{"id":101314,"date":"2025-08-27T17:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/101314\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T17:34:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T17:34:08","slug":"sheffield-former-gambling-addict-tells-of-road-to-recovery-after-losing-60k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/101314\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield former gambling addict tells of road to recovery after losing \u00a360k"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former gambling addict who lost more than \u00a360,000 through online betting has urged people to be aware of the signs of an addiction forming.<\/p>\n

Adam Wood, from Chapeltown in Sheffield, said the “little hobby” which he had enjoyed alongside his dad as a teenager ended up “taking over my life and ruining it”.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old said: “Your emotions and feelings towards it change and you start chasing your losses – those are two key signs to take a step back. It’s just not worth it.”<\/p>\n

Since his recovery, which began in 2020, Mr Wood has taken to running, completing 14 half marathons and two full marathons.<\/p>\n

“All that started because gambling was out of my life. Along with so many other things, it has been a huge part of my recovery,” he said.<\/p>\n

At about 16 years old, as he left school, Mr Wood had started casually putting bets on football matches with his dad.<\/p>\n

About a quarter of football fans in the UK gamble, according to a YouGov study<\/a>, while the Gambling Commission estimates about 138,000 people could be problem gambling.<\/p>\n

Mr Wood said he felt “in control” of his gambling until a few years later when he started to get “anxious and stressed” while betting on horseracing.<\/p>\n

“It was a make-or-break moment where I could have stopped and realised, ‘I am probably getting a bit too deep in here’, or I can carry on doing it and potentially win some more money,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, I carried on. I was lying to people and keeping it hidden, which is something that I never planned for.”<\/p>\n

When Mr Wood did win back sums of money he had lost, he would keep going, which he said wore him down physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

He lost between \u00a360,000 and \u00a370,000 on online accounts between the ages of 18 and 23, and even more in the bookies, he said.<\/p>\n

“I got into a lot of trouble with payday loans, credit card companies, debt collectors – which at the age of 21 or 22 is not something you want to be dealing with,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You keep convincing yourself that you can get back on top of it – but that obviously never was the case.”<\/p>\n

Admitting to his family and friends that he had a problem was “one of the best things he ever did”, Mr Wood said.<\/p>\n

Bryn Cooper, service manager at charity GamCare which also gave him support, said it had been “fantastic” to see his recovery.<\/p>\n

“Gambling harm is often a very hidden issue and people who experience it can feel a lot of shame and stigma about the impact it is having on them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Reaching out for the first time for support is not easy, but it can be such an important step to help prevent the problem from escalating.”<\/p>\n

Mr Wood also signed up to Gamstop, which allows people to impose a ban on themselves from joining gambling sites.<\/p>\n

Between 17 and 21 September, the organisation is promoting this self-exclusion and encouraging football clubs to get involved.<\/p>\n

More than four in 10 people who registered with the service had used online sports betting before signing up, said Katie Reynolds-Jones, chief marketing officer.<\/p>\n

“Adam’s story highlights an experience that is all too common for many young people struggling with gambling harm,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Crucially, his journey from facing bailiffs at his door to four years of recovery shows that with the right support, people can rebuild their lives.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former gambling addict who lost more than \u00a360,000 through online betting has urged people to be aware…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-101314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}