0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is a joker. I'm going to take the joker,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm going to wave it on top of the jack of spades and I touch it
0:00:07 > 0:00:10and now I have the jack of spades and you have?
0:00:10 > 0:00:11Joker.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14My name is Alex Conran.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Since childhood, I've been fascinated by gambling and by cards.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22It got me a job presenting The Real Hustle,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26which warns people about how to avoid getting conned.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29It's all a bit ironic, if you know about my dad.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31My father was a gambling addict
0:00:31 > 0:00:36who turned into a conman and a fraudster and ended up in jail.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40So what was this urge that drove my dad away from me?
0:00:40 > 0:00:44His, has been a life of gambling and crime.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46But might I be under its spell too?
0:00:46 > 0:00:48If I did have that problem,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51it would make me one of up to half a million people in the UK
0:00:51 > 0:00:53estimated to be problem gamblers.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Yes!
0:00:55 > 0:00:57And that number is rising.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00What's the most you've ever lost in a day?
0:01:00 > 0:01:01In a day? Four grand.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04Four grand? In a day?
0:01:04 > 0:01:05In 20 minutes.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The machine's been there in my life
0:01:08 > 0:01:10more than anyone else has been in my life.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13- You've become best friends with a machine that takes your money?- Yeah.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15Their brains really are different.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Something different happens when they gamble.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23So this film is a journey to find why a fun pastime for some people,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27can become a compulsion or even an addiction for others.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32I'd like an answer to the one question
0:01:32 > 0:01:34I want to ask my dad, Dimitri.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Why?
0:01:36 > 0:01:38Blackjack! Yes!
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Gambling surrounds me.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Each one of my jackets has got a deck of cards in it.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Every time I'm thinking or talking,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56talking on the phone, every now and then, I'll get people going,
0:01:56 > 0:01:58"are you shuffling cards?"
0:01:59 > 0:02:03And I found when we worked on conning people in the Real Hustle,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05that I was a natural at that too.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07I'm the general manager here.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Has anyone talked to you about cons?
0:02:10 > 0:02:12This is what they're here for,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14a winning ticket now worth over 300.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16OK, I'll be right back.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Little do they know, they'll never see that pen,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22the helpful manager, or their winnings ever again.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Maybe that's something I inherited from my dad.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32You see he became a conman to feed a huge gambling habit.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Ultimately, it drove him away from me,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37leaving me and my mum when I was only seven.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39He's now in jail in Greece
0:02:39 > 0:02:42and I've not had any contact with him for 20 years.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47I hardly know my dad, but because of the chaos he brought to our lives,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49I've always blamed him.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53I never wanted him in my life or even in the life of my family.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58By not wanting to contact his dad, he's protecting himself,
0:02:58 > 0:02:59he's protecting his mum,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03all the other family members who were affected by it.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08And us, I think.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11But I've also always wondered what was so strong
0:03:11 > 0:03:14about that compulsion that made him give up on his wife,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17his family, on me?
0:03:17 > 0:03:20And what exactly have I inherited from him?
0:03:20 > 0:03:22I've clearly got his ability to con people.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26So, could I also be at risk of becoming a problem gambler too?
0:03:28 > 0:03:30It's an important issue for him.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Something he has to work through somehow.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35There's so many questions that he needs to answer for himself.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39He's just trying to find an explanation.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42And I guess talking to other people
0:03:42 > 0:03:48will have a very restorative and positive effect on him.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58So, where to start?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02How does the occasional flutter turn into a daily fix?
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Just like other addictions, the answer can be frighteningly early.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11And for many, it starts in places like this.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13A seaside arcade with machines like these.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28It probably appeals to our very basic emotions, you know.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Flashing lights, there's buttons, there's things happening.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34And why? To keep you more entertained,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37to keep you more involved into the game.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41You've got different options, different ways of making money.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43It's no longer just waiting for that spin.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48It gives you the perception that you're actually more in control.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Some of these machines here, you can win up to £500.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53If you go across the road to the bookies,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58to the fixed odds betting terminals, you can pay £100 a spin.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04And those are the crack cocaine of fruit machines for gambling addicts.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13These machines do nothing for me, I prefer poker.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15But they can be very addictive for some young people.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18They got Andreas hooked as a teenager.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Now he works on a stall in one of Blackpool's piers.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24But he started gambling aged 12
0:05:24 > 0:05:29and he now spends in excess of 25 grand a year on it.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31Would you say you gamble every day?
0:05:31 > 0:05:33- Every day. - Every day of your life?- Yep.
0:05:33 > 0:05:39In a week, how much do you reckon you spend on gambling?
0:05:39 > 0:05:42- At least 500.- £500 a week. - At least.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Playing the roulette when they first came out, I was 15.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48I lied about my age, said I was 18.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I got away with it and then they found me age out by about 18.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54By that time, they couldn't do anything about it.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- What's the most you've ever lost in a day?- In a day?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Four grand.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Four grand in a day?
0:06:01 > 0:06:02In 20 minutes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04In 20 minutes, where, how?
0:06:04 > 0:06:06- Roulette. - Again, those machines?
0:06:06 > 0:06:09What is it about those machines that you like gambling on,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12the fixed-odd betting machines. What is it you prefer?
0:06:12 > 0:06:15It's the quick money, isn't it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18They say you can win 10 grand within a space of what, three minutes.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21That's a lot of money to win off three minutes.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24I just literally walked in and I went in with me mum.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27She's gone to collect her winnings for the Irish lotteries.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I had £2 in change and ended up walking out with 10 grand.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35How quickly did you lose that 10 grand after you won it?
0:06:35 > 0:06:37- Within a week.- Within a week? - A week and a half.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39- Do you think about it all the time? - Always.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Every night you see how much you've spent.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45You can actually win from gambling.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I win every day, it's just about walking away.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49All right.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51It's about saying no to the addiction.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I'm not going to gamble anymore, I've made enough money now.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57I want you to stop gambling. That's what I want.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I want to stop, mate.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01It's killing me slowly.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10You can play a machine
0:07:10 > 0:07:14with a jackpot of up to £5 as a child in the UK.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18It makes us one of the few countries in the developed world
0:07:18 > 0:07:21that allows kids to gamble.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24£5 is quite a lot to a 12 year-old.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27If you grow up with a sort of, "Oh, gambling's fun,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30"it's tolerated, I can do it with my mum and dad."
