Whether it’s an eye appointment or a yearly checkup, screening for diseases and physical ailments typically has a spot in the back of every person’s mind, particularly as we get older. However, while physical and mental health are equally important, the latter is not as widely recognized in awareness and prevention measures. People with underlying mental health factors have an increased risk of developing a gambling problem. Someone, for instance, who is depressed and turning to gambling as a way to escape from anxiety or other stressors, this might make them more vulnerable to a gambling problem or gambling for longer than anticipated to or spending more than planned, hence eventually developing a gambling problem. A history of abuse or trauma can also increase the likelihood that someone may be more vulnerable to developing a gambling problem. As we highlight National Depression Screening Day on October 6, we invite you to use this as a chance to discuss the importance of taking care of our mental health with a focus on its relationship to problem gambling. 

The Connection between Depression and Problem Gambling

Approximately 40 million US adults struggle with depression or anxiety [1].This makes depression one of the most prevalent mental health issues in our country, and one that can be closely related to other struggles, including problem gambling. 

At the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG), our 24-hour confidential, multilingual HelpLine has received countless contacts from Floridians experiencing serious to severe problems in their lives due to a gambling problem in their household. In many cases, depression was the underlying cause of presenting symptoms, with compulsive gambling at the root of their struggles. If these issues go unassessed, unidentified, and untreated, these struggles can remain “hidden” and lead to significant consequences. 

Alternatively, mental health issues can also increase the risk of compulsive gambling. For example, gamblers may place excess bets to feel better, escape or distract themselves. It can feel like gambling is helping them cope, even if they are losing more than they are winning. Those struggling with a gambling problem will chase the sensation of winning, no matter the circumstances or negative consequences experienced, because the euphoria of staying in action while gambling can feel magnified when dealing with depression.

The FCCG’s  888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine data from the 2021/2022 fiscal year reveals gamblers’ mental health status and domestic difficulties yielding high levels of anxiety (62%), depression (63%), suicidal thoughts (24%), family conflict (60%), family neglect (41%), family violence (5%), and problems at work or school (37%). Among problem gamblers, 39% reported having a family with a history of gambling problems, and over 33% reported a family history of alcohol and/or substance abuse. Loved ones of the problem gambler (i.e., spouse, partner, parent, child, siblings) also suffer from a number of significant mental health issues. Among loved ones, 67% reported anxiety, 49% depression, 87% family conflict, 40% family neglect, 8% family violence, and 20% indicated personal problems at work or school. The prevalence rates for each of these difficulties experienced by loves ones was markedly higher this year compared to last, further supporting the continuing need to help educate mental healthcare professionals about the familial impacts and mental health comorbidities among problem gamblers.

Identifying the Signs of Depression and Problem Gambling

The symptoms or warning signs of problem gambling and depression can be similar, including alienating loved ones, irritability, an inability to concentrate, and skirting responsibilities. With problem gambling, warning signs may also include tolerance, withdrawal, a diminished control when gambling, preoccupation with gambling, gambling to escape, chasing losses, lying, jeopardizing relationships and careers, and seeking financial bailouts. . Depression symptoms can also encompass emotional outbursts, feelings of hopelessness, sleeplessness, and lethargy. Problem gamblers are also at increased risk of suicide, with as many as one in five of compulsive gamblers attempting suicide.[2] In fact, gambling has the highest rate of suicide of all addictions.[3]    

Those struggling with gambling problems or depression can have moments when these symptoms are more apparent, and other times when symptoms may subside. During the latter, the person might feel they have overcome the issue or that there isn’t an issue at all, when this isn’t the case. Having access to free, 24/7, confidential, multilingual supports and resources is essential for both problem gamblers and their loved ones and available through the FCCG’s 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine.

Gambling becomes a problem when it is causing negative life impacts.  There is oftentimes denial that a problem even exists, despite the experience of multiple negative life consequences. Problem gamblers typically progress through some very clear stages as they sink further into gambling addiction.  Because of the non-physical symptoms of a gambling addiction, a gambler may feel even more distressed while undergoing these transitional changes which largely go undetected by others.  In fact, even the ones closest to the gambler often do not recognize that there is a problem.

 It is imperative to remember that no one can predict who will become a compulsive gambler or who will develop any sort of mental health disorder.  We must spread the message that help, hope, and recovery from a gambling disorder are possible when early interventions are used.    This Thursday, October 6, 2022, help us increase awareness about National Depression Screening Day, which could be a life-changing moment for you or someone you care about. 

If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties due to problem gambling, start the journey of recovery today by contacting the confidential, multilingual, free, 24/7 Problem Gambling HelpLine at 888-ADMIT-IT (888-236-4848), texting (321-978-0555), emailing ([email protected]), chatting (gamblinghelp.org), or visiting us on social media.

