{"id":280202,"date":"2025-11-13T10:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280202\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:39:13","slug":"winning-127000-was-worst-night-of-my-life-it-was-the-start-of-a-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/280202\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Winning \u00a3127,000 was worst night of my life, it was the start of a nightmare’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa says the win changed her life forever, and has warned others not to make the same mistakeNeil Shaw<\/a> Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

07:34, 13 Nov 2025Updated 08:19, 13 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

\"LisaLisa Walker has issued a warning (Jam Press)<\/p>\n

A woman who was \u201cin hell\u201d after spiralling into gambling addiction \u2013 blowing \u00a3500,000 and even losing her home \u2013 has warned of the terrifying rise in people struggling as online gambling platforms thrive. Lisa Walker\u2019s habit began when she won a jackpot of \u00a3127,000 at a casino \u2013 which turned out to be the start of a nightmare, and which she now describes as the \u201cworst day of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

It resulted in the breakdown of her marriage and the loss of her home, with Lisa and her children ending up homeless in a hostel at one point. Now 53, Lisa has managed to bounce back from her addiction and has been in recovery since 2018 \u2013 after a wake-up call came in the form of her missing her wedding night in order to gamble in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

But as Christmas<\/a> approaches, she warns of the \u201ctrap\u201d that awaits people who turn to gambling to make some extra money \u2013 and the rise in addicts she sees every week in her job as a support worker for fellow gambling addicts. \u201cIt\u2019s terrifying how easy it is to gamble these days \u2013 it\u2019s available in our pockets all the time,\u201d said Lisa, from Essex.<\/p>\n

\"InIn 2001, at the age of 29, Lisa won the jackpot sum, which changed her life forever (Jam Press)<\/p>\n

\u201c18 years ago, when I was at the height of my addiction, it wasn\u2019t online and on our phones. I\u2019d be knackered, having had no sleep, but I\u2019d still find the energy to get up, get dressed, and drive to a casino or the bookmakers. That was bad enough \u2013 but now you don\u2019t need to leave your home or work, or even a wedding reception \u2013 you can gamble anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that had been the case when I was gambling, I dread to think what could have happened. If I\u2019d had it right there on my phone, who knows what could have happened. I could have ended up in prison or dead. It\u2019s so easy to access, it\u2019s highly addictive, and the problem is only getting worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are the stresses of Christmas coming up, the cost of living crisis, and taxes rising \u2013 it\u2019s all doom and gloom, and people think gambling is a quick way to make a bit of money. We launched New Beginnings, working with women starting their recovery from gambling addiction, three years ago, and in that time, we\u2019ve seen the numbers are only rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started with one small group of six women a week, and now run triple that amount, as well as two health and wellbeing groups weekly. Probably 80% of service users are gambling online \u2013 it\u2019s just so easy to fall into the trap and cross that line into addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa is well-placed to help the women at New Beginnings, knowing just how much stress, secrecy and shame come from living with a gambling addiction. In 2001, at the age of 29, Lisa won the jackpot sum, which changed her life forever, and she began gambling four to five times a week, finding herself hooked on the rush it gave her.<\/p>\n

\"LisaLisa with her husband, Gary, on their wedding day (Jam Press)<\/p>\n

But the win was a one-time fluke, and Lisa ended up spending up to 10 hours a day placing bets. While she loved the \u201cbuzz\u201d, the dangerous habit left her in sizeable debt so severe that she had to declare bankruptcy and sell her house to pay it off.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt was a life of self-destruction, and hell on earth. It\u2019s a very easy addiction to hide, unlike with drink or drugs \u2013 you can easily spot if someone is under the influence, but gamblers are good at masking it. You could be sitting next to someone on their phone on the train and never know they were gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2018, confronted with the reality that she had chosen gambling over spending her wedding night with her husband, Gary, that she realised she desperately needed help, and joined Gamblers Anonymous \u2013 which she still attends weekly to this day, and has vowed to continue for life.<\/p>\n

Lisa added: \u201cIt\u2019s an ongoing commitment to take recovery one day at a time. I get clinical support once a month from BetKnowMore, attend weekly meetings, write in a journal, and go on dog walks \u2013 all things that help me and my mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m living in a little two-bed flat with a garden and life is good. Ironically, I now live on the same street as the house I lost to my addiction. The dream world<\/a> of the compulsive gambler includes a big house, car and money \u2013 but I\u2019ve now got everything I could want out of life through not gambling.<\/p>\n

\"LisaLisa Walker’s habit began when she won a jackpot of \u00a3127,000 at a casino (Jam Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m rich, not financially, but in life. My grandchildren will never know their nana as a gambler, and I get to help so many people \u2013 so I lead a lovely life these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the festive season fast approaching, and bringing with it an expectation of gift-buying and spending money, Lisa is sharing her story to help warn others away from gambling sites. She said: \u201cChristmas puts so much pressure on people. People gamble to make ends meet and buy that extra gift, or to escape the loneliness the holidays can bring, and it only gets them into trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to buy these expensive gifts and get into debt \u2013 but for what? I remember the games I played with my parents growing up, and I remember the look on my granddaughter\u2019s face last year \u2013 but I couldn\u2019t tell you what someone bought me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time spent with our loved ones is what we remember. It isn\u2019t worth getting into money trouble over, and turning to gambling makes that all too easy. But if it is something you are struggling with \u2013 reach out for support.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are fantastic programmes, like New Beginnings, out there that will take you under their wing and hold your hand through your recovery, and GAMSTOP to restrict online gambling services and ads. It\u2019s the kind of support I needed 18 years ago, and I often wonder what life would have looked like if I had been helped then. I\u2019m proud that now, at least, I can be the one to offer it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lisa says the win changed her life forever, and has warned others not to make the same mistakeNeil…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394,127674],"class_list":{"0":"post-280202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth","13":"tag-money-troubles"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}