Tony O\u2019Reilly was 24 when he made his first bet, placing \u00a31 on a World Cup quarter final in July 1998. <\/p>\n
But what began as a bit of fun, spun out of control, resulting in him stealing \u20ac1.75 million from his employer An Post to fuel his gambling<\/a> addiction over a 10 year period.<\/p>\n \u201cI placed a \u00a31 bet that Patrick Kluivert would score first. And he did. And that buzz was something I had never felt before. It was something completely different,\u201d said Mr O\u2019Reilly. <\/p>\n \u201cDown we went and collected our money, we [he and his friend] got \u00a346 each. Probably in today\u2019s time, it would be equivalent to putting on a fiver and winning \u20ac200.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair went out that night, telling everyone about their winnings. \u201cI was walking around with my chest out and everyone kept saying, \u2018Jesus man, you must be really, really good at this\u2019. <\/p>\n \u201cFor someone who was very anxious … I think I got as addicted as much to that affirmation as I did to the money that came with it,\u201d said Mr O\u2019Reilly, who was speaking at the 35th annual research conference held on Tuesday by St John of God Research Foundation,<\/a> which highlighted concerns around behavioural addiction among the Irish public.<\/p>\n For five years, he said he gambled regularly. But things began to get out of control in 2003. He got a betting voucher as a present, but to use it he was required to set up an online account.<\/p>\n Once the voucher was spent, he started using a credit card to top up his account. He quickly went from placing cheap bets to betting up to \u20ac100 at a time. Money that was supposed to be put towards the final balance for his wedding, he covertly gambled away, without anyone knowing.<\/p>\n