1. “Facts & Statistics: Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA.” Facts & Statistics | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics. 
2. Davies, Rob. “Problem Gamblers Much More Likely to Attempt Suicide – Study.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 19 July 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/19/problem-gamblers-much-more-likely-to-attempt-suicide-study.
3. Jones, Colleen. “September Is Suicide Prevention Month: Problem Gambling Has Highest Suicide Rates among All Addictions.” The Batavian, 16 Sept. 2020, https://www.thebatavian.com/press-release/september-is-suicide-prevention-month-problem-gambling-has-highest-suicide-rates-among.

A new name appeared on the LED boards which run across all four stands of Goodison Park on the occasion of the last Merseyside derby: i8.BET.

A few hours earlier, on the very same day, Wednesday 1 December, Everton FC announced on its website that it had “further expanded its international partnership portfolio by signing up i8.BET as a new commercial partner”.

The statement read: “The deal will see i8.BET become the Club’s exclusive Official Betting Partner in Asia, as the gaming brand continues to expand its trusted and innovative platform in the online betting market across Asia and beyond”.

The news was barely shared outside of the specialist betting media, which satisfied themselves with publishing quotes from the original statement without adding detail or comment. No British newspaper or website of note thought it worthy of a mention.

This was understandable. This type of partnership is commonplace in the Premier League, where drawing money from opaque e-Gambling operators has long been accepted as a fait accompli, regardless of the inconvenient questions which could be raised about the problematic nature of these businesses. English football chose to look the other way, as legislators have done until now. When Josimar contacted eleven Premier League clubs about their existing, lucrative relationships with various online foreign bookmakers, only two, Wolves and Manchester United, replied to our enquiries, both of them telling us in substance: “no comment”.

That some of these operators, whose beneficial owners are unknown to all, the clubs they do deals with included, are probably complicit in money-laundering, labour-trafficking and other criminal activities is not speculation, but taken as fact by national and international law enforcement agencies (see Josimar’s 18-month long investigation into the matter, The trillion-dollar gambling game). Yet, despite recent talk of reforming the UK gambling laws, the links between elite English football and mysterious e-Gambling platforms is as strong as it’s ever been, and fresh deals are still being brokered, as was shown by Everton’s acquisition of a new ‘Official Asian Betting Partner’ (*).

Everton FC could be expected to be extra careful when choosing new betting partners.  SportPesa, a Kenyan bookmaker founded by exiled Bulgarian casino owner Guerassim Nikolov, had become their main sponsor in June 2017. The five-year deal, the biggest in the club’s history, worth an estimated 62.5 million US dollars, was supposed to run until June 2022, but the club had to cut its partnership short in February 2020. An investigation by The Guardian’s David Conn revealed that the company did not pay tax on the huge profits it made in the African country and beyond, and had its activities suspended by the Kenyan government in 2019. Nikolov was also suspected of credit card fraud on a massive scale, racketeering, and even, in a surreal twist, the hijacking of 14 trucks in Serbia. Interestingly, SportPesa had acquired its UK gambling licence through the services of TGP Europe Ltd, a company based in the Isle of Man which specialises in providing so-called ‘white label’ licences to foreign operators. It is a name we’ll come across again.

«Promotions in key brand territories»

So, what of i8.BET, the ‘trusted and innovative platform’ which is referred to in Everton’s statement?

A certain ‘Darren Wang’, Chief Marketing Officer of the club’s new Asian partner, is quoted in the same statement as saying: “In line with our global tagline of ‘Choose The Best’, we are excited to exclusively partner with such an iconic Premier League team as Everton Football Club; a partnership that will see us working with the club on a number of exciting and innovative initiatives and promotions in key brand territories in support of our ongoing brand expansion and trust building efforts.”

Josimar set out to find out what exactly this ‘ongoing brand expansion’ consisted of. The truth is that i8.BET has a long way to go before establishing its presence and ‘building trust’ on markets where – it bears repeating – gambling on sports is illegal. Why? Because, strictly speaking, i8.BET is not a bookmaker.

As is commonplace with other Asian e-Gambling platforms which have acquired ‘white label’ licences in Great Britain, visiting i8.BET’s UK website leads to a dead-end. It is not operational.

A question of time? Perhaps. But it should be remembered that, for Asian operators, the one real purpose of acquiring a UK licence is to use their virtual presence in Britain as a springboard for the genuine markets where they will make their money. Linking up with prestigious partners such as Everton FC and, by extension, the world’s most popular football league, the Premier League, is the most efficient way to promote the gambling brands at “home” – in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia – where advertising sportsbooks is just as illegal as placing bets on what they offer.

The story is quite different when avoiding geo-restriction and accessing i8.BET from Indonesia, Thailand, China and Malaysia, as Josimar has done.

These are just a few examples of the imagery used by all of i8.BET’s Asian websites, complete with the usual ‘suggestive’, borderline pornographic pictures of very young women, plus a photograph of male supermodel David Gandy lifted from an advertisement for Johnny Walker whisky for good measure. One thing is sure: i8.BET is not holding back on using Everton FC’s name and crest, or likenesses of its players.

The real problem, however, does not lie with these images, repulsive as they may be for many.

