Real Hustle. Full Episode - Gambling Addiction.

Alexis Conran explores gambling addiction, an affliction that ruined his estranged father, and seeks to understand how and why this compulsion destroys people's lives.

The Real Hustle is a British television series created by Objective Productions for BBC Three. The show demonstrates confidence and magic tricks, distraction scams and proposition bets performed on members of the public by Conran and Wilson with "sexy swindler" Jessica-Jane Clement. From series 10, entitled "New Recruits", Jazz Lintott and Polly Parsons joined the hustlers.

Several episodes of the series state that all marks have been genuinely hoodwinked, and that any money lost is returned to them after filming. The BBC's website states that "The marks featured in the show have no idea they are being scammed. They have either been set up by friends and family or think they are taking part in a different TV show."

Following the conclusion of series 11, presenter Alexis Conran tweeted that there were "no plans for season 12".

The show began as a spin-off of the BBC show Hustle, owing to the original show's popularity. However, the series is now considered completely separate and the relationship between the shows is rarely mentioned. The Real Hustle is a factual entertainment series produced by Objective Productions for BBC Three. It features a team of hustlers - Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement – as they try out some notorious scams on members of the public, filmed with hidden cameras. The aim is to reveal how scams work so that the viewer can avoid being ripped off by the same con. The participants featured in The Real Hustle are claimed to have been either set up by their family and friends or believe that they are participating in another television programme. After they have been "hustled for real" any money or property taken during the hustle are returned to them and their consent for the item to be broadcast is obtained.

Examples of scams
A deposit is taken on a car multiple times from different people who turn up to buy it.
A computer keyboard is replaced with one containing a key logger and bank details are obtained
A skimmer device is placed on a cashpoint with a pinhole camera inside it, recording the information on the user's cards magnetic strip along with their PIN; the data is then put on the magnetic strip of an e-top up card which is used to withdraw money from the victim's account
The black money scam at a market stall
A fake hollow cash point is installed on a busy street, in which one of the hustlers hides and records the information on the user's cards magnetic strip along with their PIN obtained from the user typing on the keypad.
In Series 8, for the first time in the show's history, a mark was not fooled by the initial scam. The scam was not pulled by the usual hustlers, but by model Caprice Bourret in a section that features celebrities performing the scams. The scam was to switch genuine twenty-pound notes with fake ones, and then exchange those fake ones for genuine tens with a shop assistant. When Caprice asked for tens and fives, the shop assistant spotted the partly hidden genuine twenties and recognized that the others were fake, so she refused to exchange them. Presenter Jess, who was nearby should anything go wrong, rushed out of the shop to alert Alex and Paul, who quickly came into the shop and confiscated the money by pretending to be police officers.

[CARD SHUFFLES]

This is a joker.

Uh-hmm.

OK.

I'm going to take the joker.

I'm going to wave it on
top of the jack of spades,

and I touch it.

Now I have the jack of
spades and you have?

Joker.

Hah.

My name is Alex Conran.

Since childhood,
I've been fascinated

by gambling and by cards.

It got me a job presenting
The Real Hustle, which

warns people about how
to avoid getting conned.

It's all a bit ironic if
you know about my dad.

My father was a
gambling addict, who

turned into a conman and a
fraudster and ended up in jail.

So what was this urge that
drove my dad away from me?

His been a life of
gambling and crime,

but might I be
under its spell too?

Well, if I did
have that problem,

it would make me one of up to
half a million people in the UK

estimated to be
problem gamblers.

[CARD FLIPS]

Yes!

And that number is rising.

[SLOT MACHINE BEEPS]

What's the most you've
ever lost in a day?

In a day?

4 grand.

4 grand in a day?

Or in 20 minutes.

The machine has
been in my life more

than anybody else
has been in my life.

You've become best friends
with a machine that

takes your money?

Yeah.

Their brains really
are different.

Something different
happens when they gamble.

So this film is
a journey to find

why a fun pastime
for some people

can become a compulsion or
even an addiction for others.

And I'd like an answer to
the one question I want

to ask my dad, Dimitri, why?

[CASINO CHIPS CLINKS]

Blackjack.

Yes!

[CLACKS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Gambling surrounds me.

Each one of my jackets has
got a deck of cards in it.

Every time I'm thinking
or I'm talking,

if I'm talking on
the phone, every now

and then I'll get people going,
"Are you shuffling cards?"

[CARD SHUFFLES]

And I found, when we
worked on conning people

in The Real Hustle, that I
was a natural at that too.

You know, I'm the
general manager here.

So has anyone to talk
to you about cons?

This is what they're here for--

a winning ticket
now worth over $300.

OK.

OK.

I'll be right back.

Little did they
know, they'll never

see that pan, the helpful
manager, or their winnings

ever again.

So maybe that's something
I inherited from my dad.

You see, he became a conman
to feed a huge gambling habit.

Ultimately, it drove him
away from me, leaving me

and my mom when
I was only seven.

He's now in jail in Greece,
and I've not had any contact

with him for 20 years.

I hardly know my dad,
but because of the chaos

he brought to our lives,
I've always blamed him.

I never wanted him in my life or
even in the life of my family.

By not wanting to contact his
dad, he's protecting himself.

He's protecting his mom or the
other family members who were

affected by it, and us I think.

But I've always
wondered, what was

so strong about that compulsion
that made him give up

on his wife, his family, on me?

And what exactly have
I inherited from him?

I've clearly got his
ability to con people,

so could I also be at risk of
becoming a problem gambler too?

It's an important
issue for him--

something that he has
to work through somehow.

I think there's so
many questions that he

needs to answer for himself.

He's just trying to
find an explanation.