0:07:30 > 0:07:32When people talk about drugs
0:07:32 > 0:07:35they talk about a ladder of addiction.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Softer drugs leading to more hardcore class A drugs.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Maybe we should take the same view about gambling.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Penny falls, one arm bandits, larger jackpot machines
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and finally the ones in the bookmakers,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50where you can bet £100 a spin.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54While I was in Blackpool, I met Darren.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56He says those gambling machines in the bookies
0:07:56 > 0:07:59have wrecked his life.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02He's spent six months in a homeless hostel
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and he's now trying to get his life back on track.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09I was chasing the numbers on the machine basically
0:08:09 > 0:08:11and I was putting every single penny of my money in.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13I had my partner for five year,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16but she's left me because of gambling, basically.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19We were getting giros and I was putting full giros in,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21not thinking about shopping or anything.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I didn't see nothing else, but gambling was me life.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25That was it.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I'd wake up in the morning, any money that I had in my pocket,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31I'd go straight to the bookmakers.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I could be in there from nine o'clock in the morning
0:08:34 > 0:08:35till eight o'clock at night.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37It's not about the money no more,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39it's not about the money, winning money.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41What is it about now?
0:08:41 > 0:08:42Just about playing the machine.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46The machine, to me, it's like my best friend in a way.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48That's how I feel like about the machine.
0:08:48 > 0:08:49It's a friend.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53The machine's been there in my life more than anyone else.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56That machine has been there more than anyone.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57You think you've spent,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- you've become best friends with a machine that takes your money?- Yeah.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03I could go in with like 40 quid, 50 quid sometimes
0:09:03 > 0:09:04and I can lose it straight away.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06I could go in with £2.40, £2,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09and I can get up to £100 straight away with that.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11What do you do with that money once you get it?
0:09:11 > 0:09:13- Do you walk away? - Half the time, I don't.
0:09:13 > 0:09:14I use it to go back in.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I've always got it in my mind to go back in with.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22I've got myself into 15 to 18 grand's worth of debt because of it.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25So you currently have 18 grand's worth of debt?
0:09:25 > 0:09:2618 grand's worth of debt.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29What's your general attitude towards gambling?
0:09:29 > 0:09:31It'll get you nowhere in life.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32It'll get you like me.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35I'm only young, but I'm 23, I had it all.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37I had me own house.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I had a lovely partner at the time.
0:09:40 > 0:09:41I had two dogs.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45I had it pretty all right, but now I've got nothing,
0:09:45 > 0:09:46absolutely nothing.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50That is through gambling.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57The good thing about Darren, is he wants to quit.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00He knows it's dragging him down and ruining his life.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05He's intelligent enough to know that, but stopping is really hard.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10They're all aware of the problem
0:10:10 > 0:10:14and yet they all think that they can beat those machines.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23I've never thought that, but maybe that's how my dad feels about it.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27But when he got hooked, gambling was less widely available than today.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32Now, it's not just fruit machines and roulette in bookies,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35it's football betting, scratch cards, the National Lottery.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39If you're a potential problem gambler,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41a simple trip down the high street
0:10:41 > 0:10:45can be like running the gauntlet of temptation.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Here we are, we're on Mare Street, we're in Hackney.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Hackney has got quite high unemployment level.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56It's quite a poor borough.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And yet on this high street that we're standing on,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02there are eight betting shops, with plans to build more.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05In the back there, you see the church.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08The building next to it, is the Hackney Old Town Hall,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10which is no longer a town hall.
0:11:10 > 0:11:11It's a bookies.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14The old cornerstone of the community here,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17the town hall, the centre where everybody used to come
0:11:17 > 0:11:21and things used to happen, is now a bookies.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I don't want to put cynical ideas out,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32but I'm kind of thinking this is a very poor high street,
0:11:32 > 0:11:37with very, very high unemployment and you've got eight bookies here.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39I would wager that if you went to Kensington and Chelsea,
0:11:39 > 0:11:44or to more affluent areas, you'd maybe find one, maybe two.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45Now why is that?
0:11:45 > 0:11:48There's pawnbrokers over there.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Betting shop just 100 yards away.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57You can't tell me that that is not somehow catering to people
0:11:57 > 0:12:00who have this addiction and why are we doing that?
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Why are we letting people pawn their stuff and go in there and bet it?
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Why are we leaving the door open to people who've got that problem?
0:12:14 > 0:12:18It matters because we know if you're susceptible,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22then just like other addictions, stopping is no simple matter.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25- You've been to Las Vegas all together?- No.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I've come to Peterborough to meet Gareth,
0:12:28 > 0:12:3228 year old working in sales, and his mother, Isabel.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Together, they're trying to help Gareth do what my dad couldn't
0:12:36 > 0:12:37and quit.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42I would literally go into work, fill my diary with fake appointments
0:12:42 > 0:12:44and then walk to the bookies.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't drink, I would just be there,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52and all that would be, would be me and this machine, if you like.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56You're feeding notes in and not even considering each £20 note,
0:12:56 > 0:12:57what that could buy you.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00A tank of petrol, your bills, whatever.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03It doesn't cross my mind and it's just a figure on a screen.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Probably in the last week and a half, two weeks maximum,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10I've probably lost about £1,400.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Now I don't get paid £1,400 a month.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16When you've put two grand in a machine and you lose
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and it goes in half an hour,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21why does that not leave you with a sense of,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23right, I'm never going to do that again?
0:13:23 > 0:13:29I walk out of there in tears, sick to the pit of my stomach,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32contemplating all sorts of things to get it back
0:13:32 > 0:13:34or to make myself feel better.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35Hurting myself.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38I just have these rages.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40And then the guilt sinks in.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45You realise what you've done and how much you've lost
0:13:45 > 0:13:47and what you could've done with it.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Probably if it wasn't for my parents, I'd be in prison
0:13:50 > 0:13:52or not around at all.
0:13:52 > 0:13:53I have all his money.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57It comes, it goes transferred into my bank when he gets paid
0:13:57 > 0:13:59and I withdraw all of it.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01When he wants it, he can have it.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04It's different for him if he's got a debit card,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06that's not real money to him.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10It's just a bit of plastic, he doesn't see where it's going.
0:14:10 > 0:14:16A debit card or a credit card - absolutely lethal to a gambler.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- You've borrowed money to help him out, right?- Yes.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Financially, that must be a strain?
0:14:22 > 0:14:23We've taken loans, yeah.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Because the thing is,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30if we don't, all you think is what will happen to him if we don't?
0:14:30 > 0:14:33He gets so despaired, you know,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35you're worried he might do something stupid
0:14:35 > 0:14:38because he doesn't know how to get out of this hole he's in.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41If I walked into a bookies with £100
0:14:41 > 0:14:44and I walked straight in and won £200 or £300,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48I wouldn't be happy cos I haven't got that fix.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51I would rather go in there, be in there all day
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and walk out maybe £50 or £60 down.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56To me, that would've been a really good day,
0:14:56 > 0:14:57I'd be happy with that.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03Every time he gambles and loses money, I will get a text from him.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Sometimes I've had a text when he's actually in the bookmakers
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and said, "Help me," and I've gone and got him.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I dread every text message I get,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16without even knowing who it's from because I think, "Not again."
