William Hill Fined £19m

[NickHSpurs]

Thought it was important to discuss this in here:

William Hill let new customer bet £23,000 in 20 minutes

Gambling firm hit with record £19m penalty for failing to protect customers and weak anti-money laundering controls.

www.bbc.co.uk

I actually stopped gambling last year after watching a couple of documentaries on it and being pretty sickened by the way these companies behave but mainly to encourage my friend to stop who has an issue with it.

I was only doing a £5-£10 acca every week but I really felt like I didn’t want to put money into these companies anymore. They’re exploiting people who have gambling addictions and doing the bare minimum to help/stop them.

 

[CanadaSpurs]

It’s disgusting to me that in North America we’ve had years to see the negative effect of pervasive sports betting play out in the UK and have said “yes, we’ll have some of that please!”

 

[NickHSpurs]

It’s disgusting to me that in North America we’ve had years to see the negative effect of pervasive sports betting play out in the UK and have said “yes, we’ll have some of that please!”

Even as a very low level gambler I’ve had my eyes opened to the way they try and hook you into absolutely everything they offer. It’s relentless, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for people who spend serious money with them.

When you actually sit back and look at it, it’s scary. Off the top of my head Ladbrokes who I used to use try and hook you in with:

1. Free wheel spins for cash prizes, casino spins, sports bets etc every single day.

2. Free 50p multi-selection bet for the team you support each game.

3. £1 free bet every race day at Cheltenham and Ascot.

4. Free guess the score for three games every week for a chance to win free bets.

That’s before we even consider the promos and stuff they do. Since quitting I’ve had at least three free £5 casino bets to try and entice me back.

People might think these are good things as you’re getting “something for nothing” but only if you don’t have an addictive personality. They’re all designed to hook people into as many forms of betting as possible. It shouldn’t be allowed.

 

[slartibartfast]

My brother is addicted as I've said before.
Those adverts that say 'Gamble responsibly' proper pee me off. How many addicts do you know who fucking act responsibly????
As the above post says, it's relentless.

 

[Gareth88]

My cousin lost his house and wife to gambling. Paddy Power is the worst imo, fun enjoyable ads covering up the monster of profiting off those who get hooked.

 

[CanadaSpurs]

Absolutely. Where does all the money they have come from? The paying public, most of whom go into them for massive sums.

 

[Tucker]

Should have lost their license this isn’t their first run in with the regulator.

 

[Wearegoingtowintheleague]

For anyone struggling with gambling i'd recommend calling the national gambling helpline. It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Call free on 0808 8020 133​

They can offer free 1 to 1 support and a number of tools to help you. such as blocking software and a way to bar yourself from all gambling sites in the UK at once.

If you're in a difficult situation, please take action now and stop the cycle where you hope to win back your losses as things will only get worse.

 

[Albertbarich]

I managed betting shops for years, spent nearly 10 with Hills

A job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The violence, anti social behaviour, threats, tragedy, unrest I would see on a daily basis. I used to get knots in my stomach at the thought of going to work but got trapped in this cycle of my experience in that industry counting for nothing elsewhere.

Nobody working at that level was out to get people and the people you mostly deal with are pretty awful. I guess it's a chicken and egg situation with poverty and bad behaviour.

I believe that the roulette machines have finally been somewhat regulated which sent a lot of the shops away, they were the real vile things that caused so much of the trouble for both customers and staff.

I was good at my job but I was a funny prick about it. I despised dog racing and still do and would refuse to watch the national because it's pretty cruel I think. Both horse and dog racing always appeared crooked as hell to me, I never got the appeal.

 

[Pochemon94]

my dad who is the most controlled human being of all time, doesn't really drink, never does drugs (not even smoke a joint) told me when he was a kid he used to gamble on the golf course all time, it got so bad he had to work as a dishwasher at the club to pay off debts. I never thought it could ever be bad until one day I naivly asked him if he wanted to wager on the super bowl. We put a couple of parlays in and it was like opening up a can of worms, he started. to ask odds on everything and if he could get my bookies info and all that jazz, he was asking me to play irresponsibly large bets on his behalf and luckily after saying no enough times it got locked back up but man it was like seeing an entirely different human. I stopped really betting after seeing that other than the friendly wager here or there with friends.