‘I blew hundreds of thousands playing online bingo – then I tried to kill myself’: the rise of the f
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By Siobhan Smith, Freelance writer, editor and TV producer
Pottering around her kitchen one night with her laptop open on the table, Bev noticed an advert pop up on her screen.
At that point, she had never gambled before. But the advert was colourful, shiny, and it looked like a bit of harmless fun, and so, without giving it much thought, she decided to deposit a ten pound bet.
Bev, who lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, didn’t win anything that first time. But she decided to have another go. And then another. Very quickly, she won £800 and couldn’t believe her luck.
‘I’d never won anything in my life,’ she tells Metro.co.uk. ‘But it seemed so easy and, so, I decided to keep playing.’
However, what she didn’t realise that night was her ‘lucky streak’ would lead to a ten year gambling addiction and nearly cost her everything – including her life.
Bev is one of a huge number of women who are classed as ‘problem gamblers’ – and it’s a figure that’s growing.
‘The gambling landscape has signi...
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