Gambler who lost £250,000 'suffered in silence'

A man who lost more than £250,000 through gambling said he had "suffered in silence".

Taylor Hart, 32, placed his first small bet when he was 14 years old on a football accumulator, where you pick teams and you get some money if all of them win.

The gambling addict, from Dunstable in Bedfordshire, said that when he had won he was probably hooked without realising it as he could not wait till the next week to get a new football slip.

It was only in the early hours one morning about 15 years later that he realised he had a gambling problem - and by then he had 72p in his bank account.

Hart said he used to get £10 pocket money from his parents and "all of a sudden I am getting a lot more money by winning bets".

He said with that income he "could not wait to do it again; it was such a great feeling".

From the age of 21, it started to become a bigger problem when he began placing bets with higher stakes.

For the last five years of his gambling life, horse racing was the only thing he would bet on, he said.

At 29 years old, he thought "this cannot go on anymore" and he managed to find a rehabilitation centre via a charity called Gordon Moody.

He went into rehab on 13 November 2023 for a 14-week residential stay.

He described it as "the best decision I have ever made" and since coming out of rehab he said he had not placed a single bet.

Hart said that it was only after going to Gordon Moody that he worked out he had lost more than £250,000.

He also realised he had been heavily targeted by gambling advertising, which he described as "a real big problem".

"You cannot go anywhere without seeing gambling, you cannot listen to the radio without hearing gambling adverts, and you can't even get on a bus without seeing gambling adverts on the billboards," he added.

"I suffered in silence for a long time where I was living from pay cheque to pay cheque and all my money went on gambling.

"I was hiding my gambling and I did not want anyone to know how much I was losing.

"That is when it becomes a problem. It was not enjoyable. It was kind of if I don't win this bet then the bills are not getting paid."

With racing's Cheltenham Festival under way, Hart said maybe gamblers ought to think whether they have a problem if they recognised themselves in what he was saying.

He said he had lost a lot of friends and family due to his gambling as he was borrowing money off them.

He added: "If someone is taking drugs or drinking alcohol it is more obvious, but gambling is a silent addiction."

A spokesman for the Gambling Commission regulatory body said there were "strict rules governing the advertising of gambling... which are designed to ensure that marketing communications for gambling products are socially responsible, with particular regard to the need to protect children, young persons under 18 and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by advertising that features or promotes gambling".

They added that "targeted action around advertising and sponsorship is necessary, especially to better ensure that children and people who may be vulnerable have significantly reduced exposure".

• If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can visit the BBC Action Line for support - look under "Addiction".

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