And I guess talking
to other people

will have a very restorative
and positive effect on him.

[BIRD CAWS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[BEACH WAVES]

So where to start?

How does the occasional
flutter turn into a daily fix?

Just like other
addictions, the answer

can be frighteningly
early, and for many, it

starts in places like this--

a seaside arcade with
machines like these.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I probably appeals to our
very basic sort of emotions,

you know, flashing lights--

Come on.

--these buttons, these
things happening.

We want to keep you
more entertained,

to keep you more
involved in the game.

And you've got different options
different ways of making money.

It's no longer just
waiting for that spin.

It gives you the perception
that you're actually

more in control.

Some of these machines here,
you can win up to 500 pounds.

If you go across the
road to the bookies,

to the fixed odds
betting terminals.

You can pay a 100
pounds a spin, and those

or the crack cocaine of fruit
machines for gambling addicts.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[SLOT MACHINE BEEPS]

These machines do
nothing for me.

I prefer poker, but
they can be very

addictive for some young people.

They got Andres
hooked as a teenager.

Now he works on a stall in
one of Blackpool's piers,

but he started gambling
age 12, and he now

spends in excess of
25 grand a year on it.

Would you say you
gamble every day?

Every day.

Every day of your life?

Yeah.

In a week, how
much do you reckon

you spend it on gambling?

At least 500.

500 pound a week?

At least.

Playing the roulette 21 cards--

I was 15.

And I lied about my age.

I said I was 18.

I got away with it and
they found the age out

by 18, but then
by that time, they

couldn't do anything about it.

What's the most you've
ever lost in a day?

In a day?

4 grand.

4 grand in a day?

Or in 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes.

Where?

How?

Roulette.

Again, those machines?

Machines.

And what is it
about those machines

that you like gambling on like
fixed odd betting machines?

What is it about
them that you prefer?

What?

The roulettes?

Yeah.

It's a quick money, isn't it?

Quick.

Once I won 10 grand within the
space of what, three minutes.

It's a very, very lot
of money, ain't it?

To win in a three minutes?

Just literally watching, I won.

And with my mom, she's
gone to fetch her winnings

for the Irish Lotteries.

And then I've had
2 pound in change,

and end up just walking
out with 10 grand.

How quickly did you lose that
10 grand after you won it?

Within a week.

Within a week?

Week

And a half.

Do you think about
it all the time?

Always.

Always?

Every night, you go
home, and you spend

how much money you spend on.

You can actually
win from gambling.

Well, I win every day.

It's just about walking away.

All right.

It's about saying
no to the addiction.

All right.

You're not going to
gambling anymore.

I've made enough money now.

I want you to stop gambling.

That's right.

I want--

[INAUDIBLE]

I want to stop me.

It's killing me slowly.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[REELING]

[BELL RINGS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

You can play a machine with a
jackpot of up to five pounds

as a child in the UK.

It makes us one of
the few countries

in the developed world
that allows kids to gamble.

Five pounds, it's quite
a lot to 12-year-olds.

If you grow up with a sort
of, oh, gambling's fun.

It's tolerated.

I could do it with
my mom and dad.

When people talk
about drugs, they

talk about a ladder
of addiction.

Softer drugs leading to
more hardcore class A drugs.

Maybe we should take the
same view about gambling.

Penny falls, one armed bandits,
larger jackpot machines,

and finally the ones
in the bookmakers

where you can bet
100 pounds a spin.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

While I was in
Blackpool, I met Darren.

He says those gambling
machines in the bookies

have wrecked his life.

He spent six months
in a homeless hostel,

and he's now trying to get
his life back on track.

I was chasing the numbers
on the machine, basically.

And I put in every
single penny of my money.

I have a partner for five
years, but she left me

because of gambling, basically.

She was getting tired of those.

And I'll put full time and
not thinking about shopping

or anything like that.

I didn't see nothing else
but gambling was my life.

That was it.

I would wake up in
the morning, any money

that I have in my pocket, I'll
go straight to the pot makers.

And I could be in there from
9 o'clock in the morning

until 8 o'clock at night.

It's not about
the money no more.

No, it's not about the money.

It's not about winning.

What is it about now?

Just about playing the machine.

The machine to me is my
best friend in a way.

I thought I feel like
the machines right there.

The machine had been
there in my life

more than anyone else
has been in my life.

That machine had been
there more than anyone.

[INAUDIBLE]

So you think you've spent--

you've become best friends
with a machine that

takes your money?

Yeah.

I can go in without 40
quid, 50 quid sometimes,

and I can lose it straightaway.

I could go with over
2 pound, [INAUDIBLE]

I can get over 200
pounds right away.

What do you do with that
money once you get it?

Do you walk away?

Half of the time, I don't.

I use it to go back in with.

I've always got it in the
mind to go back in with.

I've got myself into about
15 to 18 grand worth of debt

because of it as well.

So you currently have 18
grand's worth of debt.

About 18 grand worth of debt.

And what's your general
attitude towards gambling?

It'll get you nowhere in life.

get you life.

Me, I'm only younger.

Well, I'm sweating free.

I had it all.

I have no one else.

I had a lovely
partner at that time.

I have two dogs.

I did pretty all right
but now, I got nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

That is for you, gambling.

The good thing about
Darren is he wants to quit.

He knows it's dragging him
down and ruining his life.

He's intelligent enough to
know that but stopping is

really hard.

They're all aware
of the problem.

They all think that they
can beat those machines.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I've never thought
that, but maybe that's

how my dad feels about it.

But when he got hooked, gambling
was far less widely available

than today.

Now it's not just fruit machines
and roulette and bookies,

it's football betting, scratch
cards, the national lottery.