Josimar could find no mention whatsoever of i8.BET, its tagline ‘Choose the best’ or of its ‘Chief Marketing Officer’ Darren Wang anywhere on the web prior to the announcement of the bookmaker’s deal with Everton on 1 December, even when using search engines from countries where the brand is supposed to be present. It was as if i8.BET had been created ex nihilo.

The domain name itself is the property of a Chinese national named Lin Yunfei, domiciled in Zhengzhou, who has registered hundreds of other names, but about whom no other details can be found. As to the brand itself, which claims to hold a Filipino licence on its Malaysian website, no company of that name can be found on the official Filipino registry of licensed gambling operators, which suggests that either i8.BET is the avatar of another company, or was only registered very recently, if one sets aside the possibility that it does not even exist.

Josimar tried to register as a client and place an actual bet on the Malaysian, Thai and Chinese versions of the i8.BET website. What happened then was highly unusual – and suspect: we were not taken to a dedicated, unique sportsbook as expected, but redirected to other e-Gambling websites, namely those of M8BET, MAXBET, NOVA88 and SBOBET.

Due diligence?

In other words, it was impossible to place a bet on i8.BET itself, which appears to be nothing but an agent for other bookmakers; yet, to place that bet with SBOBET or any of the other promoted brands, the customer first had to register with i8.BET, which raised the question: could this be a way to harvest personal data from customers? Does i8.BET actually exist? Is there even really someone called ‘Darren Wang’? And is Everton FC aware of all this?

What is more, none of the bookmakers which i8.BET is a portal to is licensed in the UK. This means that the UK Gambling Commission, by granting the i8.BET brand a licence, has enabled unregulated operators to benefit, at least indirectly, from its stamp of approval.

Josimar approached Everton FC with a list of detailed questions, and asked the club to provide contact details for their new partners, since, apart from a ‘chat’ function for customers, none of these details appear anywhere on any of the various Asian versions of the i8.BET website. No response was forthcoming.

Josimar also contacted the UK Gambling Commission, which replied: “We do not talk about individual operators or cases”, referred us to its online registry of licensed companies, and told us, that “Where an operator contracts with a third party, we expect the operators that we licence to carry out all necessary due diligence to satisfy themselves that the proposed relationship will not in any way compromise the operator’s own compliance.”

The operator in question is TGP Europe Ltd – the very same Isle of Man company which acquired a UK licence for Everton FC’s previous – and disgraced – betting partner SportPesa, and has done the same for a number of e-Gambling sponsors of English football clubs, including FUN88 (Newcastle), SBOTOP (Leeds United, which has direct links with SBOBET, one of the websites i8.BET redirects to), Yabo (formerly associated with Manchester United) and a number of others.

Josimar contacted TGP Europe Ltd and put a number of questions to the Douglas-based company, namely:

Would you be able to provide Josimar with a point of contact with i8.bet and, in particular, Mr Darren Wang, its Chief Marketing Officer, who is quoted in Everton FC’s press release?

When do you expect i8.bet to start operating in the UK?

is i8.bet a genuine e-Gambling platform, or does it act as an agent for other Asian bookmakers?

As regards TGP Europe Ltd and its parent company TGP Holdings Ltd, is it correct, as has been mentioned in numerous media reports, that it was originally founded and is ultimately owned by the Macau-based group SunCity?

The last of these questions was of particular interest, as the billionaire owner of the SunCity group, Alvin Chau (pictured below), was arrested along with ten other individuals by Chinese authorities in late November, under suspicion of being part of a criminal gang and of “establishing gambling platforms overseas and soliciting residents in mainland China to engage in illicit gambling activities online”, to quote Chong Kam Leong, a spokesman for Macau’s Judiciary Police (*). According to media reports, the individuals who were arrested admitted “establishing overseas gambling platforms and conducting illegal virtual betting activities” in China.

TGP Europe did not respond to our questions.

And on this Monday night, as Everton welcomes Arsenal in its grand old stadium for the 15th round of the Premier League campaign, the name and the promotional messages of i8.BET will be shown to hundreds of millions of spectators across the globe. Who they are, what they actually do, who might be hiding behind them, no-one knows, aside from a handful of individuals who are neither seen nor heard, nor scrutinised. What kind of due diligence process, if any, was conducted before TGP, the UK Gambling Commission and Everton welcomed the newcomer is anyone’s guess.

In 21st century football, it’s business as unusual.

(*) Everton FC already had two ‘official betting partners’: Cyprus-based Parimatch, also a partner of Juventus and Leicester City, which signed a two-year deal with the club in September 2020, and operates primarily in Eastern Europe; and Rushbet.co, a partner since December 2020, which is active in Colombia.

(*) SunCity shares plunged by 10% when the arrests were announced.

Octubre es el Mes nacional de la prevención contra el delito, es un evento de un mes creado en 1984 para hacer correr la voz sobre la prevención contra el delito y la seguridad personal. En el Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG), creemos que la prevención es la clave en la identificación tanto del vínculo entre las apuestas compulsivas y los delitos, como en las posibles soluciones. 

