Lisa Walker told Sky News that she and her children lost their home due to her gambling A recovering compulsive gambler who ended up homeless with her young children after winning £127,000 playing poker is urging other women to seek help.
Lisa Walker, from Rainham in Essex, won the jackpot at a casino in Southend 20 years ago.
But what should have changed her life forever ended up fuelling her gambling until it became an uncontrollable addiction.
In all, she lost half a million pounds.
“My mortgage was £65,000 at the time,” she said.
“I should have paid that off but I didn’t because my gambling escalated.
“I’d drop the children off at school and I’d be going straight into the bookmakers as soon as it opened and writing out bets.” More from UK
Ms Walker, who first started betting for pennies as an eight-year-old, playing three card brag with her father, said: “I’d be going to the bingo halls at 12 o’clock during the day to play on the fruit machines.”
The 49-year-old re-mortgaged her home and eventually lost it, ending up homeless with her children, then aged 10 and 11.”I got rehoused but I still continued to gamble because every single day – that’s all I could think about morning, noon and night.”A new campaign by GambleAware aims to raise awareness of the signs that a person’s gambling is getting out of control.It also highlights where people can get help. Lisa Walker won £127,000 two decades years ago but it just encouraged her to gamble more Research has revealed that up to a million women are at risk of harm due to gambling and the number gambling online has risen by 54% over the past four years, compared to a 28% increase for men.But two in every five women suffering high levels of harm may not be getting help due to stigma or shame.Four years ago, not long after spending her wedding night gambling in a Las Vegas casino, Ms Walker decided she needed to take action and went to her first Gamblers Anonymous meeting.She was one of just two women in a room […]
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