ADDICT LOST £41,000 IN ONE DAY ON GAMBLING MACHINES
Now Terry wants tough new rules to stop others racking up huge debts
AGAMBLING addict claims he lost his home and £250,000 playing roulette on fixed-odds betting machines.
During the height of his addiction, Terry White, 54, said he once lost £41,000 in a single day and would sometimes spend whole days stuck in a “zombie-like state” in front of fixedodds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The former betting shop manager had to give up his home to pay off debts and now has to rely on handouts from food banks.
In the early 1990s Terry quit his job to work full time in sports betting and playing poker.
Over 20 years he amassed personal wealth of around £250,000 and owned a home in Barry without a mortgage.
“It was all relatively high-stakes gambling but it was what I would call fair gambling,” he said.
“You have your high times and low times and it takes years to accrue. It was just a hobby, but it was controlled and disciplined.” But when FOBTs arrived in betting shops Terry said his gambling habits began to change.
“I used to go into betting shops a little bit and they looked like the old style fruit machines,” he said. “They looked fun. “It was 2012 or 2013 that I started playing them seriously; £100 a spin.”
Terry said it was after losing a stressful civil court case that his gambling really became problematic.
With maximum stakes of £100 and each spin of the roulette wheel taking just 20 seconds, Terry said he could lose £300 a minute and was racking up huge losses daily.
He said the adrenaline could keep him in a “zombie-like state” in front of the machine for hours.
“The panic sets in when, for example, if I had only £5,000 to spin on a day,” he said.
“When I had spun £3,500 of it I was panicking because I was worrying that I would run out of spins.
“I was worried, not that I would lose the money, but because I wouldn’t be able to keep pressing the button.
“I had no thoughts of withdrawing the money, it was about keeping on playing.”
In April 2016 a particularly heavy binge left Terry £41,000 out of pocket in a single day.
Terry said: “I picked up £1,000 betting credit, but because I lost quickly I became very agitated.
“I went to the counter and asked for another £5,000 and to cut a long story short I did that another several times. I wasn’t asked if I wanted a break. I just handed them the card and that was it.
“It wasn’t until I got home that I realised it was £41,000.
“I wasn’t aware it was just reload, reload, reload, and that’s the state it can get you into. You wouldn’t know if there was a fire in the building or if someone was dead next to you.”
His low point came in December 2016 when he spent three days in Llandough University Hospital following a suicide attempt.
He recovered, but the scale of his gambling debts meant he had to let go of his house to pay off loans to friends and for a while he was on the brink of being homeless.
Earlier this week, the UK Gambling Commission recommended the maximum stake for FOBT non-slot games, such as roulette, should be cut to £30 or below.
The Gambling Commission said the stake limit should be £2 on FOBT slot games such as fruit machines.
It also suggested game limits per session, tracked play and player limits in the report.
But Terry believes the measures, submitted to a review by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, do not go far enough.
“I’m supporting total reform in betting shops on the high street,” Terry said.
“Part of the reform that I am advising both the government and the UK Gambling Commission to investigate is, first, the spin maximum bet, which at the moment is £100. I’m suggesting a £2 maximum which would be a great benefit to players.
“The second part is not a 20 seconds a spin but a minute a spin.”
Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur said: “We’ve put consumers at the heart of our advice – advice which is based on the best available evidence and is focused on reducing the risk of gambling-related harm.
“In our judgement, a stake cut for fixed-odds betting terminals alone doesn’t go far enough to protect vulnerable people.
“That is why we have recommended a stake cut plus a comprehensive package of other measures to protect consumers.”
For free support and counselling, visit www.gamcare.org.uk or call 0808 8020 133.