3/12/2026
My name is Matt Zarb-Cousin. I’m a co-founder of Gamban and now a director focused on external affairs.
My introduction to Gamban actually started with a cold message on LinkedIn. A young man called Jack Symons got in touch and said he thought he’d worked out a way to block gambling on Mac devices, which was very difficult to do at the time.
I was in recovery from addiction myself at the time, so the idea immediately interested me.
We met in a pub in Farringdon, and Jack showed me an early prototype.
This is my story.
Matts Story
Gambling addiction nearly destroyed my life. There is no other addiction where the person affected believes that by continuing to engage in the activity they’re addicted to, it can solve all the problems that the addiction has created.
My story begins at age 16, when I fell victim to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. By the time I reached 20, my debts soared to £20,000, and I reached a point of desperation and despair.
I really wanted to take my own life. It's difficult to explain, but looking back, I don’t think it was about the money. It was about where the addiction had led me to. All of the things that had happened, the things that I'd missed out on. Gambling had distracted me from my life for so long.
The distraction of the gambling addiction helped me escape from the depression caused by its consequences. I could pretend I was normal, I was fine, and that there was nothing wrong with me while I was gambling. But one particular gambling session in 2009 that spanned several hours and resulted in losses of £2,500 led me to the point of wanting to take my own life.
Thankfully, my parents intervened before it got to that point, and I was able to receive support and cognitive behavioural therapy, which helped me to eventually quit gambling on my 20th birthday after several relapses. However, years later, I still take medication for my mental health conditions, which I firmly believe were caused by the gambling addiction.
I was so affected by my gambling addiction and the impact on my mental health that I wanted to do something to help others who might be in a similar situation.
The paradox of this, 15 years on, is that I am now in the privileged position of being able to say that I am actually glad it happened. In the years after quitting, I campaigned for a £2 stake limit on fixed odds betting terminals and in the course of doing so, I spoke publicly in the media countless times about my addiction and the impact these machines had on my life.
I was so pleased that the campaign to reduce the stake to £2 on FOBTs was successful, and that government policy is now much more reflective of the impact similar online products can have on rates of gambling harm.
I am also privileged to work with a fantastic team at Gamban. Over the past decade, we’ve gradually expanded the product's reach and the team, and the app has now surpassed 1 million downloads.
My personal mission is to help as many people who want to quit gambling as possible, whether that’s through technological solutions or policy changes.
