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The casino in your pocket
Beautiful graphics, a new spin every few seconds, and nobody watching. Online casinos have grown at a frightening pace. Here's what makes them so hard to put down.
6 min read · 26 October 2026 -
Sports betting: when two loves become one trap
The betting shop used to close at night. Now it lives in your pocket, it never closes, and it speaks the language of the sport you love. That's what makes it so hard to walk away.
8 min read · 26 October 2026 -
When you find out someone you love gambles
You've never gambled. And now you've found out that someone close to you does, far more than you ever imagined. From someone who has stood on the other side, here's what I'd ask you to do first.
6 min read · 26 October 2026 -
Two gamblers under one roof
You'd think that when a partner finds out about the gambling, the house gets one person who says “stop”. Sometimes it gets a second gambler instead. Here's what I saw happen to those couples.
5 min read · 25 October 2026 -
Gambling debt, and the people who pay it
Money is the first thing gambling takes. But debt has a number, and you can pay it back. What it does to the people around you has no number at all.
5 min read · 24 October 2026 -
Why self-exclusion doesn't cover every door
Self-exclusion is a real wall, and it helps many people. But a short ban leaves a crack open, and illegal gambling has no bans at all. Here's what I saw slip through.
4 min read · 24 October 2026 -
The big win that keeps you playing
Wins are far fewer than losses. But from behind the counter, I learned that it's the wins, not the losses, that keep a gambler trapped.
4 min read · 24 October 2026 -
The house edge: why the machine always keeps its share
“After this combination, change your bet and the machine starts paying.” I heard lines like that more times than I can count. Here's what the machine is really doing, and why the maths never takes a night off.
5 min read · 24 October 2026 -
Payday: the most dangerous day of the month
Behind the counter, you could tell the date without a calendar. When wages and pensions came in, so did the customers. Here's why a full pocket is the most dangerous thing a gambler can carry.
4 min read · 22 October 2026 -
Nobody is born a gambler
You become one, slowly, one small step at a time. Here are the signs of a gambling problem as I saw them, in my customers and in myself, long before anyone called it a problem.
4 min read · 22 October 2026 -
What the staff see from behind the counter
The maths keeps the house winning. The marketing keeps you coming back. Here's how gambling marketing works on you, on the floor and on your phone.
4 min read · 21 October 2026 -
“Never again”, and back the next day
Anger after a loss makes the loudest promises, and keeps almost none of them. Here's why “never again” so often doesn't last until tomorrow.
4 min read · 20 October 2026 -
Why can't I stop gambling?
It isn't weakness, and it isn't stupidity. It's a habit that has turned into a way of life, and a hope that someone sells you every single day.
5 min read · 20 October 2026
Articles
What gambling does to a life, and why it's so hard to stop. Written by John A., who has seen it from both sides of the counter: as the customer who always came back, and as the man cashing up the till.