Epic Risk Management CEO Paul Buck knows more than most about the issues problem gambling can cause. Epic Risk Management was founded by Buck to tackle problem gambling and Buck has been on the front lines of that war over the last decade. Buck sat down with our Becky Liggero Fontana, opening up about his experiences led him on his crusade to help other problem gamblers fight back.

Buck founded Epic Risk management in 2013 after more than a decade battling his own demons. “I was working my way up some of Europe’s largest banks whilst I was also suffering a pathological gambling disorder,” he said. “During that decade I transacted 5 million pounds across 93 different betting accounts. I lost £1.3 million and suffered all the negative effects that came out of it, including a prison sentence. During that decade I had 16 credit cards with a credit limit of £180,000 and I kept putting it on and taking it off again when I had winnings. The credit gambling played quite a big part of my gambling career, whilst at the same time I was earning a lot of money working in a bank as well.”

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The U.K. Gambling Commission are moving in the right direction, Buck says, with the recommendation to ban the use of credit cards for problem gamblers. “People would gamble on credit with money that they can’t afford to lose and I think if we are all aiming for this to be what it should be which is a sustainable and responsible gambling industry.”