Frank lost everything to gambling: fights for justice
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1 Oct 2024 •
Reading time: 3 minutes The claims of Dutch gamblers against online casinos, which operated without a license for years, amount to up to 600 million euros. Lawyers are now preparing a number of mass claims, including Amsterdam lawyer Benzi Loonstein. Frank Rammeloo (53), a former gambling addict, shares his harrowing story to the Telegraaf about the enormous losses he suffered through online gambling.
Lawyer Loonstein gets justice for gamblers
Benzi Loonstein has already achieved successes in several legal cases for his clients. According to the judge, the amounts his clients lost were unjustified because the gambling sites operated without a license until October 2021. Many players did not know that they were gambling illegally. They simply saw the gambling sites online, just like you walk into a store without thinking about licenses.
A major breakthrough in these cases came when Loonstein recovered an amount of € 676,225 for one of his clients. Now he is working with more than 20,000 other victims to claim between 500 and 600 million euros from online casinos through a mass claim.
Frank Rammeloo lost everything due to his gambling addiction
Frank Rammeloo knows better than anyone what it feels like to lose everything due to gambling. He started gambling at a young age, first on fruit machines in the pub and later online via his phone. The online casinos made it far too easy for him.
“The problem is that you can play anytime and anywhere. I drove in my van after work, put my phone on the dashboard and kept playing. During such a trip I lost thousands of euros.”
He estimates that he gambled away a total of five to eight hundred thousand euros. Not only did he lose all his money, he also lost his family and even lived in his work van for a while.
“I had no money for food or gas. But as soon as I had some money again, I gambled it away immediately.”
A low point: on the railway near Dordrecht
One of the darkest moments for Frank came at the end of last year, when he won a large amount of money, but immediately lost it all again. It drove him to an act of desperation.
“I drove to the railway near Dordrecht and stood on the tracks in my underpants for an hour. No trains passed by. That was my luck.”
Frank eventually managed to pull himself out of the misery, partly thanks to his girlfriend who has always continued to support him. She now manages his money, so that he is not tempted to gamble again.
“I only get money for groceries, petrol and essentials. Gambling? Never again.”
The gambling industry and mass claims
The turnover of online casinos has increased to 1.5 billion euros per year since the legalization of the gambling market in October 2021. Lawyer Loonstein expects that large companies such as Unibet and PokerStars will be able to compensate for the losses through a successful mass claim. The gambling companies’ lawyers are now in talks with Loonstein to reach a settlement, but many gamblers are waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Court in 2025.
Frank Rammeloo hopes to get his money back through the claim.
“If I get that money back, I know one thing for sure: I will never gamble it away again.”