0:15:16 > 0:15:18I dread every text message.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21It did come to a point, 18 months ago,
0:15:21 > 0:15:26when it did really, really did hit the bottom,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30where it did nearly pull us apart, all of us.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32It was horrible.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34It was a horrible, horrible time
0:15:34 > 0:15:38and I never, ever want to go through it again, ever. It was awful.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- I'm sorry.- It's all right, it's OK. It's OK.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47When he starts again, he starts to get secretive.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49He lies, you know he's lying.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51But if you say to him, "Are you lying?"
0:15:51 > 0:15:54it's saying, "I'm not trusting you anymore,"
0:15:54 > 0:15:56and he just wants to be trusted.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59I know if I could be gambling-free
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and put my concentration into something good,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07then I could be a real big success at anything I do.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11I'm like Rainman with numbers because of the gambling and so on.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15When I went to college, I gambled and I've done it ever since,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18so I've never had a period of time where I could sit back
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and see what I'm actually capable of doing as a person.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25You need something, an instant fix and there isn't an instant fix.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28It's just going to go on and on and on,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31until they decide enough's enough.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35It either ends in the awful way or it ends by him stopping.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45So what happens if you can't stop?
0:16:45 > 0:16:47In London, I went to meet Mandy.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50She's not's your typical idea of a problem gambler.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It wasn't until her mid 30s
0:16:53 > 0:16:56that she succumbed to the lure of the high street bookmaker.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00And when she couldn't stop, it ended, as with my dad,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04with this mother of two going to jail.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07I hadn't committed a crime till I was 35.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11I was a law-abiding citizen until the day I started gambling.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14And all my everything went out the window.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16I was shoplifting to feed my habit.
0:17:16 > 0:17:22I was probably stealing about £3,000 or £4,000 worth of goods a day.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26I was going into a supermarket, filling up a trolley with booze,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28meat, everything and walking out with it.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33I was committing crime five, six, seven, eight times a day.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- To fund your habit? - To fund my habit.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37In the end, my luck ran out
0:17:37 > 0:17:42and well, it didn't run out cos I've never had any luck, but...
0:17:42 > 0:17:45I got sent to prison for four months, my children went into care.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Did you gamble again after you came out of prison?
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- The day I came out of prison. - The day you came out?
0:17:50 > 0:17:55I DESPISE it. I despise gambling. I HATE it.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57But I can't stop.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59- Still?- I've been in the bookies this morning.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04- This morning, you went...?- I've been in the bookies this morning.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- And you placed a bet? - I won £70 on the machine.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09My opinion of it is, is an illness -
0:18:09 > 0:18:11I've got an illness.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15- And I wish there was a cure.- Mmm.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The experts tell us that 60% of problem gamblers who are attending
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Gamblers Anonymous in the UK admit to having committed
0:18:26 > 0:18:28a crime to fund their habit.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31And so it was with Mandy.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35But Mandy is trying hard to help herself, and to quit.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39She's in therapy and she's filled in self-exclusion forms
0:18:39 > 0:18:41at all her local bookies.
0:18:41 > 0:18:42There it is.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45- That's the one that you're excluded from right now?- It is.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Good. I like that.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49I'm excluded from all bookies around here,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51I'm not allowed in any of them.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Does that...? Do you feel strange being outside of it
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- or does it...?- Mmm, a little bit. - A little bit. OK, let's go.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Mmm. A little bit.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04There it is, Ladbrokes.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07I spent some grim days in there.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13- Did you...? Was this your sort of regular haunt?- Yeah, it was.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Every day I used to stand and wait for it to open.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- Did you ever get approached by anybody in there?- Never.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24- To say, "Aren't you been here a bit too often?"- Not once.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Not once has one person ever approached me and said,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- "Don't you think that's enough?"- Mmm.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Not once in 11 years.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34They have pictures of armed robbers up -
0:19:34 > 0:19:37why don't they picture have pictures of problem gamblers?
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Having met Mandy now, you know, several times she said,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46you know, "I'm ill.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48"I am not well."
0:19:48 > 0:19:51And it must be appalling to have to be to be saying that
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and people not to be listening. To kind of go,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58"No, not really, you just have to stop playing fruit machines!"
0:19:58 > 0:20:00And it's not as simple as that, it can't be.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03People wouldn't be doing that to their lives
0:20:03 > 0:20:06if it was as simple as walking away.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10'I don't think I'd realised until talking to gamblers like Mandy
0:20:10 > 0:20:12'just how hard it can be to quit.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15'It makes me think of my dad and his decision to leave
0:20:15 > 0:20:18'with a bit more sympathy.'
0:20:23 > 0:20:27My mum's kept most of the details of what my dad's gambling led to
0:20:27 > 0:20:31a secret from me, to protect me. But I've come to Greece,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35where she lives because I now want to understand what happened.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I don't really remember much about my dad.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44He was always smiling or telling a joke. He was quite larger than life.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47My parents divorced when I was seven.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51After the age of seven he was very...an absent figure.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54So I want to find out, you know,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57what was it that drove a very intelligent,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02very charming man...into jail?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Did you ever play backgammon with Dimitri?
0:21:06 > 0:21:09Yeah, I did.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12He was very good, I must say.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14I mean, everybody remembers jokes.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17He was fun! I wouldn't have married him and had a child with him
0:21:17 > 0:21:21if he was just the absolute, "I've got to gamble!"
0:21:21 > 0:21:27When did YOU realise that he was gambling?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It first started when I was pregnant
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and I got this letter from this woman saying,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36"I hope Lena has survived the operation..."
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And I'm reading this, like, what operation?
0:21:39 > 0:21:42What is this woman talking about?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45"But I really need these 3,000 if you could return them."
0:21:45 > 0:21:49And then the landlady called me and she said,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52"I realise you're giving birth, but, you know,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55"we haven't received the rent for six months."
0:21:55 > 0:21:58SHE SIGHS
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I could see it was gambling.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04I could see that it was compulsive.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08I did not know at the time that that was an illness
0:22:08 > 0:22:12and I did not know that this can be helped...
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- Mmm.- ..by, you know, specialists.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20But I knew that this was something that would not finish.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23'My dad's gambling got worse and worse.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26'And then one day, when we were living in Paris,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29'my mum came home to the apartment to find a letter.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32'Dimitri, my dad, had fled.'
