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Gambling and Payday Loans

Recently a new casino (aka ‘gaming facility’) opened up in my area. Since it’s opening, new payday lending stores have been popping up all around the vicinity. Coincidence? I think not.

Payday loans provide the quick cash that fuels a gambling addiction. When the gambler is losing, they can simply head next door to the payday lender, get some instant cash, and head back to the casino to win back their loan and the rest of the money lost, right?

When they continue to lose, they find the next payday lender to keep the cash flowing. It becomes a vicious cycle, where the real winner is the casino and payday lender.

The same can happen online; there are many gambling websites these days, and as many online payday lenders to go with them.

About a year ago, a big news story came out about UK pro ‘footballers’ using payday loans to fund gambling addictions. An organization that helps athletes with addiction called Sporting Chance reported “ players … have got caught up in the scenario of taking out payday loans to place bets.” This high profile story was shocking for many “regular” folks, but gambling affects the ‘rich’ as well as the ‘poor’, and though average gamblers are not losing millions of dollars, they are losing with payday loans just the same.

Without casinos and payday lenders there would be street betting and loan sharks; the gambling does not go away. Payday lenders are the modern day loan sharks to gamblers. Gambling is not illegal, and payday loans are not illegal, but for a gambling addict they are a dangerous combination. Gamblers become victims, not of crime, but of addiction and enablers. And a victim deserves help from society.

If you have payday loans due to gambling, you are probably still hoping to win your way out of the hole you are in. But the truth is, you need to stop digging. Reach out for help — get counselling for your gambling habits, learn why you are drawn to gambling and how you can change to break the cycle. Start here to find problem gambling help in your province.

For help with your payday loans, contact a Solutions credit counsellor right away. We offer confidential, judgement-free counselling and provide real solutions for your payday loans. We work with payday lenders across the country to stop the fees and interest, and design a repayment plan that you can afford. Call now, you won’t regret it: 1-877-588-9491

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