En la búsqueda de esta meta, el FCCG defiende la necesidad de una corte para los juegos de azar en Florida que sirva a los infractores no violentos o de primera vez que cometan delitos relacionados con un problema de apuestas, de manera similar a como las cortes de drogas facilitan la rehabilitación en lugar de, o junto con, la encarcelación de infractores calificados. Hasta que el sistema judicial tome las medidas para identificar si un delito cometido es el resultado de un problema con los juegos de azar de una persona, las personas afectadas continuarán sin ser detectadas y no recibirán los apoyos necesarios para abordar su problema subyacente. Por ejemplo, hay momentos cuando una persona usa o vende drogas, pero su uso puede ser debido a un problema con los juegos de azar y trata de automedicarse o escapar. Por otro lado, una persona que vende drogas puede hacerlo para obtener más dinero para apostar, por cualquier medio que sea necesario. Si el problema básico / subyacente de un apostador no es identificado, y no existe un sistema de cortes para los juegos de azar en Florida, esta persona no recibirá la rehabilitación necesaria para abordar su adicción a las apuestas y estará expuesta a un riesgo mucho mayor de volver a cometer una infracción al ser liberada, si fue encarcelada por un delito cometido.  

La conexión entre el problema con los juegos de azar y el delito 

En general, las personas con problemas con los juegos de azar están mucho más expuestas, en comparación con los apostadores que no tienen problemas con los juegos de azar, a apostar en actividades ilegales, así como a agotar las finanzas personales y las opciones. También son más vulnerables a recurrir a actividades ilegales para pagar las deudas de juego o para obtener dinero para hacer más apuestas. Uno de cada 10 pacientes en tratamiento por apuestas compulsivas ha estado en la cárcel. [1] 

Los juegos de azar problemáticos y desordenados son incentivados por el efectivo, y el acceso al efectivo contribuye al ritmo y la profundidad de la adicción a las apuestas de una persona. La progresión de una persona con problemas de apuestas la lleva a buscar nuevas fuentes de efectivo que a menudo conducen a actividades delictivas como malversación de fondos, fraude y robo. Además, el problema con los juegos de azar se relaciona con un aumento en el riesgo de sufrir problemas de salud mental como depresión, ansiedad, intentos de suicidio y abuso de sustancias. Hasta el 50% de los apostadores compulsivos en grupos de apoyo reportan problemas con drogas y alcohol. [2]

Tenga en cuenta que, aunque muchos apostadores compulsivos finalmente cometerán un delito como resultado de su adicción a las apuestas, abogados, policías, sistemas de cortes, establecimientos penales y otras organizaciones de servicios humanos no detectarán un desorden con los juegos de azar y, por lo tanto, no abordarán, en última instancia, la raíz del problema. Por lo general, los sistemas legales y de justicia penal no están equipados para detectar adicciones a las apuestas y no proporcionan servicios para tratamiento de apoyo para personas encarceladas debido a delitos producidos por un desorden con los juegos de azar. Adicionalmente, si bien los consejeros dentro de los establecimientos penales están familiarizados por lo común con la realización de evaluaciones y el establecimiento de tratamientos para alcohólicos, drogadictos y delincuentes violentos, muy pocos han indagado en la patología, las evaluaciones y el tratamiento para las personas con problemas con los juegos de azar. 

Finalmente, investigaciones han revelado que en todos los grupos de edad, las personas con problemas con los juegos de azar están más propensas a consumir alcohol, a usar drogas, a experimentar problemas de salud mental y a participar en actos ilegales que las personas apostadoras sin problemas o en menor riesgo de adicción a los juegos de azar.

Por lo general, las personas con problemas con los juegos de azar se enfrentan a muchas consecuencias y desafíos legales, desafíos para la salud mental y problemas en sus relaciones debido a su adicción a las apuestas. Este año, los datos de la línea de ayuda 888-ADMIT-IT revelaron que el 21% de los contactos reportaron haberse enfrentado a problemas legales, tanto acciones civiles como penales, como resultado de su adicción a las apuestas. Dadas las considerables deudas, no sorprende encontrar que el 34% de los contactos de este año se declararon en bancarrota al menos una vez o tienen un caso por bancarrota en la actualidad debido a su problema con los juegos de azar (una disminución del 50% en 2020/2021 que vio altos niveles de bancarrota durante la pandemia). También es importante tener en cuenta que la tasa de divorcios entre los apostadores en el año fiscal 2021/2022 fue del 32% en comparación con el 18% en 2020/2021. Esto probablemente atestigua las dificultades financieras y en las relaciones a las que se enfrentan las familias donde uno de sus miembros tiene un problema con los juegos de azar. Existen consecuencias sociales y económicas, claras y a largo plazo, tanto para las personas apostadoras como para sus familias.