If you're a potential
problem gambler,

a simple trick down
the high street

can be like running the
gold load of temptation.

So here we are.

We're on the Main Street.

We're in Hackney.

And Hackney is got quite
high unemployment level.

It's quite a poor
burrow, and yet

on this high street
that we're standing on,

there are eight betting shops
with plans to build more.

In the back there, you see the
church, the building next to it

is the Hackney old town hall
which is no longer a town hall.

It's a bookies.

The old cornerstone
of the community

here, the town hall, the center
where everybody used to come

and things used to
happen, is now a bookies.

I don't want to put
cynical ideas out,

but I'm kind of thinking it's
a very, very poor high street.

Very, very high unemployment and
you've got eight cookies here.

I would wager that if you
went to Kensington, Chelsea,

or to more affluent areas,
you'd maybe find one, maybe two.

Now why is that?

There's pawnbrokers
over there, betting shop

just 100 yards away,
but you can't tell me

that that is not somehow
catering to people

who have this addiction.

And why are we doing that?

Why are we letting people pawn
their stuff and go in there

and bet it?

Why are we leaving the
door open to people

we've got that problem?

And it matters because we
know if you're susceptible

and just like other addictions,
stopping is no simple matter.

You been to Las Vegas?

No.

No.

Never.

I've come to Peterborough
to meet Gareth,

28-year-old, working in sales,
and his mother Isabelle.

Together, they're
trying to help Gareth do

what my dad couldn't and quit.

I would literally go
into work, fill my diary

with fake appointments, and
then walk to the bookies.

I wouldn't eat.

I wouldn't drink.

I would just be there
and all that would be

would be me and this
machine, if you like.

You feed in notes.

And I'm not even considering
like each 20 pound

note what I could buy, a tank
of petrol, your bills, whatever.

It doesn't cross my mind.

And it's just a
figure on a screen.

And probably in the last week
and a half, two weeks maximum,

I've probably lost
about 1,400 pounds.

Right.

Now I don't get paid
1400 pounds a month.

When you've put 2,000
grand in a machine

and you lose and it
goes in half an hour,

why does that not leave
you with a sense of right,

I'm never going
to do that again?

I mean, I walk out
of there in tears,

sick to the pit of my
stomach, contemplating

all sorts of things
to get it back

or to make myself feel
better, hurting myself

and just have these rages.

And then the guilt
sinks in and then

you realize what
you've done, and you

realize how much
money you've just lost

and what you could
have done with it.

Probably, if it
wasn't for my parents,

I'd be in prison or
not around at all.

I have all his money.

It goes transferred into
my bank when he gets paid,

and I withdraw all of it.

And when he wants
it, he can have it.

It's different for him
if he's got a debit card.

That's not real money to him.

it's just a bit of plastic.

He doesn't see where it's going.

So a debit card
or a credit card,

absolutely lethal to
a gambler I think.

You've borrowed money
to help him out.

Yes.

So financially, that must
be a bit of a strain.

We've taken loans here.

Yeah.

Because the thing is if we
don't, all you think is what

will happen to him if we don't.

he gets so despaired.

you're worried he might
do something stupid,

because he doesn't know how to
get out of this hole he's in.

If I walked into a
bookies with 100 pound,

let's say, and I walked straight
in and won 200 or 300 pound,

I wouldn't be happy, because
I haven't got that fixed.

I would rather go in
there, being there all day

and more count maybe
50 or 60 pound down.

To me that would've
been a really good day.

I'd be really happy with that.

Every time he gambles
and loses money,

I will get a text from him.

Sometimes I've had
a text when he's

actually in the bookmakers,
and said, help me.

And I've to go and got him.

I dread every text
message I get without even

knowing who it's from,
because I think, not again.

I dread every text message.

It did come to a
point 18 months ago

when it really, really
did hit the bottom.

Where it did need
nearly pull us apart.

All of us.

It was horrible.

It was a horrible,
horrible time.

And I never, ever want
to get through again.

Ever.

(SADLY) It was so awful.

I'm sorry.

It's all right.

It's OK.

It's OK.

When he starts again, he
starts to get secretive.

He lies.

You know he's lying.

But if you say to
him, are you lying?

It's saying, I'm not
trusting you anymore.

And he just wants to be trusted.

And now if I could
be gambling free,

and put my concentration
into something good

then I could be a real big
success to anything I do,

because I'm like
Rainman with numbers

because of the gambling.

And so when I went
to college, I gambled

and I've done it ever since.

So I've never had
a period of time

where I could sit back
and see what I'm actually

capable of doing as a person.

You need something,
an instant fix.

And there isn't any instant fix.

It's just going to go on
and on and on until they

decide enough's enough.

And it either ends
in the awful way,

or it ends by him stopping.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So what happens
if you can't stop?

In London, I went to meet Mandy.

She's not your typical
idea of a problem gambler.

It wasn't until her
mid 30s that she

succumbed to the lure of
the high street bookmaker.

When she couldn't stop,
it ended, as with my dad,

with this mother of
two going to jail.

Now I haven't committed
a crime till I was 35.

I was a law-abiding
citizen until the day I

started gambling.

And that all my everything
went out the window.

I was shoplifting
to feed my habit.

I was probably stealing
about 3,000 or 4,000 pounds

worth of goods a day.

I was going into a
supermarket, filling up

a trolley with booze,
meat, everything,

walking out with it.

I was committing crime
5, 6, 7 a times a day--

To fund your habit.

To fund my habit.

In the end my luck run out.

And-- well, I didn't run
out, because I've never

had any luck.

But I got sent to
prison for four months.

My children went into care.

Did you gamble again after
you came out of prison?

The day I came out.

