By some force of miracle, for the second year in a row I chose the winning horse on the Grand National this year. Of course, being an English student who appreciates a good rhyme, I only chose Comply or Die because of his name. But where is the line for us students between a harmless flutter on the horsies and a serious gambling problem?
In the past year, 68% of the population have participated in some form of gambling: that equates to 32 million adults. The vast majority of these just like the odd splurge at the casino or a boredom-busting game of poker on the internet, but the problems that can stem from gambling seem to be largely overlooked, especially in the student society.
Statistics suggest that 16 to 24 year olds are four times more likely to develop gambling problems than any other age group, which places students in a very vulnerable position.
In particular, males are at greater risk which suggests that gambling problems are intertwined with the image of gambling as a macho sport.
Adrian Scarfe, Head of Clinical Sciences for gambling charity Gam Care highlighted several reasons for gambling.
“Rarely with exception, all of the addicts I have dealt with have very low self-esteem and gamble to feel good. Of course, when they suffer a loss self-esteem is lowered therefore they chase their losses to feel good again.”
As university students, by nature we do things to the extreme. Scarfe also noted the tantilising appeal of the adrenaline rush of winning: “the buzz of gambling is intense, but students and other gamblers should always walk away regardless if they’ve won or lost.”
A student may start to gamble to alleviate work pressures, but this method of escapsim has a domino affect: the more addictive gambling becomes, the greater the academic failure.
It can’t be disputed that we students have more spare time on our hands than most working professionals, so the odd gamble keeps us entertained.
But one student I recently spoke to admitted losing £440 in one night: a third of his loan. Needless to say he wasn’t too entertained. Neither was he sat in a plush casino. He was sat by his laptop indulging in a spot of online poker.
Clearing a hefty student debt by clicking a few buttons sounds too good to be true. And it is.
The student at hand admitted stealing £400 from his flatmate in order to fund his habit following the big loss online.
Websites that promote Student Poker Wars, where universities compete against each other, are all very well if used in a controlled way. But aiming such websites at cash strapped students is surely both irresponsible and manipulative.
Betfair, one of such websites, defended the ‘incredibly popular and growing’ Poker Wars. “Students are intelligent and tech-savvy so we’ve catered for them with the online facilities. You don’t need to spend big bucks to enjoy poker, it’s the thrill of the win, and we comply to this by allowing people to play for as little or as much as they want. The advice I’d give is to play within your own means and make sure your studies always come first.”
Student debts are constantly creeping up, and the NUS has in the past highlighted fears that increasing debt could tempt students to use internet gambling to keep their bank managers happy.
Academically students can be seen as the cream of the crop, and therefore it’s fair to say that most of us are relatively competitive by nature. This in itself is a problem: whereas it’s not a problem if gambling is solely for entertainment, refusal to lose means we’re spending more and more money to comfort aching prides.
But how much help and support is out there for gamblers? Software such as Gamblock is available on the internet which bans the user from all gambling sites, but at a cost.
Surely the intention of anyone downloading Gamblock is to save spending any more money. Shouldn’t this be a free service for addicts, similar to services received by smokers or alcoholics?
Gambling addiction is comparable with smoking addiction, despite no obvious risks to one’s health. Lack of finance can lead to poor health, or spur other costly addictions.
Yet instead of being considered on a par with health-harming addictions such as drug abuse, gambling addictions are often overshadowed and dismissed as a selfish hobby.
Just as with all addictions, relationships and friendships can be ruined by the behaviour of the gambler. Rather than being a fun hobby, gambling becomes a third party which takes up the majority of an addict’s time.
The Students Union recently replaced Rubber Duck with Spin. The SU website claims the night offers “all the fun of the casino in your very own Union.” This way, you don’t even have to make it to the casino to have all the apparent glamour of gambling; Solus is offering it all on your doorstep.
Granted, this is just a marketing image, and the night doesn’t actually have any gambling facilities, but it promotes the troublesome bravado which goes hand in hand with gambling.
As for help here in Cardiff, the student advice centre said it wasn’t a common problem. But doesn’t this just show how we aren’t acknowledging problems, rather than suggesting the problem doesn’t exist?
Catherine Kiernan, a student advisor at Cardiff commented: ‘it often takes a person a long time to admit they have a problem and having to face the consequences of the gambling debt.’
Of course, addicts are in the minority and most student gamblers play within reason. One of these is Matthew Jenkins who commented that ‘gambling isn’t a problem unless you make it one. I’ll spend £50 odd quid if I go to the races, but I don’t come home and go online, if I’ve enjoyed the thrill of the win.’
Nevertheless, it seems that there is an underlying problem, of denial when it comes to students gambling. Ultimately, a bet is a bet, as shown by my Grand National fluke, so despite students thinking they’re taking an informed gamble, it’s the throw of the dice or the turn of the card that has the final say.
The ease of Internet gambling plus boredom makes for a dangerous cocktail which could be more harmful than it initially appears.
