How cynical gambling giants keep online addicts hooked
GAMBLING companies are keeping highest- spending customers hooked on their websites with free holidays and sports tickets worth tens of thousands of pounds.
Bookmakers are handing out a stream of all-expenses paid trips and hospitality tickets to major sporting events as part of ‘VIP schemes’ designed to keep the most lucrative customers betting.
Campaigners claim they are ‘actively targeting addicts’ to keep big spenders squandering their cash.
One finance director lost £900,000 while being given dozens of free tickets to events at venues including Wembley, Cheltenham and Ascot.
Another addict, who had previously lost £250,000, was lured back to gambling with offers of tickets to the Champions’ League, the Grand National and the World Snooker Championship final.
Most big-name gambling companies offer VIP membership schemes to players who wager large amounts of money. Some are invitation-only with few details made pub- lic, but others openly advertise the schemes with clear incentives to bet more in return for more special offers and freebies.
Ladbrokes and Coral encourage customers to hit deposit targets of £4,000 a month to obtain ‘Gold’ membership. this entitles them to a dedicated customer service line, exclusive promotions and free bets, as well as invites to top sporting events. Others can deposit £1,000 in a month for bronze membership or £2,000 in a month for silver.
the top level, platinum, is reserved for players individually picked by staff.
William hill Casino boasts: ‘ We enjoy rewarding our most loyal players with a wealth of special services through our invitationonly VIP Club.’ It says benefits include personal account managers that provide ‘red-carpet attention’, select promotions, bonuses and special prizes, higher betting privileges, faster withdrawals and ‘special events exclusively for VIPs’.
the invitation-only 888Sport VIP loyalty scheme includes a welcome bonus, promotions, gifts, invitations to events and holidays, cash prizes, high-stake tables and an ‘exclusive customer support team.’ Members can work their way up to gold and platinum status, with the company promising: ‘the higher you climb the ladder the better the gifts, prizes and benefits become.’
Betfred’s VIP sports scheme features 24/7 access to a dedicated account manager, hospitality and exclusive event invites, faster withdrawals and race day passes.
But MPs last night called for the Gambling Commission to do more to investigate. Carolyn harris MP, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for gambling, said: ‘It never fails to amaze me how low the industry is prepared to go. the Daily Mail’s report confirms what we have been hearing from problem gamblers for a very long time. We will continue our battle against this destructive industry and pledge to protect those who are currently the victims of a morally bankrupt and unscrupulous sector.’
And Iain Duncan Smith, former Work and Pensions Secretary, said: ‘human lives matter more than gambling companies’ profits. there now appears to be enough evidence for the Gambling commission to hold a root-and-branch enquiry for what gambling companies do to fulfil their obligations to problem gamblers and those that fail to meet the standards required should be censured.’ Lord Chadlington, Conservative peer and former chairman of Action on Addiction, said: ‘these concerns provide further grounds that much more needs to be done to combat Britain’s hidden gambling epidemic.
‘Betting companies and Government must ensure that those at risk of gambling-related harm are properly protected.’ recovering addict terry White lost £250,000 betting but was enticed back to gambling with offers to tickets to the Champions’ League, the Grand National and the World Snooker Championship final.
he said: ‘that was all through VIP schemes. In my experience they are actively targeting addicts, I have first-hand experience and I would
‘It never fails to amaze me how low industry will go’
swear on that in court.’ The Gambling Commission identified VIP schemes as an area of ‘risk’ and pledged to investigate concerns that online bookmakers used them to ‘encourage and incentivise punters to play for longer and spend more’ in a report this year.
The watchdog fined online casino firm 32Red £2million in June for handing VIP status, including a string of inducements, to a problem gambler who was allowed to deposit £758,000 with the firm with no social-responsibility checks.
There were at least 22 incidents that indicated the customer was a problem gambler – but instead of checking whether it could offer help, 32Red gave the punter free bonuses.
It is one of a string of fines dished out by the Commission to gaming firms for failing to stop, or actively encouraging, high- spending problem gamblers losing large sums.
In April 2016 Coral paid out nearly £880,000 after a problem gambler on their VIP scheme – described as a ‘vulnerable’ person – lost £ 850,000 in High Street bookies and online.
Gambling laws were relaxed under Tony Blair and, with the advance of smart phones, online betting has boomed into a £4.9billion industry.
There are now 480,000 serious gambling addicts in the UK and as many as two people every working day take their lives because of a gambling addiction, according to Gambling With Lives.
Ronnie Cowan MP, deputy chairman of the Parliamentary all-party group for gambling, said: ‘I am concerned that the bookmakers featured in the Daily’s Mail’s report are not protecting their clients. It would appear that rather than encourage vulnerable gamblers to desist and seek help for their problematic behaviour, bookmakers are instead capitalising on it. If even a small part of this report can be proven to be true then it is clear that the Gambling Commission has to launch an in- depth inquiry into the actions of these companies.’
Ladbrokes Coral said: ‘ Our Ladbrokes and Coral VIP schemes are operated responsibly, and are designed to reward valued, regular customers and to achieve customer loyalty in what is a very competitive marketplace.’
A William Hill spokesman said: ‘As one of the largest bookmakers in the UK we take our responsibility to tackle gambling-related harm seriously and that stands for our VIP customers as well as any other customer.’ BetVictor and BetFair said they did not discuss individual accounts.
‘They capitalise on problem behaviour’
IN all their TV adverts, online bookmakers urge their clients to gamble ‘responsibly’.
They say they’re committed to identifying punters who habitually spend beyond their means, so they can be weaned off their ruinous addiction.
But new figures suggest these claims are a charade. Online bookmakers make more than half their income – well over £2billion a year – from problem or ‘at-risk’ gamblers. So far from acting to deter vulnerable people, they are ruthlessly milking them.
The Chancellor has been reluctant to take on the industry because of the huge amount of tax revenue it brings in. But what about the lives ruined, families split and young people lured into crippling debt?
The Mail is not opposed to gambling per se. But there’s no excuse for this fleecing of the gullible, the inadequate and the weak.