The day you came out.

[SLOT MACHINE ROLLING]

I despise it.

What?

I despise gambling.

I hate it, but can't stop.

You still?

I've been in the
bookies this morning.

This morning, you have--

I've been in the
bookies this morning.

And you place the
bet this morning?

I won 70 pounds on
the fog machine.

My opinion of it
is it's an illness.

I've got an illness, and
I wish there was a cure.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The experts tell us that
60% of problem gamblers who

are attending Gamblers
Anonymous in the UK

admit to having committed a
crime to fund their habit.

And so it was with Mandy.

But Mandy's trying hard to
help herself and to quit.

She's in therapy, and she's
filled in self exclusion forms

at all her local bookies.

There it is.

And that's the one that you're
a student from right now.

It is.

Good.

I'm excited for more bookies
around here [INAUDIBLE]

any of them.

Does it-- do you feel
strange being outside of it

or does it--?

Yeah.

A little bit.

A little bit.

OK.

Let's go.

There is that Brooks.

I spend some grim days in there.

Did you-- was this your
sort of regular haunt?

Yeah.

It was.

Every day, I used to stand
and wait for it to open.

Did you ever get approached
by anybody in there--

Never.

-- to say-- No?

Never.

Aren't you here too often?

Not once has one person
ever approached me and said,

hey, that's enough.

Not once.

Not once in 11 years.

they have pictures
of armed robbers out.

They have pictures
of problem gamblers.

Having met Mandy now, several
times, she said I'm ill.

I am not well.

And it must be appalling to
have to be to be saying that

and people not to be listening.

People are going to
go, no, not really.

You just have to stop
playing free machines.

And it's not as simple as that.

It can't be.

People wouldn't be doing
that to their lives

if it was as simple
as walking away.

I don't think I've ever
realized until talking

to gamblers like Mandy just
how hard it can be to quit.

And it makes me think of
my dad and his decision

to leave with a
bit more sympathy.

My mom's kept most
of the details

of what my dad's gambling led to
a secret for me, to protect me.

But I've come to Greece where
she lives, because I now want

to understand what happened.

I don't really remember
much about my dad.

It was always sort of
smiling or telling a joke,

quite larger than life.

My parents divorced
when I was seven.

After the age of seven, he's
very-- an absent figure.

So I want to find
out what was it

that drove very intelligent,
very charming man into jail.

Did you ever play
backgammon with Dimitri?

Yeah, I did.

He's very good.

I say.

I mean everybody
remembers jokes.

He was fun.

I wouldn't have married him
and had a child with him

if he was just the
absolute go to gamble.

When did you realize
that he was gambling?

It first started
when I was pregnant,

and I got this letter
from this woman saying,

I hope Lana has
survived the operation.

And I'm reading this letter
like, what operation?

What is she talking about?

What is this one
was talking about?

But I really need this 3,000
if you could return them.

And then the landlady
called me and she said,

I realize you were giving
birth, but we haven't received

the rent for six months.

[SIGHS] I could see
it was gambling.

I could see that
it was compulsive.

I did not know at the time
that that was an illness.

And I did not know that this
can be helped by specialists,

but I knew that
this was something

that would not finish.

My dad's gambling
got worse and worse.

And then one day, when
we were living in Paris,

my mom came home to the
apartment to find a letter.

Dimitri, my dad had fled.

And I opened it, and I
read this, My dear, Lana.

As you very well
understood, I've messed up.

So unfortunately, the
only solution I have

is to leave France.

I owe madame Fresco--

Madame Fresco is
this poor woman whom

we were renting the
apartment, four rents

plus the electric bill
et cetera, et cetera.

I owe the bank 2,000 francs.

I also owe Nicola, a
friend, 1,000 francs.

Augustus Bletus, 450, I think.

All this money, of course, I did
not spend it with other women

as you very well know,
but on horse races.

Please kiss our child for me.

I also owe 800 to Bernard.

[LAUGHS]

So at the end, there's
a little reminder.

Yeah.

I have a backgammon.

My mom told me how
to fund his habit.

Dimitri would continually
steal not just from strangers,

but his employer, his
friends, even his family.

It's no wonder she
was so terrified

that I would turn out like him.

I remember once, Alexis, he
was about seven or eight.

He lied about something,
and I beat him up.

I'm ashamed to say that so much
that my finger got swollen.

And I realized I was not beating
Alexis, I was beating Dimitri.

The Real Hassle, I was very,
very worried at the beginning.

I was more worried
with the card playing,

the actual card in the hand.

Feeling flush more from
the alcohol than the cards,

Alex ups the ante.

And what was a friendly game
with a limit 100 pounds,

now has no limits.

I want to get small
money on the table.

I think my mom was petrified.

Petrified when she saw me with
a pack of cards in my hands

doing magic tricks, because
she associated pack of cards,

love of gambling, love of cards
which is what my dad was into.

Is her son going to go
down the same slippery road

as his father did?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Well there have been times
where I've wondered that myself,

and one of them was here.

Welcome to Las Vegas, a town
built entirely on gambling.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

In 2007, I spent three
months in Vegas filming

for The Real Hustle.

[SLOT MACHINE BEEPS]

Oh, that's nasty.

Oh, but that's good.

Yes!

And I found as the rest of
the crew would go off to bed--

Yes!

[CARD SHUFFLES]

I stood at the table
a little bit longer,

and I gambled most nights.

And I know that my
family were a little bit

anxious about me being around
casinos, because of my father.

I have to admit the first
time I walked into a casino,

my heart was pumping.

And I can understand
that they're

worried that I maybe
would be around casinos

and would turn out
to be like my dad.

17.