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And I open it.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38And I read...this...
0:22:38 > 0:22:43"My dear Lena, as you very well understood, I've messed up.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49"So unfortunately the only solution I have is to leave France.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52"I owe Madame Fresco..." Madame Fresco is this poor woman
0:22:52 > 0:22:56from who we were renting the apartment,
0:22:56 > 0:23:02"..four rents plus the electric bill." Etcetera, etcetera.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06"I owe the bank 2,000 francs.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10"I also know owe Nicola..." - a friend - "..1,000 francs,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14"Costas Bletis, 450, I think.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19"Of this money, of course, I did not spend it with other women,
0:23:19 > 0:23:24"as you very well know, but on horse races.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27"Please kiss our child for me.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31"I also owe 800 to Bernard."
0:23:31 > 0:23:36- Just at the end, there's a little reminder.- Yeah.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38'Over backgammon, my mum told me
0:23:38 > 0:23:41'how, to fund his habit, Dimitri would continually
0:23:41 > 0:23:46'steal not just from strangers, but his employer, his friends,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49'even his family.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54'It's no wonder she was so terrified that I would turn out like him.'
0:23:54 > 0:23:58I remember once, Alexi, he was about seven or eight.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02He lied about something and I beat him up,
0:24:02 > 0:24:07I'm ashamed to say that, so much that my finger got swollen.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11And I realised I was not beating Alexi, I was beating Dimitri.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13The Real Hustle,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I was very, very worried at the beginning.
0:24:16 > 0:24:22I was more worried with the card playing, the actual card in the hand.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26'Feeling flush, more from the alcohol than the cards,
0:24:26 > 0:24:28'Alex ups the ante, and what was a friendly game
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'with a limit of £100 now has no limits.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34'I want to get some more money on the table...'
0:24:34 > 0:24:36I think my mum was petrified.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39My mum was petrified when she saw me with a pack of cards
0:24:39 > 0:24:42in my hands doing magic tricks
0:24:42 > 0:24:45because she associated a pack of cards, a love of gambling,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49love of cards, which is what my dad was into...
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Is her son going to go down the same slippery road as his father did?
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Well, there've been times where I've wondered that myself.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04And one of them was here.
0:25:04 > 0:25:10Welcome to Las Vegas - a town built entirely on gambling.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21In 2007, I spent three months in Vegas filming for The Real Hustle.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Ooh, that's nasty. Oh, but that's good...!
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Yes!
0:25:27 > 0:25:30'And I found as the rest of the crew would go off to bed...' Yes!
0:25:30 > 0:25:35I stayed at the table a little bit longer and I gambled most nights.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40I know that my family were a little bit anxious
0:25:40 > 0:25:44about me being around casinos, because of my father.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47You know, and I have to admit, you know,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50the first time I walked into a casino,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52my heart was pumping.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56I can understand their worry, that I, maybe,
0:25:56 > 0:26:01would be around casinos and would turn out to be like my dad.
0:26:01 > 0:26:0217.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Blackjack. Yes!
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Oh, come on!
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Oh!
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Look how quick we've blown 200!
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Do I think I might have something in me that
0:26:15 > 0:26:19might say that I'm a gambling addict?
0:26:20 > 0:26:22I don't think so.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25Oh!
0:26:25 > 0:26:28It's just not your day!
0:26:31 > 0:26:34But I do enjoy it. There, I said it -
0:26:34 > 0:26:36I like gambling.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41And if you like a flutter, then this is the place to be.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44But whilst on the surface, this is a pleasure town,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48fantastically over the top, a temple to entertainment and fun,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52when you look for it, this city has a dark side.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55These jets you can see here, they're the high-roller jets,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58the jets of the people, the billionaires,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00who come to gamble in Vegas.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03The jets that hotels use to ferry the rich people in,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05the whales as they call them.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07So that's here. Over here, we have
0:27:07 > 0:27:10the most iconic sign of Las Vegas,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14this is...this is the beginning of the strip here.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18And right over there, where that advertising billboard is,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22underneath there, in a sewer,
0:27:22 > 0:27:27is where you have... people living there.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Here in the flood tunnels running under this city
0:27:32 > 0:27:34live hundreds of homeless people,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38many who have hit rock bottom because of gambling.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41And I've come to find them.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42I mean, is this basically it?
0:27:42 > 0:27:45You've got your couch and you've got your little chair here...
0:27:45 > 0:27:47WOMAN LAUGHS Yeah!
0:27:47 > 0:27:49I can see you've got a suitcase...
0:27:49 > 0:27:53'Compulsive gambler Cyril and his 27-year-old girlfriend Becky
0:27:53 > 0:27:58have been living in these tunnels off and on for more than six months.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- So this is where you'll put your stuff...- If it were to rain.
0:28:01 > 0:28:02..to protect it from the rain.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Yeah. Our clothes are over there in that basket.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09They're all clean but that's where we keep them.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12During your gambling stuff,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15how much money do you think has passed through your hands?
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Since I've started gambling...
0:28:16 > 0:28:19He made a million dollars one year at least.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23- And...- You made a million dollars? - He probably went through...
0:28:23 > 0:28:25- I... - Won and lost a million dollars.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28I know I had over a million dollars go through my hands
0:28:28 > 0:28:31in about a year and a half.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Do you think that your gambling is part of the reason
0:28:35 > 0:28:38that maybe you're sort of where you are now?
0:28:38 > 0:28:41No, I blame him, I really do.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45- That's messed-up to say, but yeah. - How can you blame...?
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Gambling is a big part of who I am right now, but...
0:28:49 > 0:28:52I didn't start it.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Would you consider yourself as a problem gambler, that
0:28:56 > 0:28:59- you have a...?- Erm, no, not really.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02If you just keep going for it, you're going to win,
0:29:02 > 0:29:06- especially if you start with zero - you can't lose.- Right.- You know?
0:29:06 > 0:29:10The gambling pays for everything that we do positive,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12and then we pay for everything
0:29:12 > 0:29:15that we do because of the gambling that's negative.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20- When you see what's above us right now...- Right.
0:29:20 > 0:29:26..the amazing hotels, the size of this city, which is just phenomenal,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28it's all been built
0:29:28 > 0:29:31from money that people have come and lost here, right?
0:29:31 > 0:29:34Right. I know I'm going to go and beat them,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37I know I'm going to take their money, you know.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41And...but after my work's over and it's playtime,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44I know they're probably going to take my money.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50It's quite...shocking to meet
0:29:50 > 0:29:55Becky and Cyril in the situation that they find themselves in.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00I mean, how do you wake up in there, look around,
0:30:00 > 0:30:04realise you're living in a flood tunnel,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08and think, "I'm going to gamble my way out of here, I'm going to
0:30:08 > 0:30:11"make enough money through gambling to get out of here"?
