambling Helpline (0808 8020 133) and also offers face-to-face counselling.
National Problem Gambling Clinic If you live in England or Wales, are aged 16 or over and have complex problems related to gambling, you can refer yourself to this specialist NHS clinic for problem gamblers.
See if you meet the criteria for this service.
Gordon Moody Association The Gordon Moody Association offers residential courses for men and women who have problems with gambling – email help@gordonmoody.org.uk or call 01384 241292 to find out more.
It also runs the Gambling Therapy website, which offers online support to problem gamblers and their friends and family.
Gamblers Anonymous UK Gamblers Anonymous UK runs local support groups that use the same 12-step approach to recovery from addiction as Alcoholics Anonymous. There are also GamAnon support groups for friends and family.
She couldn’t tell anyone about her habit, and began to feel a strong sense of shame three years ago. When she made the decision to quit, Marie was determined. She also told Michael and they made a plan to kick her habit.
Marie only went out with Michael – or sometimes friends – for six months to stop herself buying the cards. She said: “I just couldn’t go out alone. And I couldn’t go in any shops where they were sold. If I had to go to the supermarket I couldn’t even look in the direction of the counter where they were sold: I had to be really strict with myself.
“It took every bit of strength I had not to buy them. I’ve done it and I’m so relieved and glad that I don’t buy them any more. My family are so proud of me and that’s an amazing feeling.”
Marie Ellefsen who had a £150 a day scratch-card addiction(Image: James Linsell Clark/SWNS)
She’s now gone 11 months clean and is confident to go out alone, and can even walk by them in the shops without being tempted, she said. Marie, a stay-at-home mum from Colchester, Essex said: “It’s the best feeling in the world to be free of them.
“I can now buy my children little treats like magazines or cuddly toys once a week and that’s a lovely feeling. The most scary thing is that my addiction just didn’t register with me for such a long time.
“I was quite happy. I don’t smoke or drink and I just thought of it as a bit of fun. We don’t have much money and the idea of a lucky break was so tempting.
“Every time I bought one I felt so excited and thought this would be our chance to have a better life.”
Marie keeps her addiction at bay by watching people losing money by doing scratch cards on YouTube. She said: “I watch three or four videos a day – it just reminds me how much money I lost.”
About her addiction she said: “It just never occurred to me how much money I was spending: it’s heartbreaking to think that if I hadn’t spent that money and had saved it I would effectively have won the jackpot. Just never buy scratch cards.
“If you’re stuck buying them speak to someone you trust. It is possible for anybody to get out of this addiction.”