![\"Henson,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/4c0c5d79-0075-4d9c-949c-64ffedead956.jpeg\")
Mark Henson, who asked not to be pictured, said he first became addicted to gambling in his early 20s. (Getty images)<\/p>\nAt the height of his gambling addiction, Mark Henson always thought his next big win was just around the corner.<\/p>\n
The Sydney man first became hooked on betting after he won a few thousand dollars in his early 20s.<\/p>\n
Within a few years, his debts mounted and he started to count his losses.<\/p>\n
Mark Henson, who asked not to be pictured, said he first became addicted to gambling in his early 20s. (Getty images)<\/p>\n
He couldn’t pay the mortgage on a property he owned with his best friend.<\/p>\n
His relationship with his girlfriend broke down.<\/p>\n
He moved in with his mother and stepfather, feeling lost and at a loose end.<\/p>\n
“I gave them three-quarters of the truth with all of the trouble I was in, the debts and so on, no job at the time,” Henson said.<\/p>\n
“I was basically staying with them because I had nowhere else to stay, they put me up.”<\/p>\n
Henson says compulsive gamblers have a damaging mindset.<\/p>\n
“They go through their savings, then they start borrowing, then they’re doing overdrafts, then they’re borrowing off people they can’t repay, then they start selling things,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There’s this process, the moral compass will just keep dropping and dropping.”<\/p>\n
One day, when his mum and stepfather went away, he came up with a plan.<\/p>\n
“I thought I’d take X, Y and Z out of the place, I’d go hock it, I’d go have a bet, win the money back, go get the stuff out of hock and put it back in its place,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They won’t know any different, it was like a loan.”<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/74d48e15-b0d5-4005-ac31-1d7d44818004.jpeg\")
Henson’s gambling addiction took him to hell and back. (Getty images)<\/p>\n
But his mum and stepfather had an inkling something wasn’t right.<\/p>\n
“When they came back, they could see the stereo and some of my mum’s jewellery wasn’t there,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They rang me up, I got a taxi into this place, so I came back home.<\/p>\n
“That was my first rock bottom and there was an intervention.”<\/p>\n
Henson checked into rehab at William Booth House in Sydney, an experience which he described as “the best thing that has ever happened to me to this day.”<\/p>\n
As a part of the program, he was introduced to Gamblers Anonymous\ufeff, where he found a sense of community.<\/p>\n
“You felt supported and you were safe,” he said.<\/p>\n
‘The monsters in me came back out’<\/p>\n
After an 11-month stint in rehab, Henson remained gamble-free for five years.<\/p>\n
He had a job at the airport, a new girlfriend and his family was back in the picture.<\/p>\n
But one year he was asked if he would like to join a $10 tipping competition at work.<\/p>\n
“For years I’d say no, this one year I said yes,” he said.<\/p>\n
During the first week he lost his bet but soon felt the urge to chase the money.<\/p>\n
“The monsters in me came back out to play again,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I thought I’d have a $50 bet, I’ve already had a little bet.”<\/p>\n
He lost $200 one weekend, $700 the next and $1200 the following weekend.<\/p>\n
![\"Henson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/852db1eb-3875-4f96-b6a6-262055523c4c.jpeg\")
After his first stint in rehab, Henson remained gamble-free for five years and had a job at Sydney Airport. (Getty images)<\/p>\n
Almost two months later, he was in a position of trust at the airport when he was asked to load a plane with foreign money.<\/p>\n
“It was a one in a million time that this would happen,” he said.<\/p>\n
“An armoured car came up and started sending up bags of this foreign money.<\/p>\n
“I stole a wad of money, that was about 350 notes.”<\/p>\n
Henson took the cash to a currency exchange outside of his local area to avoid detection.<\/p>\n
“I got someone to go in there for me, like a hobo, I said ‘take them in’, because of the cameras,” he said.<\/p>\n
Henson recalled he went inside and cashed in one of the notes himself.<\/p>\n
“One of the notes was $140 Australian, I did my maths and I had like $50,000 in notes,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’m going ‘this is not good, this is not good’.”<\/p>\n
As Henson started to realise how much money he had taken, police were on his tail.<\/p>\n
Days later, the Australian Federal Police swooped in and raided his house to search for the currency.<\/p>\n
Henson’s shame grew when he realised he knew one of the police officers.<\/p>\n
“I played football with him and grew up with him,” he said.<\/p>\n
“He was apologetic, he said ‘mate, we’ve got to do this’, so it was quite embarrassing.”<\/p>\n
Henson turned himself in, was charged, left his job, returned to rehab for six months and avoided jail.<\/p>\n
‘It’s possible to get help’<\/p>\n
These days, Henson looks back on that dark time as a turning point in his life.<\/p>\n
He went back to rehab, surrendered to the process and found a new career path.<\/p>\n
“I stayed for two-and-a-half years working, it started off where I’m at today,” he said.<\/p>\n
He has since paid off his debts and has not gambled since September 2003.<\/p>\n
Henson has now worked at Oakdene House in Sydney’s west for 13 years, providing clinical supervision, gambling counselling, education and outreach services.<\/p>\n
“It’s a safe place where people can come and feel supported,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You witness so many people rebuild their lives.”<\/p>\n
Henson hopes by sharing his story he can encourage others to seek help.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/3216eba4-481e-4021-9170-423c1a7013ce.png\")
The serenity prayer, a common mantra for some of those recovering from gambling addiction, sits in the foyer of Oakdene House. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
He wants people to know gambling addiction doesn’t discriminate and can affect people from all walks of life.<\/p>\n
But he finds the common thread between people with a gambling addiction is they often find themselves in “a very lonely place”.<\/p>\n
“There’s nothing social about it and it’s their own little secret,” he said.<\/p>\n
“That’s the thing with gambling addiction, you can’t smell the cards on their breath.”<\/p>\n
His advice to family and friends of a compulsive gambler is to “stop bailing them out”.<\/p>\n
“There needs to be consequences,” he said.\ufeff<\/p>\n
“It needs to be tough love, it needs to be factual, you can’t put sprinkles and fairy floss on top, because it just doesn’t work like that.”<\/p>\n
Henson believes there’s strength in numbers when it comes to recovery.<\/p>\n
“With numbers you’re strong but if you start doing it on your own, that’s where you’re going to be vulnerable,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The first thing is to go and talk to someone.<\/p>\n
“Don’t be ashamed to put your hand up if you’re struggling, it’s possible to get help.”<\/p>\n