0:30:11 > 0:30:13And by his own admission, you know,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17every time he makes some money, he'll just gamble it.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20I defy anybody to come down here and look at this and sort of say,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23"Well, he just has an issue with money."
0:30:23 > 0:30:28The guy is...an addict, the guy cannot stop gambling.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35No matter how bad things get,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Cyril's still denying he's an addict.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Is that what my dad is like?
0:30:41 > 0:30:44And as with all addictions, the first step
0:30:44 > 0:30:48is recognising that you've got a problem.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51The following day, I went looking for Cyril and Becky
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and found them searching the strip and the casinos.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57They were looking for money for Cyril to gamble.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59I wanted to ask them more.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Don't they realise that Cyril is an addict?!
0:31:03 > 0:31:06That gambling is the cause of their problems, rather than the solution?
0:31:06 > 0:31:10You went into a casino - what happened?
0:31:10 > 0:31:12- When? Oh, just now?- Yeah.- Nothing.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15- There wasn't really anything in there.- What were you looking for?
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Money. To see if there was anything left on the machines,
0:31:18 > 0:31:20walk by the tables, people drop chips.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24If I find five bucks I'll go try it, and if it doesn't hit,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27I'll got walk around and find five more bucks and play it.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30And usually I can like keep at the same machine
0:31:30 > 0:31:34until I get a hit for the day, you know what I'm saying?
0:31:34 > 0:31:37And that will give me my little jump.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Then that will turn my 20 into 40 or 50, and take it from there.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44I have to get him to break away from this whole thing,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47but he doesn't want to do it. Like he does, but...
0:31:47 > 0:31:51He does... I don't know, He can't, he's a gambling addict.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53- So you think...? - This is his element right here.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55I'm taking him away from that if I make him come with me.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00So in your eyes, you do think that Cyril is a gambling addict?
0:32:00 > 0:32:03- Yes, I know he is. - Do you think he knows he is?
0:32:03 > 0:32:06Yeah, but he doesn't want to admit it.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09What would you say a problem gambler is?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Erm, I don't know, someone who's got a family
0:32:12 > 0:32:14and after they've worked all week,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16instead of coming home, went to a casino
0:32:16 > 0:32:19and blew their whole cheque and then came home.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22I mean, also probably someone who lives in a tunnel...!
0:32:22 > 0:32:24But...!
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Right!
0:32:26 > 0:32:30I don't see myself in five years being here and being happy.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35I see myself either dead, you know, still homeless or struggling,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39basically, and erm... I don't like that.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42But you're looking at what's destroying you...to help you.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47- Right?- It's a double-edged sword, I guess. I know what you're saying.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51But I will, I mean I will do that within the next couple of weeks,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53I will make, like, my...my lick.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00It's as if they sort of both know what's killing them,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02but they're not doing anything about it.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04Or they can't do anything about it.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07He just seems to have what I think is typical about problem gamblers -
0:33:07 > 0:33:12that, "You know what? I'm going to get myself out of it with gambling,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14"all I need is that one big win.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17"And I'm not going to stop, or you know I'm going to play poker,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20"but not the not the slots," as if it is any different.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21That's like an alcoholic saying,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24"I won't drink spirits, I'll just stick to beer."
0:33:24 > 0:33:29That's how, I think, unaware he is of the seriousness of his problem.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38And if you've got a problem, you don't need to take a trip to Vegas
0:33:38 > 0:33:41or to the casino.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47You see, these days, you can get your fix in perfect isolation.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Among the latest in home comforts
0:33:49 > 0:33:52is the chance to have a casino under your own roof.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55I can close my door here.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58The family are downstairs, they don't know what I'm doing,
0:33:58 > 0:34:03and I can just have that isolation between me and the computer screen
0:34:03 > 0:34:09and get sucked into that... that emotional rollercoaster
0:34:09 > 0:34:12that is playing roulette or blackjack or...
0:34:12 > 0:34:13or poker for a lot money.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17I've just put "bet online" in Google.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20I've got 228 million results.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24I've got Ladbrokes, William Hill, Bet365, Paddy Power.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Hundred and hundreds. Totesport, Blue Square.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29I don't have to go anywhere
0:34:29 > 0:34:35and I can spend a lot of money on playing whatever I want.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39I can play roulette, I can play craps, I can play blackjack,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41I can play poker, I can bet on horses.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Every single horse race around the world, mind you.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47It's not as if I can go, "Oh, well, it's night-time now,
0:34:47 > 0:34:51"it's past eight o'clock, you know, there's no more races."
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Well, I can bet on races in China.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56I can bet on races in America.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00It is 24 hours a day and it's in your home.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04A lot of people that we've talked to about gambling,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06it's that isolation,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08it's what gamblers call "The Bubble," you know?
0:35:08 > 0:35:10It's me and the machine.
0:35:10 > 0:35:11Nothing else matters.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15The building can be burning behind you,
0:35:15 > 0:35:16but it's me and that machine
0:35:16 > 0:35:19and I think you get the same sense at home.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22It's quite frightening.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25'No more bets, please.'
0:35:25 > 0:35:28'So where would I go if I really do feel like I want help?
0:35:28 > 0:35:31PHONE RINGS Good afternoon, GamCare.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36'When my dad gambled, nobody talked about it in terms of a disease.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39'Now, that's starting to change.
0:35:39 > 0:35:40'This is GamCare.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44'They run a helpline which supports problem gamblers
0:35:44 > 0:35:46'and the people around them.'
0:35:46 > 0:35:48All these people here will handle calls coming in?
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Yes, they'll be handling live calls as they come in.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53We get about 35,000 calls a year.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56- Can we have a look at what's happening over here?- Absolutely.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Yes, this is Mike.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01- Hi, Mike.- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04When the call comes through, it will be a one-on-one sort of chat box.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07More often that not, people come in and say,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10"How can I change what my son's doing? How can I make him stop?"
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Sometimes people just want somewhere to talk,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14so you don't have to say much.
0:36:14 > 0:36:16And sometimes they want more direction,
0:36:16 > 0:36:20- so they might say, "Where can I go to get help?"- Right.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22"Where's my local GA meeting?" That kind of thing.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27'While I was at the GamCare, they let me speak to one caller
0:36:27 > 0:36:31'whose experience of discovering her husband's secret gambling
0:36:31 > 0:36:35'took me right back to my own childhood.'
