Both started gambling as teenagers, and both became completely consumed by it despite their best efforts to stop. In the documentary, we hear the stories of how the addiction took over the lives of two young men, Jack from Sheffield and Harri from north Wales.

When people can’t access the mental health support they need to recover from addiction, it has the capacity to destroy lives. That means that it’s also incredibly hard to stop gambling, and the stigma surrounding gambling addiction also keeps victims suffering in silence. As a consultant psychologist explains in the documentary, gambling can be as addictive as cocaine. As the internet has enabled a dramatic rise in online gambling, the leisure pursuit has become embedded into modern culture, giving an image of carefree fun and accessibility.īut gambling, as the new documentary so powerfully explains, is also a potentially dangerous activity, especially for young men under the age of 25 who are more than three times more likely to become addicted. Those are just a few of the sobering statistics laid bare in Gambling: A Game Of Life And Death, a powerful new BBC Three documentary looking at the devastating personal consequences of gambling addiction for two young men who were driven to the brink.Īlthough gambling is still commonly associated with betting shops on the high street, these days, you don’t have to step foot outside your front door to play the casino.

Up to 1.4 million people in the UK are addicted to gambling. Over the last seven years, online gambling has almost tripled and 86% of the revenue comes from just 5% of the customers. Last year the gambling industry spent 1.5 billion on advertising. Trigger warning: this article contains reference to suicide. BBC Three’s powerful new documentary Gambling: A Game Of Life And Death delves into the serious reality of gambling addiction in the UK.

Bbc gambling casino documentary