Sports Betting gone wrong

We recently read a story about a young 16 year old kid who had found online-poker and been gambling illegally for a period of time unaware to his parents.  initially he had learned a ‘system’ and was sports-betting with some success, however the kid was depending on an unreliable tipster service and after a period of time he was in some very big debt.

He had used his parents credit card. 

He had amassed £4,000 in debt in a space of three months during which, for some reason his parents never bothered to check what he was doing on the Internet, or even check their credit card statements.  It turns out that the kids dad was a frequent poker player and his wife was the person who wears the trousers and she had wrote of the debt as "Daddy trying to break even"  You can guess what this did for the marital situation.

As a result, we feel the need to stress our opinion on minors that gamble.  It is wrong.  Kids may and do find gambling attractive, it is colourful social and fun.  However – the sad truth is many kids ( even older ones ) don’t have a real grasp on how much money is worth or what it costs to live, so as a result it is actually quite easy for your child to spend a lot of money without your permission.  How do you prevent this?  I’m going to be blunt.  Don’t give your child a credit card.  Don’t give them a private computer.  Don’t give them carte blanche to spend whatever they want. 

So – to prevent your child from gambling on the net? Control their finances and your own – then you won’t have a problem.  If your child starts playing something like slot machines, make sure you find out about it sooner rather than later.

Did you know that gambling addictions are four times more likely for underage people?  There are an estimated 2.5 million compulsive gamblers in the USA.  Are you one of them ? is your child?

Stay vigilant and protect yourself and your family.  Online sports betting can make a great deal of money, but it can also cost a great deal.