0:36:35 > 0:36:40'He started gambling, oh, many years ago on football and horses
0:36:40 > 0:36:43'and I found out about it and he said he'd never do it again.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47'The biggest horse bet he had was about £100.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51'I lost my mother and she left some money.
0:36:51 > 0:36:52'I thought I'd pay the mortgage off.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54'She told me the figure of the mortgage
0:36:54 > 0:36:57'and I said, "Oh, no, that's not right, it can't be.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59'It had been doubled.'
0:36:59 > 0:37:01How much was it, if you don't mind me asking?
0:37:01 > 0:37:05'The mortgage had gone up from 50 to a 100,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07'almost £100,000.'
0:37:07 > 0:37:08£100,000.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11'The mortgage had... Yeah. It doubled from 50.'
0:37:11 > 0:37:14- It doubled from 50,000 to 100,000.- 'Yes.'- Wow.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16'Yeah, I had two insurance policies.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19'He forged the signatures and got the money for those as well.'
0:37:19 > 0:37:22So, in total, how much money had your husband...?
0:37:22 > 0:37:24'It was over 100 in total.'
0:37:24 > 0:37:25Over £100,000?
0:37:25 > 0:37:27'Over £100,000 in total.'
0:37:27 > 0:37:29'It got to the point where I just...
0:37:29 > 0:37:32'Well, I contemplated suicide.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35'You get so low and that's how I felt.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38'I felt that he couldn't have wanted me or loved me.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42'He wouldn't have put the children and myself through this.'
0:37:42 > 0:37:45I mean, I know it's a very difficult question,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49but how do you feel towards your husband now?
0:37:49 > 0:37:51'I can't trust him.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55'I still to this day don't think I'll ever trust him fully.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57'And I just hope that the love of his children
0:37:57 > 0:38:00'will stop him from doing it again.'
0:38:00 > 0:38:05'I've witnessed first-hand a family imploding like that
0:38:05 > 0:38:07'and all the heartbreak it brings.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13'I'd never want my own family to go through anything like that.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15'So perhaps it's time I got tested
0:38:15 > 0:38:18'to answer once and for all if there's any risk
0:38:18 > 0:38:20'I could I turn out like my dad.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26'These days, the NHS has a clinic for problem gamblers.
0:38:26 > 0:38:27'It's the first one.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30'I'm going to be checked out by psychiatrist
0:38:30 > 0:38:32'Doctor Henrietta Bowden-Jones.'
0:38:32 > 0:38:34Welcome to the National Problem Gambling Clinic.
0:38:34 > 0:38:40Obviously my father was a gambling addict who turned into a conman
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and a fraudster and ended up in jail.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46And I guess I have always wondered whether or not...
0:38:48 > 0:38:50..it was something that was hereditary?
0:38:50 > 0:38:54It's interesting you say this because we know that young people
0:38:54 > 0:38:56with parents who gamble regularly
0:38:56 > 0:38:59and young people with parents who are problem gamblers,
0:38:59 > 0:39:04do have a higher likelihood of developing this illness
0:39:04 > 0:39:06than the general population.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08So someone like me might be at risk, for example?
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Might be at risk. Exactly.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14I like gambling. I won't deny it.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16I think it's a good, fun pastime.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19But I always treat it with a sense
0:39:19 > 0:39:23- that I'm dealing with something that can be extremely dangerous.- Yeah.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26So, Alex, I'm going to ask you a few things now
0:39:26 > 0:39:29that would allow me to go through my mental checklist
0:39:29 > 0:39:32to know whether you do have a problem or not.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37How often over the past month you have actually gambled?
0:39:37 > 0:39:39- I would say five days in the last month.- Five days.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41But the month before, it was zero days.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44How often have you bet more that you could afford to lose?
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Never.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49How often have you need to gamble with larger amounts of money
0:39:49 > 0:39:51to get the same feeling of excitement?
0:39:51 > 0:39:52Never.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56How often have you gone back another day
0:39:56 > 0:39:58to try to win back the money you lost?
0:39:58 > 0:39:59Never.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01- OK. That's called chasing losses. - Yeah.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05And I would say that 99.9% of people in this clinic...
0:40:05 > 0:40:06Will go back to...
0:40:06 > 0:40:09..are loss chasers.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12How often have you felt that you might have a problem with gambling?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17What's the next one up from never?
0:40:17 > 0:40:18- Sometimes.- Sometimes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22How often have you felt guilty about the way you gamble?
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Er, often.
0:40:24 > 0:40:25So you've scored two
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and essentially you need to score at least nine...
0:40:29 > 0:40:32- Phew!- ..to have any significant problems with this.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34THEY LAUGH
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Do you find it a little odd that, given my father's history,
0:40:37 > 0:40:42being a card player, fraudster, um, I've ended up...
0:40:43 > 0:40:47..you know, with a pack of cards in my hand on a daily basis,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49fascinated by scams and cons,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52although I've had very, very little contact with my father.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57You could say that what you're doing is trying to keep in touch with him
0:40:57 > 0:40:59at some level without harming yourself.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Yep.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10'I think maybe it is a way of keeping a link to my dad.'
0:41:10 > 0:41:14But it's definitely not something I'm doing consciously, you know?
0:41:14 > 0:41:19You've got to remember I'm petrified of a relationship with my dad as...
0:41:22 > 0:41:25..having a problem gambler in your life is dangerous.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31'And it can be dangerous because, like other addictions,
0:41:31 > 0:41:34'the urge to gamble can be with you all your life.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37'In Cambridge, I met Lewis Constable.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40'He got hooked on slot machines and online poker.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44'Lewis has managed to quit, but he still admits to getting urges.'
0:41:45 > 0:41:47I mean, you haven't gambled now for six months.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Do you miss the thrill?
0:41:49 > 0:41:50Er, yeah, definitely.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53- I find it hard if I walk past the bookies.- You do?
0:41:53 > 0:41:57I find it hard, especially on match day, cos I'm a big football fan.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00If I want to do a bet, an accumulator on all the teams,
0:42:00 > 0:42:02I find it quite hard not to do that.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06I was probably on internet poker for about...
0:42:06 > 0:42:09I'd say a year and a half to two years.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- I lost a lot of money on that.- How much money do you reckon you lost?
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Well, I lost, probably, on online poker...
0:42:16 > 0:42:18over seven grand, I'd say.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22I remember that probably being the loneliest or the hardest time.
0:42:22 > 0:42:27The thing I'd say about gambling is that it is such a lonely addiction.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30With drugs, you can do it with other people, you can...