La esperanza y la ayuda están aquí

En honor al Mes nacional de la prevención contra el delito, es momento de tomar medidas y comenzar a ayudar a las personas y a las familias detrás de estas estadísticas. Sin métodos prácticos de identificación e intervención, las actividades y problemas con los juegos de azar continuarán de manera habitual mientras los encarcelamientos y los actos ilegales se volverán a cometer luego de que las personas sean liberadas. El FCCG ha reconocido este problema y ha respondido con la línea de ayuda 888-ADMIT-IT, brindando asistencia y recursos especiales para aquellas personas que se enfrentan a acciones legales en un caso relacionado con un problema con los juegos de azar. En nuestra línea de ayuda multilingüe, confidencial y 24/7, las personas que están luchando con estas situaciones pueden obtener la ayuda que necesitan para abordar problemas legales pendientes y comenzar el camino de la recuperación. 

Algunos de los servicios que se ofrecen en la línea de ayuda 888-ADMIT-IT son:

• Programa en línea del FCCG para personas con problemas con los juegos de azar (OPPG, por sus siglas en inglés)
• Programa de conexión entre pares del FCCG
• Información y remisiones sobre grupos de apoyo y de autoayuda 
• Opciones del Programa de autoexclusión 
• Programas de recursos y asistencia financiera
• Programas de recursos y asistencia legal

Si usted o alguien que usted conoce está enfrentando dificultades por problemas con los juegos de azar, hoy pueden comenzar el viaje de recuperación comunicándose con la línea de ayuda multilingüe, confidencial, gratuita y 24/7, 888-ADMIT-IT (888-236-4848), por texto (321-978-0555), por correo electrónico ([email protected]), por chat (gamblinghelp.org) o visitando nuestras redes sociales.  

1. Custer, Robert L., and Harry Milt. When Luck Runs out: Help for Compulsive Gamblers and Their Families. Warner Books, 1986.
2. Furr, Robert C. Gambling on Credit: Exploring the Link Between Compulsive Gambling and Access to Credit. Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, Inc., mayo de 2006, https://gamblinghelp.org/assets/research_pdfs/Gambling_and_Problem_Gambling_Prevalence_Among_Adults_in_Florida_August_10_2011.pdf.

Before playing a video poker machine, I typically load it with $500 or $1,000 in bills or tickets. I do this for a number of reasons:

1. I keep records of how much I win or lose each day. It’s easier for me to remember round numbers. If I’m playing a $2 game, ($10 a play), it’s common to be up or down several hundred dollars in a session. If I add another hundred-dollar bill as needed, it can be difficult to remember whether it’s four or five of those so far.

   For each additional bill, I could record it on my phone (I use the Notes app on my iPhone), but I can keep thousand-dollar increments straight more easily. If I go in for $3,000 or more in a session, I write each $1,000 play as I go.

2. For a time-sensitive play (such as 5x points during Monday Night Football), I want to have premade tickets. It’s time intensive to insert hundred-dollar bills one at a time. If I put them into the machine I’m playing, sometimes the bill acceptor fills up during the play, robbing me of valuable playing time. So I’ll create $1,000 tickets on a slot machine. If that starts to get close to being full (I can easily hear this), I’ll just cash out of that machine and move to another. I might start my play with five or ten $1,000 tickets in my pocket.

3. Some casinos, like the South Point, pay off all jackpots in cash. They do not use ticket-in-ticket-out tickets. When I was playing $1 Ten Play Quick Quads ($60 per play), W-2Gs were fairly frequent and the amount of cash I had in the machine was always emptying out — whether I was winning or losing. For one of those plays on a day I planned a long sesion, I’d begin with multiple $2,500 tickets in my pocket — perhaps $20,000 to $40,000 worth. 

4. If there’s a vacant machine immediately to my left, I’ll play the game with my right hand only and feed bills into the adjacent machine until I reach an appropriate-sized ticket — or I run out of bills. Vacant machines on my right don’t work as well due to the location of the bill acceptor, but I can usually switch to the right-most machine and now the empty machine is on my left.

5. Sometimes casinos will create and sell you premade tickets — sometimes $1,000 — sometimes any amount you like. I’ve used this option several times in the past. I know full-well that if I give them $20,000 to start with an ask for tickets, my name is going on a CTR (Currency Transaction Report). This does not concern me. I file as a professional gambler, get a large amount of W-2Gs, and will not be under suspicion as a money launderer.

None of what I’ve just said should surprise regular readers of my columns. The reason I’m mentioning it again is a friend of mine, a strong player, was musing out loud about the number of players he sees playing one $20 bill at a time. If they build it up to $100 or more, they’ll cash out, put it into their pocket, and insert another $20 bill. My friend was questioning why players do this.

I can think of two major reasons, coming under the general headings of Money Management and Security. For those of you who read this column on the www.gamblingwithanedge.com page, there is plenty of room for comments. Please feel free to add to my list of reasons. Perhaps an entirely new reason. Perhaps a nuance to a reason already mentioned.

