Samuel Badcock has lost thousands gambling over more than a decade.
Gambling addict Samuel Badcock outside of a Betfred(Image: Samuel Badcock)
A Gateshead man is campaigning to change gambling industry rules after losing an estimated £100,000 over the last 14 years. Samuel Badcock, 36, has lost thousands to his addiction, since first getting hooked on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) when he was living in Bristol on his 23rd birthday.
Since then his addiction has seen him homeless numerous times, carrying out petty crime like shoplifting, and even trying to kill himself. Sam has set up what he has called the Members Only campaign to push for changes to the way in which problem gamblers can “self-exclude” – ban themselves – from places like bookmaker’s shops and arcades.
He said that as it stands a “fragmented” system was difficult to enforce and easily flouted. He said that despite banning himself from more than 60 venues over the past 13 years, he had only been asked to leave somewhere a handful of times. On one shocking occasion someone even let him gamble after spotting he had banned himself – because he told them he only wanted to gamble £100.
Sam wants to make it so that you have to be sign up to a scheme to gamble – in the same way that online betting and bingo halls work. He said he believes this would then make a mobile-phone based self-exclusion scheme far easier to implement. He also wants to people to be able to set spending and time limits for in-person gambling on their phones.
He told ChronicleLive his story. He said: “It was on my 23rd birthday. I went on a Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FOBT) at Betfred. It was the first time I had had a bet. It got me so fast. I ran home and got the rest of the money that I had and ran back. I was convinced a certain number was going to come up. That went on a good 13 years, almost 14 years.
“Only nine weeks ago I lost all my money in an arcade in Chester-le-Street. I had gone in two weeks before and asked to be self-excluded.
“The reason I started the Members Only campaign is that over the years I have found myself able to go into gambling venues that I have banned myself from. And the first thing to note is that there are lots of different types of gambling venue, and the all operate different types of self-exclusion scheme.”
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He said he wanted to unify various schemes that exist across different types of gambling venue. He added: “I have self-excluded from 65 venues but I have only been asked to leave somewhere six times in all these years. I should just be able to ban myself from all these venues on my mobile phone.”
He said there was an obvious problem with having to attend a bookmaker’s in person in order to self-exclude. He added that his gambling history had been extremely distressing, though he is currently receiving treatment from the NHS’s Northern Gambling Service.
He added: “When people hear [all he’s been through] it’s pretty harrowing. For me the worst it got was about eight years ago, I started taking overdoses after a huge gamlbling loss, but really I have lots of stories. For years I didn’t speak to family, I was homeless about ten times, I was having to camp out in frightening conditions.
“This is about accountability and modernization. I’ve launched the Members Only Campaign to push for real, effective change — not token gestures.”
Sam has also taken “symbolic” small claims court claims against the Gambling Commission, the Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme (MOSES) and Betfred – where he first gambled. He said any money he were to be awarded would be donated to the charity Gambling Harms.
A spokesperson for the Gambling Commission said: “We take protecting consumers extremely seriously. We have a strong track record of taking robust regulatory action against gambling businesses that do not operate effective self-exclusion schemes, including issuing significant penalties and suspending licenses.
“Unlike gambling online, there is no requirement in land-based venues to hold an account in order to gamble, although we have previously provided advice to government that account-based play should be considered. Alongside our work, local authorities licence premises in their local areas and are funded, through the licence fee they charge, to inspect gambling business in their area to ensure those businesses are compliant.
“We urge anyone with concerns to report potential breaches of our rules through our confidential report line as soon as they can.”
A spokesperson for BetFred added: “The Multi Operator Self-Exclusion Scheme for betting shops is one of a number of measures that enable shop staff to help protect problem gamblers.
“Since its introduction it has proved to be a highly effective tool, enabling problem gamblers to self-exclude from betting shops close to their home, place of work or where they socialise. The self-exclusion scheme is also very often initiated by our own staff when a customer displays the traits and characteristics of problem gambling when visiting one of our shops.”
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