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Drink, you can do with other people.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Smoking, you can share a cigarette when you're addicted.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38With gambling, I found when I was gambling that I was so lonely.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41You'd lose a bet and you wouldn't want to tell anyone
0:42:41 > 0:42:44because you've lost a lot of money and you were ashamed.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46You tell them and they were like, "Why did you do that?"
0:42:46 > 0:42:48You keep it within yourself.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54'But even though Lewis HAS quit,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57'he's still got the potential to have a problem with gambling.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01'And there's now ground-breaking scientific research,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03'which shows that problem gambler's brains
0:43:03 > 0:43:06'really are wired differently.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10'Lewis has agreed to take part in a demonstration of this research
0:43:10 > 0:43:12'with me here in Cambridge.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16'Dr Luke Clarke, a leading expert in problem gambling
0:43:16 > 0:43:18'has made an extraordinary discovery.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21'He's proved that for gambling addicts,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24'it's not so much the winning they're hooked on,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27'but the experience of a near miss.'
0:43:27 > 0:43:31You can see the spin coming through here.
0:43:33 > 0:43:34- KERCHING! - Yay!
0:43:34 > 0:43:37And this is Alex's first win.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42And this is his skin conductance going up here.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45Alex is interested in the wins,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48but we're also interested in the near misses.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51We see in problem gamblers that these near misses
0:43:51 > 0:43:52are very significant events
0:43:52 > 0:43:56and they make them want to carry on playing more.
0:43:56 > 0:43:58And we can see, in our brain imaging data,
0:43:58 > 0:44:03we can see a stronger brain response in particular to near-miss outcomes,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06as someone becomes more of a problem gambler.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10These brain responses are in parts of the brain
0:44:10 > 0:44:11that are innovated by dopamine,
0:44:11 > 0:44:16a very important brain chemical in reward behaviour
0:44:16 > 0:44:18and also in drug addiction.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21- Come on. Oh. - LOW BEEP
0:44:23 > 0:44:26My results were perfectly normal,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29but Dr Clarke expects a problem gambler
0:44:29 > 0:44:33to have a very significant reaction to a near miss.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38You get near misses in all gambling games.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41And indeed you get near misses out there in the real world.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44A lot of those real-world situations
0:44:44 > 0:44:48are skill situations where the near misses really do tell you something.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52If your shot at a goal bounces out off the post,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55you haven't got a goal, but it tells you that you should carry on.
0:44:55 > 0:45:00But in gambling games, chance, that reasoning doesn't apply
0:45:00 > 0:45:03and that seems to be the main mistake that that people make
0:45:03 > 0:45:06when they read too much into them.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Then it was Lewis' turn
0:45:08 > 0:45:10and it quickly became clear that in his case,
0:45:10 > 0:45:15it wasn't the winning that thrilled him, but the near misses.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Well, that first win that he received,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19it had very little impact.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22What was it when I had my first win, do you remember?
0:45:22 > 0:45:24- Was it a big impact? - Yeah, it was a clear...
0:45:24 > 0:45:26- I was like, "Yay!"- Yeah, yeah.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28This is going to be a near miss?
0:45:28 > 0:45:31- Yeah. - LOW BEEP
0:45:31 > 0:45:35That is definitely a much stronger response to a near miss
0:45:35 > 0:45:39- than it was to the previous win. - Exactly, yeah.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43So then if you never met either of us and you put us together,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47would that be sort of a suggestion that Lewis might have a problem?
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Well, these near misses seem to be more significant and more salient...
0:45:51 > 0:45:52Right.
0:45:52 > 0:45:57..to Lewis and within a game of chance, that's a...
0:45:57 > 0:46:00that's a dangerous mind-set.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03LOW BEEP
0:46:03 > 0:46:07You're saying that somebody who is not a problem gambler
0:46:07 > 0:46:10would have a bigger response, "Hey, I've won something!"?
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Yeah, these are pleasant, rewarding outcomes.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16But for a problem gambler, it just doesn't have that much of an effect?
0:46:16 > 0:46:19- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - That's fascinating.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23When you remember back to when you were playing the slot machines,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25would a near miss spur you to chase your money?
0:46:25 > 0:46:28I would never want anyone else to win the money
0:46:28 > 0:46:29that I've put in that machine,
0:46:29 > 0:46:32cos I knew that that the machine would pay out soon.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35You felt someone else would come along, put a pound in
0:46:35 > 0:46:39- and get your money, get your win? - That's the last thing I would want.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Yeah I think this test has shown me that...
0:46:41 > 0:46:44you know, my mind really wasn't about...
0:46:44 > 0:46:48- It wasn't about getting the money, it was about the thrill.- Right.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Well, that's done enough to convince me that my brain
0:46:51 > 0:46:54is wired completely differently to that of a problem gambler.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58You know, I don't react that way when I gamble.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00But it has made me wonder, you know,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04what was my father like when he gambled?
0:47:04 > 0:47:06How was he reacting?
0:47:06 > 0:47:09What was going on inside his brain, you know?
0:47:09 > 0:47:12Unfortunately when my dad was, you know, gambling,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15we didn't have any of these techniques, you know.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19We don't know, but it makes me wonder.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22You know, I have a feeling that he was the same as Lewis,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25you know, he got the thrills of the near misses
0:47:25 > 0:47:28and the winning wasn't enough for him,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30otherwise he would have stopped.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39So, like drugs and alcohol, once you've been an addict,
0:47:39 > 0:47:43you'll always either be an addict or an addict in recovery.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47- Hi, everybody. Hi.- Hello.- Hello.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50'This is the Problem Gambling Centre in Las Vegas,
0:47:50 > 0:47:52'run by Doctor Robert Hunter.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54'Normally these meetings are anonymous affairs,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57'but I've been allowed to sit in on one.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59'Many of these addicts
0:47:59 > 0:48:03'are around my dad's age, so are these the sort of struggles
0:48:03 > 0:48:05'he's been having throughout his life?
0:48:05 > 0:48:09I was fully aware that I was destroying my life.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11I didn't do it to forget.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13I did drugs to forget.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16I'm aware of that, I know I did.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20But gambling, I...I made myself sick.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24I've urinated my pants while I was gambling and kept gambling.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28I'm down to my last 300 bucks at Boulder Station
0:48:28 > 0:48:32and all of a sudden I vomit all over the machine.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35And talk about creating a panic!
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I left here yesterday fighting urges.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I walked in the door of my house fighting urges.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45I'm fighting urges right now and I just don't...
0:48:48 > 0:48:50..understand why I can't get this.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54You're in the right place at the right time.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57I'm sorry about the pain in your eyes, you look like someone...
