Mathew, a banker, has shared a story of how he lost money through Sportpesa until he became a beggar. Here is Mathew’s story.
“I started betting in 2015 when my workmate won Ksh 73,500 .At that time I was naïve but ready to take up the betting challenge. My colleague gave me Ksh 5,000 from the amount he had won and promised to give me more in case he wins again. He said winning was another name for him.
When I heard he had won severally, I inquired how to join, and that was the time I joined this trap. He opened a Sportpesa account under my name and told me to deposit some money into the account.
After I had sent the money, I played a single game and three multibets.The games yielded Ksh 680,a profit of Ksh 180.
After two days of playing, winning and losing, I found the game interesting. I played for three months but only managed to win 7 times. In total, I lost Ksh 23,000 for that period .
After realizing I could not win, I decided to play a single multibet, if I win, I will stop forever. I sent Ksh 20,000 to Sportpesa Account and made a sure bet, that day Arsenal was playing Manchester United and Barcelona was playing Espanyol.I knew I would make Ksh 68,000 from a single multibet and consequently close my account. The arsenal game failed me and I lost my Ksh 20,000 which was part of my salary—that month I struggled.
After I Iost the money, my head became heavy; I sweat and swore not to play again. I stopped for some time and only started gambling 4 months later, but this time I came in full swing.
During my time as a gambler, a lot has happened. In public I brag that I win thousands but inside me is a bitter truth that I have lost money. The bank where I work has known me as an irresponsible man, simply because I take soft loans almost every month. As someone who has played the game for 4 years, I have learnt this: that once you have joined any gambling game, there is no way you can quit, the best you can do is to have a rest and return in full swing.
Since 2015 I have lost more than Ksh 600,000 to Sportpesa and I am still losing. I started playing with Ksh 100 per day but now it stand at thousands. The worst happened this year when my bank decided not take a soft loan,I had become monotonous.
Since I was deeply addicted to betting, there was no way I could stop this sweet game.I started begging my friends. I could approach a friend, tell him that my mother is seriously sick and that she needs emergency treatment. Since my family is poor, they won’t afford hospital bill. A friend would loan me Ksh 1,000.I immediately rush to MPESA,deposit the money in Sportpesa account and start playng.My friend, I have done this for ages and now all my friends have known me to be a conman.
As I write this, I am in credit with almost all my workmates, my neighbours too and not forgetting my friends. When I earn, more than half of the salary goes to paying debts,the rest goes to Sportpesa.—All the projects I had have stalled. Sometimes I wake up swearing I will kill myself but looking at a young family that depends on me,I give up on the evil plan.I hate sportpesa.