[CASINO CHIPS CLINKS]

Blackjack.

Yes!

[LAUGHS]

Oh, come on.

Oh.

How quick.

We've blown $200?

Do I think that I might have
something in me that might

say that I'm a gambling addict?

I don't think so.

Oh.

[LAUGHS]

[CASINO CHIPS CLINKS]
This is just not your day.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

But I do enjoy it.

There.

I said it.

I like gambling.

And if you like a flutter
then this is the place to be.

But whilst on the surface,
this is a pleasure town,

fantastically over the top,
a temple to entertainment

and fun, when you look for
it, this city has a dark side.

These jets you can see here,
they're the high roller jets.

They're the Jets of the
people-- the billionaires

who come to gamble in Vegas.

Or the Jets the hotels used
to ferry the rich people in,

the whales as they call them.

So that's here.

Over here, you have the most
iconic sign of Las Vegas.

This is the beginning
of the strip here.

And way over there over
that advertising billboard

is, underneath there in a
sewer, is where you have--

people live in there.

Here in the flood
tunnels running

under this city, literally
hundreds of homeless people.

Many who have hit rock
bottom because of gambling.

And I've come to find them.

And is this base here so here
you go very little church here

yes and you've got a suitcase.

Compulsive gamblers Cyril and
his 27-year-old girlfriend

Becky have been living
in these tunnels

off and on for more
than six months.

So this is where you put
your stuff to protect it

from the rain, right?

Now our enclosure over
there they're all clean

During your gambling
stuff, how much money

do you think you've first
passed through your hands?

Since I've started gambling--

He made a million
dollars one night.

You made a million dollars?

He finally went through--

won and lost a million dollars.

- I had--

I know I had over
a million dollars

that goes through my hand
in about a year and a half.

Did you think you were
gambling as part of the reason

that maybe you sort
of where you are now?

No, I blame him.

I really do.

But that's said that's
messed up saying--

Yeah.

How could you believe--

Gambling is a big part
of where I am right now,

but I didn't start it.

Would you consider yourself
as a problem gambler?

Would you consider that?

No.

Not really, because if we
just keep going for it,

an you're going to win.

Especially if you
start with zero.

You can't lose.

The gambling pays
for everything.

That you positive and
we pay for everything.

That we do because of gambling.

That's negative

When you see what's
above us right now,

the amazing hotels, the
size of a city which

is just phenomenal,
and it's all being

built for money that people
have come and lost here, right?

Right.

I know I'm going to
go and beat them.

I know I'm going to
take their money.

but after my word's
over, it's playtime,

I know they're probably
going to take my money.

It's quite shocking to me back
in zero-- in the situation

that they find themselves in.

I mean, how do you
wake up in there,

look around, realize you're
living in a flood tunnel,

and think, I'm going to
gamble my way out of here?

I'm going to make enough
money through gambling

to get out of here.

And by his own admission, every
time he'll make some money,

he'll just gamble it.

I defy anybody to come
down and look at this.

And sort of say, well
you know, he just

has an issue with money.

The guy's an addict.

The guys cannot stop gambling.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

No matter how bad
things get, Cyril's

still denying he's an addict.

Is that what my dad is like?

And as with all
addictions, the first step

is recognizing that
you've got a problem.

The following day I went
looking for Cyril and Becky

and found them searching
the strip and the casinos.

They were looking for
money for Cyril to gamble.

I wanted to ask them
more, don't they

realize that Cyril is an addict?

The gambling is the
cause of their problems

rather than the solution.

You went to a casino?

What happened?

When?

Oh, just now?

Yeah.

Nothing.

And there wasn't really
anything in there.

What were you looking for?

Money.

To see if there was anything
left on the machines,

or dropped by the tables.

People dropped chips.

If I find 5 bucks,
I'll go try it in this

and if it doesn't hit, I will
walk around, find 5 more bucks

and play it.

And usually I can like
keep at the same machine

until I get a hit for a day.

You know what I'm saying?

And that'll give
me my little jump,

and that'll turn
my 20 into 40 or 50

and then take it from there.

I have to get him to break
away from this whole thing,

and he doesn't want to do it.

Like, he does but he
does-- i don't know.

he's a gambling addict.

this is his element right here.

I'm taking him away from that
if I make it [INAUDIBLE]..

So in your eyes, you do think
that Cyril is a gambling

addict?

Yes, I know he is.

Do you think he knows he is?

Yeah, but he doesn't
want to admit it.

What would you say
problem gambler is?

I don't know.

Someone who's got a family,
and after they worked all week,

instead of coming
home, went to a casino

and blew their whole
check and then came home.

I mean, also, probably
someone who lives in a tunnel.

[LAUGHS] But--

All right.

[LAUGHS]

I don't see myself in five years
being here and being happy.

I see myself either dead,
still homeless, or struggling.

And basically in a--

I don't like that.

But you're looking
at what's destroying

you to help you, right?

It's a double edged
sword, I guess.

But I know what you're
saying, but I mean,

I will do that within
the next couple of weeks.

I will make like my luck.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It's as if they sort of both
know what's killing them,

but they're not doing
anything about it.

Well, they can't do
anything about it.

He just seemed to
have that what I

think is typical about
problem gamblers.

That, you know what?

I'm going to get myself
out of it, with gambling.

All I need is that one big win.

And it never stop.

Or I'm going to play poker.

Not the booker slots. as
if there's any difference.

It's for an alcoholic say, I'm
not going to drink spirits.

I'm just going to stick to beer.

That's how I think
kind of where he is

and the seriousness
of his problem.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And if you've got a
problem, you don't

need to take a trip to
Vegas or to the casino.

You see these days you can get
your fix in perfect isolation.