0:48:57 > 0:48:58who got pulled out of a burning car.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00you look like you're in agony,
0:49:00 > 0:49:04but I've seen that look and I've seen it turn into those looks,
0:49:04 > 0:49:08so please just go where they point you, just go where they guide you.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11Problem gambling is as old as man.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14It's only been in the last few decades that we've had lab research
0:49:14 > 0:49:18that suggests they are different, their brains ARE different.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20Something different happens when they gamble.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22What's the end of the line?
0:49:22 > 0:49:25What's the bottom of the bottom for a gambling addict?
0:49:25 > 0:49:27What's the worst-case scenario?
0:49:27 > 0:49:30The major danger is to say,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34"I am the architect of this destruction and despair.
0:49:34 > 0:49:39"I am a bad person who has chosen to harm the people I love,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42"therefore I should kill myself as a gift to them."
0:49:42 > 0:49:47That's what the end of the trail looks like for a problem gambler.
0:49:49 > 0:49:50'There are people here
0:49:50 > 0:49:53'who will literally live or die based on how they do.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55'There are people in here that will live or die
0:49:55 > 0:49:59'on what they do over the next four to five days.'
0:49:59 > 0:50:01You've been through the process,
0:50:01 > 0:50:03you've recovered, you've relapsed.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05Where do you see yourself now?
0:50:05 > 0:50:10How do you feel...? What do you feel the future holds for you right now?
0:50:11 > 0:50:12Oh!
0:50:24 > 0:50:26HE SIGHS
0:50:26 > 0:50:29To be perfectly honest with you where I'm at today,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31if I don't stop,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33I'm going to die.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39I don't think people realise the gambling hook.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43I mean, to have somebody in there who says, "I've done heroin
0:50:43 > 0:50:48"and I've been able to give that up, but gambling is an issue."
0:50:50 > 0:50:52I don't think a lot of people are even aware
0:50:52 > 0:50:54that gambling is a problem.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59There's no doubt in my mind that gambling addiction is a disease.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01It's not a habit, it's not a bad habit, it's not,
0:51:01 > 0:51:05"Oh, you're a bit bad with money, you don't know where to stop,"
0:51:05 > 0:51:06It's a disease.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16So if it's an illness, if problem gamblers really are in the grip
0:51:16 > 0:51:19of such a powerful addiction,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22then is it time now to make peace with my dad?
0:51:22 > 0:51:25I no longer feel the resentment I once did towards him
0:51:25 > 0:51:29'and so I've come back to visit his best friend, Themis,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32'to ask about making contact with Dimitri.'
0:51:32 > 0:51:34- Alexi.- Thank you.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38'Themis has stayed in touch with Dimitri
0:51:38 > 0:51:41'even although I know he stole a huge amount of money
0:51:41 > 0:51:44'from the company they were both directors of.'
0:51:44 > 0:51:47He took four million.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49Four million?
0:51:49 > 0:51:53Four million, seventeen hundred drachmas...
0:51:53 > 0:51:56- And he disappeared. - And he disappeared.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Do you think he took it because he wanted to go and gamble,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02or do you think he took it because he was owing money, or...?
0:52:02 > 0:52:05To... To play, to gamble.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Everybody knew he was ill, ill,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11had the problem with gambling, and yet
0:52:11 > 0:52:16everybody was always lending him money, trying to help him.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20If you knew that Dimitri was stealing money or borrowing money
0:52:20 > 0:52:24- to buy drugs because he was a drug addict...- Yes.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26..that would have been different, wouldn't it?
0:52:26 > 0:52:31We never gave to him money in order to play.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35Just giving him something in order just to live.
0:52:35 > 0:52:41Nobody was hating Dimitri, or even being angry with him
0:52:41 > 0:52:44that, er...he took from me money.
0:52:44 > 0:52:50They never could be normal fathers, or normal husbands,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52and so these people, I believe it.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57'But then as we spoke, Themis told me some shocking news about my father.'
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Unfortunately the latest news about him
0:53:01 > 0:53:03is very bad.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08- He is ill, seriously ill. - What's wrong with him now?
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Yeah, I'm afraid it is about cancer
0:53:11 > 0:53:15in, er...at his throat, throat.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17- Throat.- Yeah, throat.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22Do you think I should go and see Dimitri?
0:53:22 > 0:53:27Write to him some words. "I have heard that you are ill.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31"I am thinking about you." Don't go to see him.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35You don't think so? Too upsetting?
0:53:37 > 0:53:42I think he was a victim of a very nasty addiction.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45You know, people kept lending him money to help him,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48but by helping him they were killing him.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51That money was going straight back onto card tables,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53casinos, you name it.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57I suppose you live with the consequences of what you've done,
0:53:57 > 0:54:03but I just find it very difficult to sort of accept that right now.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06I don't know, maybe I'm being dramatic, but an image of...
0:54:08 > 0:54:10..someone in a hospital bed,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12you know, someone who was so social...
0:54:14 > 0:54:16..just alone, in prison.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19No-one visiting him, no-one caring for him,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22nobody bringing him anything.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Nobody really caring whether he's going to recover,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28or if he's feeling comfortable, or if he's....
0:54:32 > 0:54:34HE SNIFFS
0:54:38 > 0:54:42"Dear Dimitri, I've been hearing your news from Themis and Mum.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45"I'm sorry to hear that you're not well.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49"When I was growing up I never understood why you left.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54"I always thought you just preferred to be on your own, away from us.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56"I missed having a father.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59"However, during the making of this documentary
0:54:59 > 0:55:02"I've learnt a lot about people like you, gambling addicts,
0:55:02 > 0:55:06"people who can't stop themselves from gambling.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07"You never stood a chance.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11"Your addiction to gambling is what drove you to steal and borrow
0:55:11 > 0:55:15"and is ultimately what landed you in jail.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17"Many people call this a hidden addiction.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21"At first I didn't really understand why, but I do now.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23"It often goes undetected by others
0:55:23 > 0:55:27"and it's easy to deny it yourself, if you have it.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32"For all it's worth I think you're a gambling addict and I forgive you.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35"I wish things had been different. Alexis."
0:55:41 > 0:55:45But before I even got to send the letter I received news of my dad.
0:55:47 > 0:55:52I'd returned to the UK to complete filming for this documentary.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54I got a phone call
0:55:54 > 0:55:58telling me that my dad passed away
0:55:58 > 0:56:01in hospital, still in prison.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03He never got the letter.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06I found myself on the phone organising a funeral for my father,
0:56:06 > 0:56:09which I couldn't even attend.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12So he was buried with no-one there.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17And that is a...
0:56:19 > 0:56:22..that is a sad end for anybody,
0:56:22 > 0:56:27but unfortunately I think it's quite a common end for...gamblers.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd