The student gambling addict ‘I struggled to buy food, because this took priority’
A student has told how he became addicted to gambling through his passion for video gaming.
Ryan Archer, a student at Bangor University, said he first became involved in so-called ‘skin gambling’ at the age of 15.He says that in four years he has lost more than £2,000, financing his betting through his student loan.
Mr Archer, now 19, said: “I’d get my student loan.
“Some people spend it on expensive clothes, I spend it on gambling virtual items. “There have been points where I could struggle to buy food, because this takes priority.”
Mr Archer said that he had been attempting to build up a collection of ‘skins’ but could not afford the prices that some of the virtual equipment was being traded for.
He then gambled on unregulated and unlicensed websites that have sprung up around the popular computer games to try to raise money.
Mr Archer told the BBC: “It’s hard to ask your parents for £1,000 to buy a knife on CS: GO [Counter Strike:
Global
Offensive], it’s a lot easier to ask for a tenner and then try and turn that into £1,000.”
He added: “You wouldn’t see an 11-yearold go into a betting shop, but you can with this, there’s nothing to stop you.”