1. Money management. Most players play under circumstances where the house has the advantage. These know from bitter experience that they will usually lose. Every time they run out of credits and have to insert another bill or ticket, this gives them an opportunity to leave the machine. Sometimes they actually do leave the machine. They know that when they have lots of credits still on the machine, they rarely think about leaving.

2. Security: On most machines, people walking by can tell how much money you have in credits. If someone sees you have, say, $2,300 in credits, they may well take note of what you look like and are wearing and consider meeting you later in the parking lot. A person with $80 in credits wouldn’t run the same risk.

I assume these people aren’t keeping accurate records of their gambling (Most people don’t). It’s possible for people to accurately record their cash-on-hand before they enter a casino (perhaps $384), and then count their money when they leave (perhaps $214). In this case, simple arithmetic tells them they have lost $170 (assuming they didn’t spend money on anything other than gambling.) It’s not hard to record this number — but most people don’t. For me, I would have started with $1,000, ended with $830, and recorded the -$170 figure. And then moved along to a different casino. 

I further assume, perhaps incorrectly, that these people are more concerned with today’s score and not paying too much attention to their year-to-date or lifetime-to-date scores. 

We all know people for whom it is like pulling teeth to open up their wallet and bring out a $20 bill. For these folks, it’s probably money-in-the-bank for them to enter only one bill at a time. It simple hurts too much for them to keep putting twenty after twenty into the machine. 

For me, my score at this casino today is just a number. I’ll record thousands of minus numbers and thousands of plus numbers throughout the year. There’s not much emotion attached to this process. BIG numbers, either plus or minus, generate some emotion out of me, but relatively small numbers barely register at all. 

If my annual score is negative, especially two or three of those years in a row (Which hasn’t happened yet, but might in the future.) that requires some self-evaluation. I’ll deal with that when it arises, if it does. I can see how people whose scores are negative four years out of five can adopt a totally different set of rules for themselves than I do.

In other words, the value of the illegal sports betting market is over three times that of the regulated market. As the UNODC Report notes, organised crime’s involvement in illegal betting is equivalent in value to its involvement in drug, human, or arms trafficking.

Of course, the FAPL wants nothing to do with the illegal betting market, or its connections to criminality. But as we approach the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, clubs are increasingly desperate for revenue. As such, many could be forgiven for being hypnotised by dollar signs.

Jingle Balls

Twenty six sports betting websites appeared at the 20 FAPL stadiums over the Christmas period. Nine of these 23 betting companies advertised at more than one FAPL game, resulting in 63 separate sports betting company adverts on LED perimeter boards during the 20 game period. 

As most LED boards feature a rolling display involving under 15 companies, at some games this involved an almost constant display of gambling advertising during the 90 minutes of on-field play. Some games featured doubly-stacked LED boards equivalent to the height of a player on the TV screen.

Blurred lines

As well as appearing in English, OB Sport’s perimeter advertising at Villa Park also advertised OB.com in Mandarin. The advertised link redirects to www.obao76.com, which is entirely in Mandarin. Online gambling is illegal in China, however it is possible that the site may targeting Mandarin speakers in other countries.

According to a Mandarin disclaimer at the bottom of its homepage, OB.com – or obao76.com – is licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). According to the disclaimer, the OB.com brand is owned by Opel Entertainment. 

A search through the MGA and PAGCOR internet sites doesn’t reveal any licences granted to OB.com or Opel Entertainment. None of the OB.com domains are listed on the MGA’s list of licensees. This raises questions as to whether the site is licensed at all.

The sports betting company concerned with Chang’s faux pas? Opel Entertainment. The company also owns Oub121.com, again in Mandarin, which has exactly the same site layout as obao76.com and proudly displays its sponsorship deal with Aston Villa at the bottom of the page. 

Accessing this website outside of Asia isn’t easy. Once registered using a Chinese mobile phone number, Oub121.com allows users to create a virtual wallet, which can be recharged using crypto currencies, many of which[1] also advertised at FAPL grounds over the Christmas period. Once this is done, a betting window appears which allows users to both watch, and bet on, live sporting events. 

As perviously mentioned, online gambling is illegal in China. It would therefore appear that in this particular case, FAPL perimeter LED boards have been used to advertise an application that allows Chinese residents to illegally place online wagers on sporting events.

Opel Entertainment isn’t the only company advertising sports betting to Asian audiences. W88.com is Crystal Palace’s betting partner, and also appeared on the LED perimeter boards at Crystal Palace vs. Norwich and Leicester City vs. Liverpool on 28 December. 12bet also appeared on the LED perimeter boards during Palace’s game against Watford on 28 December, advertising in both English and Mandarin. 

At Wolves’ foggy 19 December game against Chelsea, MX128.vip was advertised in Mandarin in doubly-stacked LED boards, with static advertising boards promoting gambling companies appearing above this. The MX128.vip site appears to be inaccessible from the UK, where it redirects to ManBetx.uk. 

