gambling harms special

Picture this. It’s Saturday night, the rain is pouring down, and the shop begins to fill up fast with people from all walks of life ready to lose a couple of hundred pounds. It’s mostly people placing bets on races of £20 a go, alongside the automated spins set up on the ‘puggy’ (slot machine) with an occasional look up to see if they’ve hit the jackpot.

I worked as a bookmaker in Glasgow City Centre for over two years, mostly evenings and weekends whilst I studied for my degree. The customers came in all shapes and forms. We had the angry ones, eager to frame their loss as my problem. There were the flirters, using charm to distract from their recent losses on football predictions. Then we had the regulars, the everyday visitors who sat in the same seats, day after day, to fill out their ‘Lucky 15’ bet.

Whilst there were a lot of men, there was a fair share of women too. Some carried stacks of pounds in a lunch bag ready to play a fishing game for hours, and there were those who would pop in after a three hour cleaning shift, looking for a bit of escape.

It’s easy to judge the people that came into the bookies, but the reality is gambling, like alcohol or substances, is an addiction. The customers had reasons for being there, often rooted in wider economic and societal issues.

For the regulars, the bookies was often a place to counter loneliness, where spending time watching horses was better than being alone at home. The reality for many customers was that their addiction had become so bad, it was just a temptation to return and gamble what they could.

Similarly, for those who would bet hard and fast with seconds to go before the end of a match or race – the possibilities of winning were just too much not to bet. The truth is that many weren’t able to stop themselves. Gambling wasn’t fun anymore. It was a constant chase to get back what they’d lost, and part of this would be by deceiving people, making their own handwriting illegible so that money could be chased whether it was a win or a loss.

Some people would wait outside the shop asking for change, which would be gambled away within seconds. For the women with stacks of money, it was often related to criminal activities, where women would be unsuspected targets for money laundering. And lastly, the women who came in after a shift, they had often barely any time for themselves, life would be taken up with providing for others and household duties. Gambling was just a chance for a bit of escapism, but one that came at a price.

It’s easy to stereotype people who gamble. But there are vulnerabilities, social issues and health issues all affecting these individuals and their gambling habits. With Glasgow City having the highest concentration of betting shops in the UK, I can understand the temptation. Some bookies in Glasgow open as early as 7am and are open as late as 10pm. The only place that isn’t a restaurant operating those hours is a supermarket, and they’re providing an essential of food. Moreover, these gambling shops are placed tactically to attract customers in areas with higher deprivation so there’s easy access.

It’s not our place to pass judgement on people with gambling addictions. But we should critically assess the lack of support and prevention in place to limit gambling. Why has this industry not been tackled? Why is it becoming more and more accessible whilst it sucks people’s lives away? You don’t need to just step into bookies to gamble. Oh no, it’s much easier than that. You can now pick up a card at the till of a shop without even stating the stake or type of lottery ticket you want. Or if that’s not easy enough, you can gamble from the comfort of your bed on an app you can register within five minutes. Gambling has been normalised from a young age. It starts with flashy lights in arcades and the chance of winning some cheap toy flushing pocket money until the tub is empty.

In 2019, Glasgow City Council found that gambling affects adolescents more than smoking or drinking alcohol. The effects of gambling are so vast, that it really should be treated as what it is – a public health issue. For many, gambling may start off as a bit of fun, but it’s linked to poverty, depression, loneliness, lack of motivation and crime. People are targeted by gambling companies, eager to cash in on their vulnerability, and at the moment, no one seems to have the power or will to stop them.

When working in the bookies, it would take a loss of £10,000 before we would approach a customer to ask if they were okay, and this would only occur due to the big red sign on screen.

I spoke to two ex gamblers, to get a perspective into the harms which gambling had had and their views on how we can tackle them. Both Martin Paterson and Kelly Field feature in a powerful short documentary called One Last Spin, which was created by community interest company cofounded by Martin; The Machine Zone. You can learn more about the film by visiting themachinezone.com