A GAMBLING addict has described the moment she won a £127,000 poker jackpot as the worst day of her life – and one that led to 20 years of despair.
Lisa Walker, 48, said her addiction caused her to become bankrupt and she even lost her family home in the process.
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The Peer Aid support worker was first introduced to gambling when her dad and grandad played cards together, betting no more than 50p at the time.
Even as a child, she remembers the rush she got from winning something as little as £1.
But once she turned 18 and it was legal for her to enter casinos, Lisa’s habit escalated.
In February 2001, Lisa, then 29, won a jackpot of £127,000 at Rendezvous casino , a day she described as ‘the worst of her life’.
She said: “My heart was pumping in my chest and all I could think about was how in a couple of minutes every single person in this casino was going to know that I had won that jackpot.
“In a flash, alarms went off, people were screaming, the casino manager ran up to me telling me they’d have to check the cameras right away, and random strangers were running up to me congratulating me.
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“It was the worst day of my life.
“What should have been the best day of my life, some 20 years ago, led to a journey of despair, hopelessness, and having an awful, awful gambling addiction.”
Lisa said she became mesmerised by the atmosphere in casinos, overwhelmed by the tables and the bright lights, the smartly-dressed people and, thanks to the clever design of these spaces, the fact she couldn’t tell what time of day it was.
Her big win enabled her to gamble much more frequently, typically four to five times a week.
She said she became “reckless with money” and would take up to £500 a time into a casino and would spend 8-10 hours a day gambling.
The mum, from Essex, said: “I truly loved it. I loved the buzz it used to give me, but naturally with them came the crushing lows.
“That’s what it means to be a compulsive gambler, being truly unable to stop.
“Even if I had won a £1million that night, it wouldn’t have mattered because one way or another, every single pound would have gone back to gambling.”
Even if I had won a £1million that night, it wouldn’t have mattered because one way or another, every single pound would have gone back to gambling.
Lisa Walker
Lisa estimates that she has lost up to £500,000 over the past two decades and she had to remortgage her house three times.
And the dangerous habit eventually left her in so much she was forced to declare bankruptcy and sell off her house to pay it off.
The support worker said: “It was hell, well and truly, hell on earth.
“It also resulted in the breakdown of a marriage and ultimately resulted in my children and I being forced to move into a hostel for a period of time.”
It wasn’t until her wedding night in 2018 to her third and current husband, Garry, that Lisa realised she desperately needed help.
She said: “We had decided to have our wedding in Las Vegas and despite 15 of my closest family friends flying over to enjoy the wedding with both me and my husband, I spent the entire night playing the slots till 6am – not leaving for a moment to enjoy their company or to enjoy the celebration.
“It was when we returned from Las Vegas that I finally made the conscious effort to reach out and to get help from a close friend from someone that I knew at Gamblers Anonymous.”
‘SLIPPERY SLOPE’
Lisa is one of 50,000 women who have now registered to self-exclude from all online gambling sites through GAMSTOP, a free tool for people living in the UK.
Since the pandemic struck, the proportion of women self-excluding through the service has been rising and in September, 31 per cent of all registrants to GAMSTOP were women.
According to Gamcare, the number of women reporting gambling problems is increasing at double the rate of men, but only 1% of women who experience gambling related harm contact the National Gambling Helpline.
Lisa, has been in recovery for three-and-a-half years and counsels others who are suffering with similar struggles, now wants to raise awareness to gambling addiction and stop it being seen as a taboo.
She is also in the process of establishing a women-only group for compulsive gamblers, which she hopes to launch within the coming months.
She said: “What I have found is that women don’t feel that they can talk about their addiction, with it often being seen as a male issue.
If you’re struggling, don’t struggle alone and reach out.
Lisa Walker
“To people starting out, I just say be very, very careful. It is a slippery slope.
“So if you’re struggling, don’t struggle alone and reach out.”
According to GambleAware, losing track of time, spending more than was affordable and keeping gambling a secret were key warning signs of an unhealthy addiction to betting.
GambleAware chief executive Zoe Osmond said: “Our research shows women may not be aware they are starting to experience harm from gambling or, may be worried about reaching out for support due to stigma or shame.
“That’s why our campaign highlights the warning signs to look out for, so we can support women who gamble and prevent them from developing gambling harms.”
Gambling addiction expert and counsellor Liz Karter said: “Gambling behaviours manifest themselves differently in women than men.
“For example, we know the easy availability of online gambling leads many women to games which appear innocent and socially acceptable.
“While gambling doesn’t always lead to harm, it’s vital women are aware of early warning signs including losing track of time, incurring increasing debt, or a tendency to hide gambling from others or gambling to forget their problems.”
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