I'm on the latest
in home comforts

is the chance to have a
casino under your own roof.

I could close my door here,
family are downstairs.

They don't know what I'm doing.

And I can just have that
isolation between me

and the computer
screen, and get sucked

into that emotional
roller coaster that

is playing roulette or blackjack
or poker for a lot of money.

I've just put bet
online in Google.

I've got 228 million results.

But we've got Ladbrokes, William
Hill, Bet 365, Paddy Power,

hundreds and hundreds,
[INAUDIBLE] Sports,

Blue Square.

I don't have to go anywhere.

And I can spend a lot of money
on playing whatever I want.

I can play roulette.

I can play craps.

I can play blackjack.

I can play poker.

I can bet on horses,
every single horse race

around the world, mind you.

It's not as if I can go--
well, it's nighttime now.

It's past 8 o'clock.

There's no more races, but
I can bet on races in China.

I can bet on races in America.

It is 24 hours a day,
and it's in your home.

A lot of people who I have
talked to about gambling,

it's the isolation, it's what
gamblers called The Bubble.

It's me and the machine.

Nothing else matters.

The building can be
burning behind you,

but it's me and that machine.

And I think you get
the same sense at home.

It's quite frankly.

[WHEELS CHURNING]

So why would I go if I really
do feel like I want help?

[INAUDIBLE] in GamCare.

When my dad gambled,
nobody talked about it

in terms of a disease.

Now that's starting to change.

This is GamCare.

they run a help line which
supports problem gamblers

and the people around them.

All these people here will
be handling calls coming in?

Yes.

There'll be live calls.

They'll be handling
calls that come in,

and about 35,000 calls a year.

So can we have a look at maybe
what's happening over here?

Absolutely. yes.

This is Mike.

Hi, there.

Hello, Mike.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

When a call comes
through, it'll be

a one-on-one sort of chat box.

More often than not, people
are coming in and saying,

how can I change
what my son's doing?

How can I make him stop?

Sometimes people just
want someone to talk.

So really, you don't
have to say that much.

Sometimes, they want
more directions.

So sometimes they
might say, where

can I go to get help
with my local GA meeting?

That kind of thing.

While I was at
GamCare, they let me

speak to one caller whose
experience of discovering

her husband's secret
gambling took me

right back to my own childhood.

He started gambling many years
ago on football and hockey.

And I found out about it, and
he said he'd never do it again.

The biggest horse that he
pound is about 100 pounds.

I lost my mother, and
she lost some money.

I thought her to
pay the mortgage

so she told me to take
it off the mortgage

and I said no that's not right
can't be it had been doubled.

How much was it if you
don't mind me asking?

The mortgage has gone up from 50
to 100, almost 100,000 pounds.

100,000 pounds?

Pounds.

The mortgage should--

It was doubled from 50--

It doubled from
50,000 to 100,000.

Wow.

Yeah.

I had to cut the
insurance policy.

He thought you couldn't
have gotten the money

for that relief as well.

So in total, how much
money had your husband--

It was over 100,000.

Over 100,000 pounds.

100,000 pounds in total.

Got to a point where I
just contemplated suicide.

You got so low when--

so how I felt, I felt that
he couldn't wanted me.

He couldn't have loved me, you
would have put the children

and myself through this.

I mean I know it's a
very difficult question

but how do you feel
towards your husband now?

I can't trust him.

I still to this day don't think
I'll ever trust them fully.

And I just hope that
the love of his children

will stop him from
doing it again.

I've witnessed firsthand
a family imploding

like that and all the
heartbreak it brings.

I'd never want my own family to
go through anything like that.

So perhaps it's
time I got tested

to answer once and for
all if there's any risk I

could turn out like my dad.

These days the NHS has a
clinic for problem gamblers.

It's the first one.

I've got to be checked out by
a psychiatrist Dr. Henrietta

Bowden Jones.

Welcome to the National
Problem Gambling clinic.

Obviously my father
was a gambling addict

who turned into a con man and a
fraudster and ended up in jail.

And I guess I have always
wondered whether or not--

it was something
that was hereditary.

Well it's interesting
you say this,

because we know that
young people with parents

who gamble regularly, and
young people with parents who

are problem gamblers
do have a higher

likelihood of
developing this illness

than the general population.

So someone like me
might be at risk for--

Might be at risk, exactly.

I like gambling.

I won't deny it.

I think it's a good fun
pastime, but I always

treat it with a sense that I'm
dealing with something that

can be extremely dangerous.

Yeah.

So Alex, I'm going to ask
you a few things now that

would allow me to go
through my mental checklist

to know whether you do
have a problem or not.

How often over the past month
you have actually gambled?

I would say, five days
in the last month.

But the month before,
it was zero days.

How often have you bet more
than you can afford to lose?

Never.

How often have you
needed to gamble

with larger amounts
of money to get

the same feeling of excitement?

Never.

How often have you
gone back another day

to try to win back
the money you lost?

Never.

OK.

That's called chasing losses.

Yes.

And I would say the 99.5%
of people in this clinic--

Will go back to--

-- are lost chasers.

How often have your
father you might

have a problem with gambling?

What's the next
one up from never?

Sometimes.

Sometimes.

How often have you felt
guilty by the way you gamble?

Often.

So you've scored two.

And essentially, you need
to score at least nine

to have any significant
problems obviously.

[LAUGHTER]

Do you find it a little odd
that given my father's history,

being a card player,
fraudster I've

ended up with a pack of cards
in my hand on a daily basis?

I'm fascinated by
scams and cons.

Although I've had very, very
little contact with my father.

You could say that
what you are doing

is trying to keep in touch
with him at some level

without harming yourself.

