A conman who was banned from every bookies in the UK for tricking them into giving him money has revealed he suffers from a gambling addiction.

Author of the book How And Why I Conned The Bookies, Jason Haddigan made thousands from cashing in fake betting slips with his dad and would describe their scheme as “going to work”.

But he has now opened up on the roots of his habit, which he says first “grabbed hold of me” when his father took him into a casino of the age of just 16.

He told the Anything Goes with James English podcast: “You could just sign someone in then – nowadays, you’ve got ID and all that but you could just sign someone in.

“I think I won about £1,500 the first time I was in a casino, playing roulette.”

While he didn’t begin gambling regularly straight away, he says he was influenced to delve further as he wanted to be like his dad, who always appeared to be winning money and was accompanied by women when his mum was not around.

The father-and-son duo would later work together to defraud dozens of Ladbrokes, William Hill and M Cook shops using false slips, leading Jason to spend 14 months behind bars after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud in 2014.

He was also hit with a five-year antisocial behaviour order, which banned him from all bookmakers in England and Wales.

After appearing to go clean for several years following his release from jail, Jason served 21 weeks for fraud in 2021 after being caught switching slips once a horse race had finished.

He shared with the podcast this week that he’d also lost around £4 million over the years after getting hooked on “disgusting” electronic roulette machines in local betting shops, which were first introduced in the 2000s.

Recalling the first time he used the machines which would spark his costly addiction, he said: “I went over and it’s roulette, put ya money in up to £100, which I did, I had that on red and it come in red.

“I thought ‘f***ing hell that was handy’, went up to the bird, gave her the thing, she’s gave me £200.”

The convicted fraudster claims he is no longer able to play real-life roulette in casinos, as he is banned from all of them.

Sharing how he pulled off a scam on his last visit, he said: “I had an eye for backing horses but the roulette absolutely kill me. For 30 years, the roulette has absolutely destroyed me.

“The last casino I was in was about three years back and I took a grand there in cash and I didn’t take [any] cards and I thought if I see someone and they’re winning I can borrow off them.

“I won about five or six grand. But I went there three years ago and he said you’re banned and I said ‘why’ and he didn’t tell me.

“He said we don’t have to give you a reason and he said ‘also you’re banned from every single casino in the United Kingdom.”