A Belfast gambling addict has issued a warning about online gambling after spending hundreds of thousands of pounds and "ruining his life" due to the "pocket casinos".
The man, who does not wish to be named, told Belfast Live that at the height of his addiction he was placing a bet every single minute with an online bookmaker, sometimes gambling for up to 33 hours straight at a time.
He says that he was never red flagged by bookmakers for his continuous gambling sprees and believes that the industry is not doing enough to stop addicts from gambling too much.
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He said that he spent over £340,000 over the course of just one month.
The man said: "I have gambled for most of my life but it was not until a few years ago when my addiction really took hold of me after I came into some compensation following an injury.
"I found myself placing a bet on football or horse racing every minute for hours at a time, while also playing the online games that are available on the apps.
"Due to the money I had available to me I was making huge bets of thousands of pounds at a time and I found it almost impossible to stop because it was so easy to make a bet.
"Everywhere I would look there would be a bookmaker or gambling advert encouraging me to place another one and with the apps I essentially had an entire casino in my pocket that I could use at any time of the day. On one of my worst days I spent tens of thousands placing a bet a minute for 33 hours straight.
"During that time my problem gambling was never flagged to the bookmakers and I was never blocked from spending so much which allowed my addiction to continue to take a hold of me with it having a huge impact on my family and friends and eventually ruining my life."
The man also said he discovered that his private details had been stored incorrectly by a number of bookmakers, which led to his details being disclosed to a third party. The Information Comissioners Office has also said that the bookmakers had not complied with their data protection obligations.
He continued: "I think the fact that my private information was not stored correctly shows the carelessness with which some bookmakers treat their customers. They just want our money and do seem to have any interest in protecting anyone."
The man said that more needs to be done to prevent gambling addicts from spending such large amounts of money, which many will not be able to afford and can lead them into a range of other problems.
He said: "Bookmakers say they are doing their bit to try and reduce gambling addiction and prevent addicts from gambling too much but it is simply not the case.
"How was I able to gamble such high amounts of money so frequently without anyone being alerted and forcing me to stop.
"If it wasn't for the help that I received from organisations like Gamblers Anonymous I do not know where I would be today and I am still dealing with the impacts of my addiction to this day."
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