Yeah.

I think maybe it is a way
of keeping a link to my dad,

but it's definitely
not something that I'm

doing consciously.

you got to remember that I'm
petrified of a relationship

with my dad, because having a
problem gambler in your life

is dangerous.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

And it can be dangerous
because like other addictions,

the urge to gamble can be
with you all your life.

In Cambridge, I met
Lewis constable.

He got hooked on slot
machines and online poker.

OK.

Very nice to meet you.

Lewis has managed to
quit, but he still

admits to getting urges.

I mean you haven't gambled
now for six months.

Do you miss the thrill?

Yeah.

Definitely.

I find it harder for
when I pass the bookies.

You do?

I find it hard,
especially on match day

because I'm a big football fan.

If I want to bet, I can't
bet on all the teams.

I find it quite
hard not to do that.

I was probably on the internet
poker for about a year

and a half to two years.

I lost a lot of money on that.

How much money did
you actually lose?

Well I lost probably on online
poker, probably over 7 grand,

I'd say.

I remember that probably be the
loneliest or the hardest time.

The thing I would
say about gambling

is that it's such
a lonely addiction.

With drugs, I think you can
do it with other people.

You can drink if you do
it with other people.

Smoking, you can share a
cigarette when you're addictive

and all that.

With gambling, I found
when I was gambling

that I was so lonely.

And you'd lose a
bet, you wouldn't

want to tell anyone
about it because you just

lost a lot of money.

You're ashamed
when you tell them.

What?

Why did you do that?

So you keep it within yourself.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

But even though Lewis
has quit, he still

got the potential to have
a problem with gambling.

And there's now groundbreaking
scientific research

which shows that problem
gamblers' brains really

are wired differently.

Lewis has agreed to take
part in a demonstration

of this research with
me here in Cambridge.

Dr. Luke Clark a leading
expert in problem gambling

has made an
extraordinary discovery.

He's proved that for
gambling addicts,

it's not so much
the winning they're

hooked on but the
experience of a near miss.

[CLICKING]

Let's see the spin
coming through here.

[CLICKING]

And--

[BEEPS]

Yeah!

And this is Alex's first win.

And this is his win
conductance going up here.

Alex is interested in the wins.

But we're also interested
in the near misses.

And we see in problem gamblers
that these near misses

are very significant events.

And they make them want
to carry on playing more.

And we can see in our
brain imaging data,

we can see a stronger
brain response

in particular to the
near miss outcomes

as someone becomes more
of a problem gambler.

Are these brain responses?

Are they in parts
of the brain that

are innervated by dopamine,
very important brain chemicals

in reward behavior and
also in drug addiction.

[CLICKING]

Come on.

No.

[BEEPS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

My results were
perfectly normal,

but Dr. Clark expects
a problem gambler

to have a very significant
reaction to a near miss.

You're getting near misses
in all gambling games.

And indeed, you get
near misses out there.

In the real world, a lot of
those real world situations

are skill situations where
the near misses really

do tell you something.

If you're shot, the goal
bounces out of the post.

You haven't got a
goal, but it tells you

that you should carry on.

But in gambling games, chance
that reasoning doesn't apply

and that seems to be the main
mistake that people make when

they read too much into them.

Then it was Lewis' turn,
and it quickly became clear

that in his case, it wasn't
the winning that thrilled him

but the near misses.

And in that first
win that he received,

he had had very little impact.

What was it?

When I had my first
win, do you remember?

Was it--

Yes.

I have.

A big empire?

Yeah.

That was a clear.

It was a clear impact.

A yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This is going to be a near miss.

Yeah.

[BEEPING]

That is definitely--

Yeah.

A much longer response
to a near miss than it

was to the previous week.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So then if you never
met either of us

and you caught us
together, would that

be sort of a suggestion that
Lewis might have a problem?

With these near misses that seem
to be more significant and more

salient to Lewis.

And within a game of chance, I'd
say that's a dangerous mindset.

[CLICKING]

[BEEP]

And you're saying that somebody
who's not a problem gambler

would have a much
bigger response, hey,

I've won something!

Yeah.

These are pleasant
rewarding outcomes.

We should see very strongly--

But to a problem
gambler, just doesn't

have that much [INAUDIBLE].

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's fascinating.

When you remember
back to when you

were sort of playing
the slot machines,

would a near miss for
you to chase your money?

I would never want anyone
else to win the money

that I've put in that
machine, because I

know that the machine
would pay out soon.

And you felt that somebody
else would come along, and put

a pound there and get
your money, and will win.

That's the last thing I'd want.

I think these tests showed me
that my mind really wasn't--

it wasn't about
getting the money.

It was about getting the thrill.

Right.

Well that's done
enough to convince me

that my brain is wired
completely differently to that

of a problem gambler.

I don't react that
way when I gamble.

But it has made
me wonder what was

my father like when he gambled?

How was he reacting?

What was going on
inside his brain?

Unfortunately, when
my dad was gambling,

we didn't have any
of these techniques.

we don't know, but
it makes me wonder.

I have a feeling that he
was the same as Lewis.

he got the thrills
of near misses.

And the winning
wasn't enough for him.

Otherwise, he would've stopped.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

So like drugs and alcohol,
once you've been an addict,

you're always either be
an addict or an addict

in recovery.

Hi, everybody.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi.

Hello.

This is the problem
gambling center

in Las Vegas run by
Dr. Robert Hunter.

Normally these meetings
are anonymous affairs,

but I've been allowed
to sit-in on one.

many of these addicts
are around my dad's age,

so are these the sort
of struggles he's been

having throughout his life?

I was fully aware that I
was destroying my life.

I didn't do it to forget.

