Most of you responses seem to be centred around my use of my mum's credit card, and I understand why this is very wrong. Wrong of her and wrong of me. I never expected anything from this as the companies did everything that could reasonably be expected of them. I also would like to point out that I have never been in debt. Everything that I have gambled and lost I can afford. All but £500 of the £3,500 that I have lost was hard money that was mine in my own bank account. However, when I used Paddy Power, Bet Direct and BetFred to gamble, I did so in my own name using my own Solo card. As you all know, a solo card is widely available to under 18's. Only Paddy Power asked for any documents, and that was simply a bank statement to prove it was my card. To these three bookies I have lost over £1,100. Surely, from a legal standpoint, they were negligent to their responsibilities. But, surely, as Dave J stepped upon, this is not a reasonable step to prevent underage people from accessing their site, which is their responsibility. I also have accounts with eBay and PayPal – site’s which have the same ‘tick here’ boxes – and I’ve made thousands doing business there (that’s where all the money has come from!). A tick box cannot be considered a worthy way of preventing under 18’s from registering, surely?! Well of course not, that would be crazy!!! I admit to be an individual who will try to get around the system when it doesn’t suit me! Please see that I know for fact that I am morally in the wrong, I’m intelligent enough to know what I’m doing; I just came here to seek assistance on my legal standpoint. I understand that bookies cannot prevent me from gambling if I use my mother’s credit card and her identity, however, when I use my own name and card…

Ok, thankyou for your advice, it's all taken on board. I appreciate it, good or bad.

I am 17 and have lost over £3,500 gambling on football. I would like to ask whether I have a case for claiming any of my losses back. It first started when I was 15 and used my mother’s credit card to deposit a small amount of money on the William Hill website. I did this with her permission. I deposited more but she didn’t particularly mind this as I created a sophisticated spreadsheet detailing every bet and how I was doing. And I was doing well for quite a while, until I lost about £150 and tried to recover my losses. The result of which was a total loss of £500 before I stopped. This money was paid back from a savings account in my name. A year later I started gambling again using my own money. I did this by transferring cash from my online bank account to a third party company who would then transfer the money instantly into a Bet365 account. To take advantage of an affiliate account that I was running with them, I bet overtime using multiple accounts – most of which were registered to fake names and addresses. I went on to gamble with several other online bookmakers, using different methods to deposit in my real name. Three of the six firms that I gambled with online accepted my Solo card without first checking whether I was over 18, whilst another accepted bank transfers. Only once was I asked for any proof of identification, and that was from the company that I deposited money via bank transfers. I didn’t hesitate scanning in my passport and using editing software to change my date of birth. I emailed this to them and it was accepted straight away. Another bookie, one that I used my Solo card to deposit money into, once asked for a copy of my bank statement to prove that it was indeed my card. I simply emailed them a screenshot of my online bank account. I should point out that during this period I opened up accounts with other firms, but was unable to deposit money with them as they took the issue of underage gambling more seriously and made better efforts to prevent it – such as identity checks on national databases. I stopped gambling in February this year as I thought that enough was enough. Shortly afterwards I decided to write to all six bookmakers in an attempt to claim my money back as I am underage. Most didn’t respond (just locked my accounts instead), but one called my parents and alerted them to what was going on (they didn’t know). The guy promised to bring my situation up at a meeting that he would be attending along with the other firms in April, but he hasn’t responded to my dad’s emails since. I had never planned to try to claim my losses back if I lost at gambling, this wasn’t just some back up for me, and I made that clear. Months on, nothing has happened. However, I have recently gambled again on the World Cup. I did this using my mum’s card with a variety of different bookies, giving her the cash upfront. My mum regrets doing this even though I won money overall, primarily because I was silly and used the bookmaker who had contacted my parents before, who again contacted my parents (only speaking to my mum) when I withdrew my winnings (including initial deposit) as the account had the same home address. My mum was embarrassed and denied giving me permission to use her card to gamble. The guy asked her to get my dad to call him back, to which she hasn’t. As a result, the company has kept my deposit of £90, but has decided not to withdraw any money back to the card. So… can anyone advise me on where I stand in regards to money that I lost in my name, fake names and my mum's credit card, whilst also taking into consideration that with one company I supplied an edited document to verify my identity and age (FRAUD!)??? () To be honest, although I think the bookies that I used could’ve/should’ve done more to prevent me from being able to gamble with them, I accept full responsibility as I knew what I was doing. But surely, from a legal standpoint, these companies cannot profit from a minor regardless of anything else. However, I do accept that the bookies couldn’t be reasonable expected to prevent me from using them when I used my mother’s credit card to do so. I would very much appreciate any thoughts on the matter. Thankyou!