We're not going to subsidize your gambling debts

[Argabarga]

I don't think it's the bank's place to suggest mental health treatment. I side with the supervisor.

Agreed, in today's hyper-litigious society, that could be construed by a lawyer as giving medical advice, and the dumbass could try and sue you. Given he's low on money, and probably desperate, that's not a minor concern.

[Rosco the Iroc]

Who's betting he tries somewhere else.

pun intended

[LadyofArc]

In Illinois, there is some regulation requiring a disclaimer to that effect for casino and lottery ads: Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Same here in Australia. The disclaimer is very small in most cases though but any ads for the TAB or those stupid betting apps end up with "Gamble responsibly" said very fast.

Over here in Aussie land, there is a system set up for problem gamblers where they can bar themselves from entry into a casino or pokies area.

https://www.austgamingcouncil.org.au...usion-programs

[Slave to the Phone]

You can have yourself self banned from casinos in AZ as well.

We have a very good friend who has a gambling problem. He doesn't play scratchers, he plays at the casinos.

His income is the same as ours, but he was always borrowing hundreds of dollars from us every month. He is a very good friend who doesn't march to a different drummer*, so we started grilling him on where his money was going and it turned out that he was spending almost 2 grand a month at the casino.

We refused to lend him any more money until he brought us copies of him signing to be self banned for a year. Its been 7 months and he has been amazed at how much money he has now.

*because he ran out on the parade field, assaulted the drummer, tried to kick his foot through the drum and then hobbled off the field and staggered around in the bleachers.

[SpyOne]

Not giving the loan was the right call.

But most people here seem to assume he's still off the wagon.
What this sounds like is a gambling addict who has gotten help in the past, but had a little episode. See, you can stop gambling, but you can't stop being an addict.
Something happened and he slipped, and the next thing he knew he was in a casino writing checks he couldn't cover.
And he got out of there and got back into recovery. But that doesn't change the fact that he wrote checks ha can't cover. Which is actually a crime.
What he's trying to do is minimize the damage caused by things he did while off the wagon. Much like an alcoholic who falls off the wagon for a weekend might be placing phone calls to see if there could be no criminal charges if he returns the goat.

I don't think he was "lying" the first time so much as omitting some embarrassing details. He was kinda hoping to get this handled without having to tell a stranger about his gambling problems. Again.

As I said, none of this means you should have given him the loan.
But this doesn't seem like a guy on a ride to the bottom of a hole (as most posters seem to have assumed), but rather a guy trying to climb out.

[Ghel]

But this doesn't seem like a guy on a ride to the bottom of a hole (as most posters seem to have assumed), but rather a guy trying to climb out.

I suppose he was trying to make things right (at least temporarily), but that doesn't matter as far as giving him a loan was concerned. And now the bank has returned the items which overdrew his account, so the casino won't let him use his debit card there again. It'll be cash only, which should limit how far in the hole he can go in the future.

[protege]

I suppose he was trying to make things right (at least temporarily), but that doesn't matter as far as giving him a loan was concerned.

While he was trying to make things right, he could have landed himself in hot water. Trying to cover gambling debts tends to draw red flags from certain regulatory agencies...and can sometimes end up in your employment file. I work for a brokerage, and such losses can (and do) attract unwanted attention from your compliance department.

[Mental_Mouse]

I suppose he was trying to make things right (at least temporarily), but that doesn't matter as far as giving him a loan was concerned. And now the bank has returned the items which overdrew his account, so the casino won't let him use his debit card there again. It'll be cash only, which should limit how far in the hole he can go in the future.

No, that's the thing -- he wasn't trying to "make things right", he was trying to paper over his gambling debts with a desperate loan -- and the overdraft makes it clear just how desperate. That's not even robbing Peter to pay Paul! Rather, it's trying to fill the hole he's in by digging up some more dirt to fill it with -- and that's how you get yourself well and truly buried.