How a Harmless Pastime Led to Gambling Debts of €2.2m for One Irish Bingo Player

Sitting down to have a much-needed cuppa, there was a tiny tap on my door, it was followed by the sounds of small steps coming down my hall. It was my young niece and one of her brothers. There should she stood with her brown flowing locks and peachy cheeks, clutching a small box. She pursed her lips and uttered: “Want to play a game of bingo?”

“Sure!” Off we went into the dining room to play this game of picture bingo. We were given our picture score cards and my 5-year old niece took charge of the calls. “Two and one on the red – Santa’s sack.” I was amazed at how well she knew how to call this game – she must have learned from her parents.

On the one hand I was super impressed at how this little thing of a child could even understand the rules of the game, let alone know how to call the numbers. And, on the other hand I was sat wondering if this innocent bingo game was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

For one woman it was. Recently, an Irish woman reached out to media to explain how her innocent pastime led to gambling debts worth more than €2.2m.

Bingo-Mad Mum

Sinead is now 38 but revealed she started playing bingo at the age of 12, calling it a “harmless pastime,” however this was the cause of her spiralling debts. “It’s over 20 years ago I played my first game, but I can still remember the high I got from it. If I was waiting on one number to be called, I found it hard to breathe and I would hyperventilate. I would get all anxious and sweaty.”

She continued: “If my number wasn’t called, I would get very angry, I was only a child. When I won, I was ecstatic to play more. If it went on for 10 hours, it wouldn’t have been enough for me.”

The difference here is Sinead was playing at her local bingo hall – sometimes 7 nights a week in the hope of landing a win. Nowadays, bingo is heavily regulated, although there are special occasions where children are permitted to play; turkey bingo at Christmas and of course those many different board-games.

She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “I stepped into my first casino when I was 20. I was hooked right away and started going every single day. I didn’t have any interest in the bookies as the horses were too slow, I couldn’t wait for the three minutes for them to go around the track, whereas with the machines, it was instant, it’s what I needed.”

Despite her gambling addiction, Sinead held down a steady job and a normal family life, until she entered her 30’s. Lying to money lenders to get cash to gamble and in some cases, she even resorted to lying about her son’s health- she really was that desperate.

From ploughing €5K into casino games to stealing €10K of her ex, Sinead says she is not proud of her actions. “Gambler Anonymous meetings keep me sane. The habit destroyed me and brought me to my knees but there is a way out.” As Sinead says, there is gambling help out there.

Eyeing Up the Target

The British advertising watchdog found that children as young as 6 are being targeted by major gambling operators online and it needs to stop. Last year, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), created a total of seven online avatars impersonating the browsing habits of a child aged between 6 and 18. Over two weeks, the regulator discovered more than 150 incidents of gambling adverts appearing, targeting children on a total of 11 websites for kids.

Last week, my 13-year old niece was playing a children’s logo game and after each round, either a slot machine or bingo game would appear. And this is despite child restrictions in place.

When was the last time you checked your children’s gaming apps?