This story was published more than 11 years ago.
A 12 year old Liverpool boy spent £7,000 of his father's money gambling on various online poker sites, highlighting the need for gaming operators to keep up the fight against underage gambling.
The 12 year old boy first became enamored with online poker when a schoolmate showed him how to download free games on his smartphone. When he did well against his friends, the boy decided that he would try to make money by doing it for real.
He then went on to borrow his Dad's credit card to make an internet purchase; proceeding from there to online poker sites where he registered accounts and began playing for real.
A week later the 12 year old had gone through £7,000, spending more as he lost as he tried to recoup his losses. The boy's father only found out about the charges when his card was declined.
“I was screaming and shouting at the credit card company, I didn’t know what happened." The boy's father told the Liverpool News.
Now the two are using the case to show how dangerous underage gambling can be. A UK charity named Prevention Town will be launching a program in Liverpool which will share the pitfalls of gambling for minors. The boy and his father will play a prominent role in the program.
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Comments
Wow. I would be DEAD if I did anything like this when I was 12. I feel for the Dad as I have been the victim of a child charging things on my computer because they didn't know what they were doing.
How long is this kid grounded for?
Oh Great. Another argument for the U.S. to use to NOT legalize and regulate online gambling for ADULTS!
I bet that father was thrilled to get that CC statement. Yikes!
There was a discussion about this today (radio) about Facebook. Facebook is considering allowing "tweens" to make FB accounts. It is a joke, because any kid who wants a FB account can already have one. They only have to do the math to lie about their birthday. Kids will do what they want to do regardless.
Also reminds me of the mom whose son charged up thousands playing that Angry Birds game on her phone. He kept buying gems (or something?) not realizing there was a charge for each one, lol.
I think that kid will be grounded for a long time and probably have to work a lot of chores to work off $7,000. Ha!
That boy is going to be mowing lawns until he is 35!
Simple solution: verify a player's identity before accepting a deposit, or at least do it immediately after they make their first deposit. The problem is most casinos don't do it until a player tries to withdraw. If they do it up front then there are no surprises, and things like this can be caught quickly before the kid can run up a debt like that.
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