Protecting
Your Assets
The three sectors identified as being most at risk, or most likely to cause harm are financial services, the armed forces and pro-sport. There have been no studies into gambling prevalence in sport and financial services, but many anecdotal and high profile examples (Goldman Sachs and Paul Merson).
Military
The military has been identified as a high risk area for problematic gambling. In a recent study by Swansea University those in the military are ten times more likely to have a problem with gambling than others in the wider population. This raises the question as to why? As in the financial sector, those in the military who are brave enough to defend our country and risk their lives doing so, or in peacetime jump out of aircraft, are also risk takers. Often in the military there are intense periods of activity, followed by long periods of inactivity. To fill the inactivity for a risk taker, having access to smartphones, means heavy gambling can be all too easy and more prevalent. In the military, you are trained not to give up, to find a way of overcoming adversity. That is not a good trait when it comes to gambling. Knowing when to stop is key.
Sport
Professional Sports people are brilliant at what they do. But like the other sectors they are risk takers and to get to the level of being paid for what they do, they will have trained over and over in doing the same thing, overcoming adversity and never stopping. This can be dangerous when it comes to gambling. There are only so many hours in the day an athlete is able to train. This means there is a lot of time when they are recovering and inactive. Professional sports people are used to high adrenalin times in front of thousands of people or TV audiences. It may be difficult to ‘come down’ from these times when they are performing. There may also be a culture of gambling in their places of work. This can cause friction between team mates. Often, to fill the time, they might turn to gambling in a problematic way.
Business
Financial services is a high risk sector for gambling. Often the reasons why people in this sector are so successful in their careers, is that they are risk takers. The problem is that if they gamble, they may have access to other people’s investments. There have been many cases where gambling habits have become out of control and having access to other people’s money, or the finances of the company they work for, has led to a spiral of problems, legal action or even suicide. This was the tragic case, one of many, at a well know accountancy firm in London just a few years ago. Those who work in financial services are often highly intelligent and a problem with gambling can bring shame, which leads to mental health issues, or worse.
1in10
of every suicide in the UK is gambling related
LEAVING A POSITIVE LEGACY