I did drugs to forget.

I am aware of that.

I know I did.

But gambling?

I made myself sick.

I urinated my pants while I
was gambling and kept gambling.

Running down to my last 300
bucks at Warner station,

and all of a sudden, I
vomit all over the machine.

I'm talking about
creating panic.

After yesterday's
fight here as I

walked in the door of
my house fighting urges.

I'm fighting urges
right now, and I just

don't understand why
I can't get this.

I believe you're in the right
place at the right time.

And I'm sorry about
the pain in your eyes.

You look like somebody just got
pulled out of a burning car.

It really looks like
you're in agony.

But I've seen that
look, and I've

seen it turn into those looks.

So please just go
where they point you.

Please just go
where they got you.

Problem gambling's
as old as man,

but it's only been in
the last few decades

that they've had lab research
that suggests they really

are different.

Their brains really
are different.

Something different
happens when they gamble.

What's the end of the line?

What's the bottom of the
bottom for a gambling addict?

What's the worst case scenario?

The major danger is to
say, I am the architect

of this destruction and despair.

I'm a bad person who has chosen
to harm the people I love,

therefore I should kill
myself as a gift to them.

That's what the end
of the trail looks

like for a problem gambler

there are people
here who literally

are going to live or die
based on how they're dong.

The people in that group the day
that are going to live or die

on what they do over the
next four to five days.

You've been through the process.

You've recovered.

You've relapsed.

Where do you see yourself now?

How do you feel--

What do you feel the future
holds for you right now?

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS] To be perfectly honest
with you where I'm at today,

if I don't stop,
I'm going to die.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I don't think people realize
that gambling could come in

to have somebody in who
says, I've done heroin.

And I've been able
to give that up.

But gambling is an issue.

I don't think a lot of people
are even aware that gambling

is a problem.

There's no doubt in my mind
that gambling addiction

is a disease.

It's not a habit.

It's not bad habit.

It's not-- you're a
little bit bad with money,

you don't know where to stop.

It's a disease.

[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]

So if it's an illness, if
problem gamblers really

are in the grip of such
a powerful addiction,

then is it time now to
make peace with my dad?

I no longer feel the resentment
I once did towards him.

And so I've come back to
visit his best friend,

Femmis to ask about making
contact with Dimitri.

Alexis.

Thank you, mister.

Femmis has stayed in
touch with Dimitri

even although I know he
Stole a huge amount of money

from the company they
were both directors of.

He took 4 mill.

4 million.

4 million and 7000
pounds and disappeared.

And he disappeared.

Do you think he took it because
he wanted to go and gamble

or do you think he took it
because he was owing money?

To pay.

To pay.

To pay.

Yeah.

Everybody knew he was ill.

Ill-- had the problem
with gambling,

and yet everybody was
always lending him money,

trying to help him.

If you knew that Dimitri was
stealing money or borrowing

money to buy drugs, because
he was a drug addict,

that would have been
different, wouldn't it?

We never gave him
money in order to play.

Just giving him something
in order just to live.

Nobody was helping Demetrius
or even be angry with him

that he took from me money.

They never would
be normal fathers

or normal husbands and so
these people, I believed it.

But then as we spoke, Femmis
told me some shocking news

about my father.

Unfortunately, the latest
news about him are very bad.

He's ill, seriously ill.

What's wrong with him now?

Yeah.

I'm afraid it is about
the cancer at his throat.

throat.

OK.

Throat.

Do you think I should
go and see Dimitri?

Write to him some words.

I have heard that you are ill.

I'm thinking about you.

Don't go to see him.

I don't think so.

Too upsetting.

I think he was a victim
of a very nasty addiction.

people kept lending
money to help him.

But by helping him
they were killing him.

Money was going straight back
on to card tables, casinos,

you name it.

I suppose you live with the
consequences of what you've

done, but I just find it very
difficult to sort of accept

that right now.

I don't know.

Maybe I'm being
dramatic, but an image

of someone in a hospital bed,
someone who was so social,

just alone in prison.

No one visiting him.

No one caring for him.

Nobody bringing him anything.

Nobody really caring whether
he's going to recover

or if he's feeling
comfortable or if he's--

[SNIFFS]

[PIANO PLAYING]

Dear, Dimitri.

I've been hearing your
news from Femmis and mom.

I'm sorry to hear
that you're not well.

When I was growing up, I
never understood why you left.

I always thought you'd just
prefer to be on your own

away from us.

I missed having a father.

However, during the making
of this documentary,

I've learned a lot
about people like you--

gambling addicts.

People can't stop
themselves from gambling.

I've learned you
never stood a chance.

Your addiction to
gambling is what

drove you to steal and
borrow and is ultimately

what landed you in jail.

Many people call this
a hedon addiction.

At first I didn't really
understand why, but I do now.

It often goes
undetected by others,

and it's easy to deny it
yourself if you haven't.

For all it's worth I think
you're a gambling addict,

and I forgive you.

I wish things had
been different.

Alexis.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

But before I even
got to send a letter,

I received news of my dad.

I'd returned to
the UK to complete

filming for this documentary.

I got a phone call telling
me that my dad passed away

in hospital still in prison.

He never got the letter.

I found myself on
the phone organizing

a funeral for my father
which I couldn't even attend.

So he was buried
with no one there.

And that is a sad
end for anybody.

But unfortunately, I think
it's quite a common end

for gamblers.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

More from Alex in
new The Real Hustle

slips your chances with
Connie Hook, Friday at 8:30.

Next is EastEnders.

[MUSIC - THIRTEEN SENSES, "INTO
THE FIRE"]

(SINGING) Come on.

Put your hands in to the fire.

Come on.