The licence roulette wheel

So how are companies such as Opel Entertainment allowed to advertise their sports betting OB.com brand in Great Britain if they aren’t licensed there? For nine of the 23 betting brands advertised over the Christmas period, the answer lies with a company based on the Isle of Man.

OB.com’s UK-facing site, www.oubao.co.uk, mentioned that it is ‘powered by’ TGP Europe, which is regulated by Great Britain’s Gambling Commission. The same is true for Fun88.co.uk; SBOtop.co.uk; SportsBetio.co.uk;  Stake.uk.com; 12Bet.uk; HTHBet.co.uk; LeyuBet.co.uk; and i8Bet.co.uk.

This lists 31 domains, 14 of which are afforded ‘White Label’ status. This includes the nine betting operators powered by TGP Europe that advertised at Premier League grounds over the Christmas period. ‘White Label’ status allows a company licensed by the Gambling Commission to contract provisions of its licensed activities to third parties.

HTHBet.co.uk is another gambling brand powered by TGP Europe. However at Leicester vs. Liverpool on 28 December and at Manchester United vs. Burnley on 30 December, HTH367.com also advertised in Mandarin. The site now redirects to HTHBet.co.uk but at the time of the match, redirected to a Mandarin version of the site that features the same interface as the Mandarin version of OB Sport’s site[Picture HTH2].

Like obao76.com, HTH367.com mentions that it is licensed by the MGA, PAGCOR, and the BVI Financial Services Commission. Like obao76.com, a search through the MGA and PAGCOR internet sites doesn’t reveal any licences granted to China Experience Technology or HGH. None of the HTH domains are listed on the MGA’s list of licensees.

However at Chelsea’s victory over Tottenham in the Carabao EFL Cup semi-final on 12 January, the Mandarin advertised Fun88 domain had changed to Fun279.com. This links to a Mandarin sports betting application listing Fun88’s shirt sponsorship with Newcastle United and an Asian betting partnership with Tottenham. 

Ghost chasing

TGP Europe’s registered address is a small office above a betting shop on the Isle of Man. Google maps reveals that this is an address for a bookmaker.

From such a small base, can TGP Europe be expected to have effective oversight of all the gambling brands promoted by its partners at FAPL grounds? It doesn’t even appear to have effective oversight of its partners. 

Another new arrival on the scene is Midnight Gaming, whose W88 brand is Crystal Palace’s sleeve sponsor. As mentioned, it appeared on LED perimeter boards at the London club’s 28 December game against Norwich City; and at Leicester City’s game against Liverpool on the same day.

Companies House lists Midnight Gaming as owned by AliQuantam and a previous company name, Sporting Black Limited. It also shows that Midnight Gaming transferred its address from London to Poole in September 2020. It also confirms that the main company Director is Alan Hilliard Ehrlich.

AliQuantam’s internet site mentions that it is licensed in Malta. However a search of the MGA’s internet site for either AliQuantam, Midnight Gaming, or BR88 again yields no results. An internet search suggests that W88 may be owned by Marquee Holdings, whose shareholders are listed in the Panama Papers. 

The analysis above is designed to show the difficulty that FAPL clubs have in establishing who is behind the betting brands that advertise on their shirts and at their grounds. And if top FAPL clubs have difficulty, it can be assumed that the problem is likely to be worse further down the football pyramid. So what do the FAPL and the Gambling Commission have to say about the situation?

Not my job

LED boards are not sold centrally, but some FAPL clubs use third party agencies[2] to sell aggregated minutes via multi-club packages. This perhaps explains why LED perimeter advertising at some stadiums appears to be very similar. 

‘Online gambling operators are required to hold a Gambling Commission licence to transact with British based consumers’, read a reply from a Gambling Commission spokesperson to a series of questions. ‘If we find an unlicensed operator acting illegally we will take action. A sports body engaging in sponsorship arrangements with an unlicensed remote operator may be liable for the offence of advertising unlawful gambling if the remote gambling activity isn’t blocked to consumers in Great Britain and that this is clear to consumers. 

We’re of the view that the best way for sports bodies to protect themselves against this risk is to ensure that they only promote gambling operators licensed by us. It is for the owner of the advertising space to satisfy themselves that they are not committing the offence of advertising unlawful gambling.’

Most of the betting brands that featured at FAPL stadiums over the Christmas period have a UK-facing site, often licensed through a White Label agreement with a third party. However as shown above, many of these also have overseas facing websites and mobile applications.

Who is responsible for ensuring that all of these overseas facing websites, often advertised in languages other than English, are legitimate? According to the FAPL, the Gambling Commission is responsible. According to the Gambling Commission, the FAPL clubs are responsible. 

Of course, it’s perfectly legitimate for FAPL clubs to have legal, regulated Asian betting partners. However this article demonstrates the difficulty that clubs face in assessing who is behind such companies, and in ensuring that such partners are not advertising illegal services in foreign languages. And until the FAPL and British Gambling Commission reassert control over this area, draconian restrictions are a real possibility.

