Sammy's story

I started gambling when I was about 22, I'm 27 now. I would do sports betting and started off with a couple bucks here and there. I thought I could outsmart the bookies, since I went to uni so I started betting more. I would win a couple of thousand dollars, my biggest win was $35,000 on a multi-bet. I thought I was invincible. But then I started having bad runs, would lose 1 leg in a 7–8 legged multis. This would happen a few times, and I would win some back, but I would lose more.

The anxiety and the depression that would follow if I had lost was unbearable. I think I had lost about $220,000 over my betting life. I felt so guilty as some of the money was my parents hard-earned money for me to buy a property as well as my wages from work.

I am lucky that I have a supportive family and a good-paying job. I eventually only got out of this vicious cycle of betting because the debit card I was using on the sports betting website had expired. And I forced myself not to give them my new one even though they incessantly call you to offer you free bets to get you back into sports betting. If it wasn't for that one moment that my card expired and if I had given them my new debit card details – I think I'd be in the same gambling spiral that made me so depressed.

It has taken me a couple of months to finally watch sports again, and not be eager to have thousands of dollars riding on the games. I can finally watch it for the sport itself. I have no urge to go back to betting with such high stakes as I know how much it can cost me in the end.

I guess I just wanted to share this story to say that I can empathise with a lot of you. That we can get sucked into these things but to also offer you hope that no matter how much you lose, you can still have a life that doesn't involve gambling. I can finally enjoy my life, and the relationships that I have without worrying about how much money I have on the line, the exhilarating feeling or the moments of despair.