Addiction counsellors have warned that there could be a surge in the number of women presenting at their clinics with gambling problems. According to the Rutland Centre, betting firms are trying to attract more women to spend money.
While traditionally, women were more inclined to gamble on scratch cards or slot machines, there is an increase in gambling apps and markets that were usually geared towards men are now being painted pink in a bid to lure females into the multi-billion euro industry.
I think I’m fortunate not to have any interest in gambling. I never did have. When I was growing up there was a bookie in the town and to me it was a smoke-filled room where people stood around all day watching horses running around in circles. I always associated the place with misery but maybe that’s unfair given that my own experience with gambling is very limited. I have played card games for small money and I have occasionally backed a horse in the Grand National but that probably doesn’t count.
When I worked in Dublin as a young man, I sometimes went to Leopardstown Racecourse for a day out with the lads but the racing never did anything for me. We used to spend a few bob and have a few beers but that was it. Horse racing and Formula 1 motor sport just make me want to contemplate the inside of my eyelids. But I understand there are others who get great enjoyment out of spending some time trying to win a few Euro and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as it is under control.
The gambling scene has changed dramatically over the years and now there are betting offices all over the place. Their image has been completely transformed from smoke filled dens on inequity to spaces that are clean and comfortable. If the betting office still doesn’t appeal to the budding punter, there are other options with online gambling.
You can now gamble yourself silly from the comfort of your own armchair and that’s the thing that worries me. Gambling anonymously in the privacy of your own home can create all sorts of difficulties for those people who have addictive personalities. As betting moves out of the bookies’ and on to the mobile phone, a new kind of danger is emerging.
According to a recent article in the Irish Examiner, Sports Minister Patrick O’Donovan has called on the FAI, IRFU, and Olympic Council of Ireland to draw up concrete proposals as he warned of a gambling epidemic among GAA stars which is spreading to other sports. In recent months a series of high-profile cases involving GAA and soccer players has brought attention to the issue of drugs and gambling addiction. In some cases, players are facing debts of more than €80,000, with others struggling to cope with crippling financial problems.
One footballer has revealed that he became “suicidal” after fighting “compulsive” gambling for 16 years and another said his 12-month ban for cocaine use was due to an obsession with online gambling. Former GPA chairman Dessie Farrell earlier revealed that the organisation helped 74 GAA players with hidden gambling problems in 2015.
A survey of the UK industry by three academics, Mark Griffiths, Jim Orford and Heather Wardle found that 30-35 per cent of the industry’s revenue comes from full-blown problem gamblers. That’s very significant. The Australian Productivity Commission, which undertook the biggest research exercise there’s ever been on gambling, came up with similar figures for Australia.
It’s enough to make your head spin when you hear about the debts that problem gamblers can run up. Aiséirí is a network of addiction-treatment centres in Ireland, treating disorders including drug, alcohol and gambling problems. Debts of problem gamblers at its centres in 2011-13 ranged from €20,000 to €500,000. This kind of debt can cause serious damage to mental health, to families and to businesses.
Gambling is a big business. The European market is estimated to be worth €80 billion a year, but it is undergoing rapid change. Gavin Kelleher of Goodbody Stockbrokers estimates the gross revenue from gambling in Ireland as about €1.1 billion a year. That figure is made up of €314 million from land-based betting and €310 million from lotteries – two figures he can be “pretty confident of” with €8 million coming from bingo, €130 million coming from gaming machines and €65 million coming from casinos or private members’ clubs.
The online market, Kelleher says, is difficult to quantify, but he estimates it is worth €220 million. The traditional, land-based bookmaking market is shrinking. In 2008 there were 1,365 betting shops while there are 948 today. Sharon Byrne of the Irish Bookmakers Association believes more will disappear as more gamblers seem to be migrating online.
Dr Colin O’Gara, a consultant psychiatrist, has seen a dramatic increase in the number of patients with smartphone and other online-gambling problems. Gambling is a hobby for some people, but for others it’s an inherently addictive behaviour just like alcohol or drugs. A pathological gambler looks at things in a totally different way to ordinary people. They feel they’re going to win all the time so when they have had a series of losses they can justify that by convincing themselves that a win is just around the next corner.
Strange as it may seem, one of the most effective anti-problem-gambling measures worldwide has been the smoking ban. It seems that when people leave the bookmaker’s or the casino to go out for a smoke, the spell is broken. Because of this, many campaigners advocate more formally enforced “time outs” for gamblers to stop them simply rolling from one bet to the next.
I think that’s the first time I heard that smoking could have some positive health effects.