Lisa Walker, from Rainham, Essex, has told how winning £127,000 at a casino led to a 16-year gambling addiction that cost her marriage, her home and left her homeless.
Speaking on Truth Be Told with Zara McDermott, the mother-of-two described the win as the catalyst for her addiction, saying: "It led to 16 years of hell and back."
From jackpot to addiction
Lisa was 29 and a full-time carer for her severely disabled daughter when she visited the now-closed Rendezvous Southend Casino with her sister. She had only £50 on her, but a perfect hand on the progressive jackpot made her £127,000 richer. She said the "casino went ballistic" and people were taking pictures of her.
After the manager took her into the office and asked what she did for a living, he told her: "Oh my God, this is life-changing money. It's going to be brilliant." Lisa recalled: "And I thought it was going to be brilliant — but it wasn't."
Dopamine and deception
Initially, the feeling was euphoric. Lisa gave her sister, who lived in a council flat, £20,000 and took her children to Disneyland in Florida. But she began craving the dopamine hits from gambling and soon returned to casinos, with her bets growing larger.
She said: "I used to literally drop the kids to school and drive wherever I could drive to where people wouldn't know me so I could gamble. And putting on that mask every night, going home, pretending everything's all right, and inside you're just dying because you just want that next bet."
Rock bottom and recovery
Lisa went on to gamble between £400,000 and £500,000. Her marriage broke down, and by the time she was 35 she had lost her house and become homeless. She ended up in a hostel with her two children, then aged 10 and 11, before the children went to live with her mum for six weeks.
Even after losing her home, she continued to gamble. At 41, she remarried her husband Gary in Las Vegas. On her wedding night, she slipped away and took out a £2,000 payday loan from England to play a fruit machine until five in the morning. She later asked her son for money for the first time, then lost it all within minutes at a William Hill.
She said: "I walked out of that shop, and if I'd have stepped into the road and a car would have hit me, I wouldn't have cared. I'm 45, I've got two kids, I've now borrowed off my son, which I've never done, and I've still got a gambling addiction."
Back in her car, she contacted Gamblers Anonymous and then gathered her loved ones to reveal the truth. Her mum burst into tears, shocked at how well Lisa had hidden her addiction. The first year of recovery was difficult, with nightmares about spinning machines in the initial three months.
Lisa has now launched New Beginnings, which supports women starting recovery from gambling addiction, and uses her experiences to help others. The National Gambling Helpline is available 24/7 on 0808 8020 133 for free, confidential support.
