You win some, you lose some — but after winning a lump sum, this mom lost everything.
Gabby Walker, a mother of two, from the UK, says scoring a $34,000 (£25k) jackpot was the “worst thing” that’s ever happened to her.
“I should have been able to do so much with that money,” said the Brit. “But, because of my gambling addiction, I couldn’t.”
“After winning that [$34k], I felt like I lost everything,” she said.
Walker secured the windfall on her birthday two years ago. But after pocketing the dough, rather than investing it in her children, she reinvested the funds in online betting.
“I spent most of it back on gambling websites,” she confessed to over 73,000 TikTok viewers. “I probably spent about £1,000 ($1,360) in a day.”
Unfortunately, Walker isn’t alone in her affinity for playing the odds.
Gambling addiction is on the rise worldwide — especially in the US, owing to the legalization of sports betting, according to recent data.
Researchers have found that Americans now gamble roughly $1 billion a day on state-sanctioned apps like DraftKings and FanDuel. And in the UK, where online gambling has been legal for longer and better data exist, 5% of users account for 86% of the betting industry’s profits, and gamblers from the poorest areas are overrepresented among the biggest losers.
Walker, although a winner on the games, says the losses weren’t worth the risk.
“I regret it,” she lamented online. “I was spending less time with my children because I was always on my phone.”
“I was constantly just trying to get that next win, trying to win it all back so that I didn’t lose everything,” said Walker, adding that she should have used her winnings to take her brood on vacation.
“But I didn’t,” she groaned. “I was selfish and I spent it. And I will always reverse that, and I will already regret the time that I lost being able to take part in my kids playing and stuff because I’m too busy gambling.”
The addiction hasn’t just destroyed her connection with the kiddos.
“It’s put a wedge in my relationship,” Walker admitted of the now-troubled romance with her boyfriend. “I never have any money.”
“He has to always [pay] for me and the children to survive for the month,” she continued. “And it’s awful.”
Walker describes the allure of winning as nearly inescapable.
“The urge to gamble is horrible. It’s like something taken over you and you have to gamble,” she explained. “You might not have any money, you don’t care where you’re getting the money from.”
“You’ll lie to your family and friends just to get that money.”
Thankfully, she’s on the road to recovery.
“I’ve gotten to the stage now where I’m wanting to change and wanting to get better,” the addict declared. “Although it might be really difficult at times, and there are going to be days where I’m not going to be able to get through it.”
She plans to rely on her family for support, and has resolved to commit to a strict budget that will be meticulously overseen by her partner and parents.
“If I feel like I need to gamble, then I’ll have to be open and explain the urges,” Walker said.
“I need to do it. I need to stop gambling,” she insisted.
“If I don’t I lose everything — I’ll have no family because I would have lied to the to get money, I’ll lose my partner because [this is] not fair to him,” Walker crowed. “I’ll lose everything.”
