Taking the blame

A man from the UK who racked up a total of ￡30,000 ($36,630) in gambling debts, resulting in his wife leaving him, has turned his life around.

The reformed gambler, who remains anonymous, said his life took a turn for the worst last year after losing thousands of pounds gambling. In just one month, he managed to lose a ￡20,000 ($24,400) business loan at casinos across Birmingham and the Black Country in the UK, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.

As a result of his gambling addiction, the 32-year-old built up a ￡30,000 ($36,630) debt, which he’d kept hidden from his wife. It was only after she opened a letter that she discovered the truth and left him. He also lost ￡4,500 ($5,500) of his life savings due to his gambling addiction.

It was only after she opened a letter that she discovered the truth and left him

Now, a year later, the former addict has managed to turn his life around and has since remarried. Even though he hasn’t gambled in two years, he continues to pay off his debts, which he claims will take “many years to fully pay off.”

“I am living proof that gamblers can change, and that despite hitting rock bottom with real thoughts of suicide, I have turned my life around and I am looking forward to a bright future with my new wife,” he added.

An addiction that grew

It was in 2010 that he said his experience with the casino lifestyle began. For several years after, he noted that he wasn’t involved with gambling, and was even telling his friends not to do it.

Yet, it wasn’t long before he found himself mixing with people who gambled and started playing for a bit of fun. At first, he said he would gamble every week when he went out with friends, but eventually this turned into him playing by himself.

Comparing it to a drug addiction, he said: “I started going into the bookies playing on the roulette games on the fixed-odds betting terminals,” before adding that

The slots were an easy place to lose money quickly.”

In 2016, he managed to stop gambling. However, in 2017, when he applied for a ￡20,000 ($24,400) business loan so he could rent a warehouse, he found himself in possession of a large amount of money. He subsequently took that loan and gambled it at a casino.

Trying to chase his daily losses with the next win, he managed to lose the entire ￡20,000 ($24,400) in one month. He said he felt physically sick at losing the money, but felt he had no choice other than to continue gambling to get the money back.

Now that he’s managed to reclaim control over his life, he hopes that others who have a gambling addiction will seek the advice and help they need.