October is National Crime Prevention Month, a month-long event created in 1984 to spread the word about crime prevention and personal safety. At the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG), we believe that prevention is key in the identification of both the link between compulsive gambling and crime and potential solutions. 

In pursuit of this goal, the FCCG advocates the need for a gambling court in Florida, to serve non-violent or first-time offenders who commit crimes due to a gambling problem, similarly to how drug courts facilitate rehabilitation in lieu of or in conjunction with incarceration for qualified offenders. Until the judicial system takes steps to identify whether a crime committed is the result of someone’s gambling problem, afflicted individuals will continue to go undetected and will not receive the necessary supports to address their underlying problem. For example, there are times when a person is using or selling drugs, yet their drug use may be due to a gambling problem and attempts to self-medicate or escape. Conversely, a person who is selling drugs may be doing so to obtain more money to gamble, at any means necessary. If the primary/underlying issue of a gambling problem is not identified, and in absence of an established gambling court system in Florida, this person will not receive the rehabilitation necessary to address their gambling addiction and is at a much higher risk of re-offending upon release if incarcerated for the crime committed.   

The Connection Between Problem Gambling and Crime

Overall, problem gamblers are substantially more likely that non-problem gamblers to gamble on illegal activities, as well as to exhaust personal finances and options. They’re also more vulnerable to resorting to illegal activities to pay off gambling debts or to obtain money for placing more bets. One out of every 10 patients in treatment for compulsive gambling has been in jail. [1] 

Problem and disordered gambling is fueled by cash, and the access to cash contributes to the pace and depth of an individual’s gambling addiction. The progression of problem gambling pressures the individuals to look for new sources of cash often leading to criminal activities including embezzlement, fraud, and theft. Further, problem gambling is associated with an increased risk for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, and substance abuse. Up to 50% of compulsive gamblers in support groups report problems with drugs and alcohol. [2]

Keep in mind that while many compulsive gamblers will ultimately commit a crime resulting from their gambling addiction, attorneys, police officers, court systems, correctional facilities, and other human services organizations do not currently screen for a gambling disorder and therefore do not ultimately address the root of the problem. The legal and criminal justice systems are generally not equipped to screen for gambling addiction and do not provide treatment support services for persons incarcerated due to crimes resulting from a gambling disorder. Additionally, while counselors within correctional facilities are typically familiar with conducting assessments and establishing treatment for alcoholics, drug addicts, and violent offenders, very few have experience in the pathology, assessment, and treatment of problem gamblers.

Ultimately, research has revealed that across age groups, problem gamblers are more likely to consume alcohol, to use drugs, to experience mental health issues, and to engage in illegal acts than non-problem or lower risk gamblers.

Problem gamblers are typically faced with many legal consequences and challenges, mental health challenges, and relationship problems because of their gambling addiction. This year, the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine data revealed that 21% of contacts reported experiencing legal problems, including both civil and criminal actions as a result of their gambling addiction. Given considerable debt, it is not surprising to find that 34% of this year’s contacts reported that they filed bankruptcy at least once or have a bankruptcy case currently pending due to their gambling problem (a decrease from 50% in 2020/2021 which saw high levels of bankruptcy during the pandemic). It’s also important to note that gamblers’ divorce rate in the 2021/2022 fiscal year was 32% compared to 18% in 2020/2021. This likely attests to the financial and relationship difficulties faced by families where a family member has a gambling problem. There are clear long-term social and economic consequences for both the gambler and their family.

Hope and Help Are Here

In honor of National Crime Prevention Month, it’s time to take action and start helping the people and families behind these statistics. Without practical identification and intervention approaches, gambling activities and problems will usually continue while incarcerated and illegal acts will again be committed upon release. The FCCG has recognized this issue and responded with the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine, providing expert assistance and resources for those facing legal action in a problem gambling-related case. With our 24/7, multilingual and confidential HelpLine, people who are struggling can get the help they need to address outstanding legal issues and start the road to recovery. 

Some resources available through the 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine include:

• FCCG’s Online Program for Problem Gamblers (OPPG)
• FCCG’s Peer Connect Program
• Self-Help Support Group Information and Referrals
• Self-Exclusion Program Options
• Financial Resources & Assistance Programs
• Legal Resources & Assistance Programs

If you or someone you know are experiencing difficulties due to problem gambling, start the journey of recovery today by contacting the confidential, multilingual, free, 24/7 Problem Gambling HelpLine at 888-ADMIT-IT (888-236-4848), texting (321-978-0555), emailing ([email protected]), chatting (gamblinghelp.org), or visiting us on social media.  

1. Custer, Robert L., and Harry Milt. When Luck Runs out: Help for Compulsive Gamblers and Their Families. Warner Books, 1986.
2. Furr, Robert C. Gambling on Credit: Exploring the Link Between Compulsive Gambling and Access to Credit . Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling, Inc., May, 2006, https://gamblinghelp.org/assets/research_pdfs/Gambling_and_Problem_Gambling_Prevalence_Among_Adults_in_Florida_August_10_2011.pdf.