Good man. Glad you’re doing ok now with your betting. I only ever bet once a year, that’s at the Cheltenham festival. That’s enough for me
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Brilliant, well done buddy 
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Remember that machine you could pick a horse on and chuck 50p on as a child in an arcade. I reckon thats where my love affair with betting began. Pretty sure that machine got banned actually.
Won a few thosuand and Lost 10s of thousands in my 20s. Absolute carnage. Technology has turned the bookies into crack dealers.
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Those roulette machines killed me in later years.
Like you I also spent many years on the machines in the pubs etc. Must say I can walk past them now most of the time.
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I agree with Sir Kenneth Dodd and hen he says you are never over an addiction, you just learn to manage it. There are times when you are successful and times when you slip so you have to find the way that suits you.
However always remember it’s there somewhere inside you.
If you listen to alcoholics in recovery; they never say I was an alcoholic, they say I am an alcoholic. Gambling is just the same.
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Betting companies are all arseholes, quick enough to take the money but when you have a few wins like I did a few years ago they suspended my account 
it was only a goals galore no draw bet with 4 teams when the odds were 55/1 I think at the time.I had a fiver on all 3 bets that came in over a 3 week period and they suspended me.
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Youm right scoob the only thing bookies love is losers when you’ve nothing in your account they try to entice you with £1 free bets just so you load more money into your account if you’ve got £20 or more they won’t offer you anything absolute Barclays Bankers the lot of them
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Paul Merson once said
“If someone said I could never place a bet again for my whole life, I would fail. But if they said i can not place a bet tomorrow, I can do that”
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I do feel sympathy for Paul Merson, he has obviously had his demons to try and cope with.
I lost some of it though, when I went to a night with Paul Merson at Bar Sports in Cannock. It was 2007, I remember this because my Dad had just passed away and I wasn’t going to go but my mates managed to get me out the house and there.
He told the tale of when we lost to Slough, he said he had watched them the weak before and they were rubbish, so him and several players put a lot of money on us to beat them. Which lead to us frantically trying to win the game when it was 1-1. I understand gambling can be an addiction and can be very tough, but this really is unacceptable and to use the story to make money after the fact even worse. I have been told he tells this story often at his after dinner talks.
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As long as they say " gamble responsibly" they’ve done all they possibly can to prevent people from spending all their money.
Filling that void so so true . I went from
Gambling to Pokémon card collecting of all things to help
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Addiction is an horrid thing, I’ve smashed the beer for a long time drinking 5/6 nights a week, first in last out, time after time I tried to cut down but never happened I’d do it for few days then back at it.
Nearly 12 months ago ( 19 days time) we’d played Exeter and I felt poor all day, I had a few beers in the locker before KO (night game) and bout 75 mins in I started to feel terrible, I blanked out and couldn’t communicate with anyone ending up in the hospital, to cut a long story short I’d had an unknown gastrointestinal infection which messed with my blood levels being a diabetic, it genuinely scared the life out of me and I haven’t looked at a pint since.
I’m 2 stone lighter, I feel so much better and am enjoying my life for first time in a long time, I still go to pubs with mates but drink soft drinks or the occasional zero percent alcohol, looking back I’d say it was an addiction.
I grew up in pubs from a very young age with my dad and didn’t know any different, if the pub opened at 7 we was first in and always last out, it’s all I knew.
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Blazing, I agree totally as to why you have lost that but if respect for him. It was a shame how things changed as he was in my opinion one of our best as in skilfull players.
Like you though, I lost some respect when he got some of the young lads involved in his shananagins while managing us .
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Alcohol is one of the worst drugs there is. The fact it is legal convinces people it is fine. It is so damaging in so many ways. I’m definitely not preaching either, I was the same as you, always in the pub with my Dad from a young age.
People who drink often, don’t realise how close they are to being dependent, if they aren’t already. Again not trying to shame anyone, been there myself and saw first hand what damage it does, I am without the person who has done the most for me in my life because of it.
You have done fantastic mate, you should be proud.
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I’m the same mate, like you lost my dad young, he was 49 and had an heart attack, he played hard and worked hard, worked 6 days drank 7 nights and always got a fag in his hand.
I never knew any different mate, I was the eldest and always playing up so I had to go with my dad to the pub as my mom didn’t want me causing bother without him there, I was knocking pints back regular at 14 years of age and for me it was the norm.
I was no different always worked hard and played hard, that episode I had scared me enough to take stock of my life mate, I used to work 7 days a week, I do 5 now and the odd Saturday morning, under no circumstances will I work Sundays, that’s time with the missus after managing my blokes team in the morning.
I wouldn’t change a thing thou mate, I’ve had a good ride 30 plus years doing what I want when I want, more chilled now mate.
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People often say," I couldn’t cope with life without alcohol," then when you look at the changes people log when they stop, better coping skills is always near the top. As you say, it’s insidious.
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Best thing I’ve ever done mate not to mention the amount of cash I seem to have spare.
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Like dropping Fryatt because he wouldn’t go on the lash on a Friday team building session
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There was a story about him alienating Ian Roper because he wouldn’t go on the pee. Turning other players against him and so on. Just a story mind, I have no evidence.
Betting on the Slough game, that came from his own mouth.
It’s bordering on match fixing. He can’t have it both ways- “Being an addict made me do bad things,” and, " look what a great laugh it was." Especially as ,with his Sky stuff, I doubt if he needs to do the after-dinner circuit.
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