number to keepmywife from finding out what I was getting us into. I received a call
saying I had to get everything up to date or wewould be kicked out of our house.
I decided to ask the club for a loan to getme out of themess I was in, however when
I went to them, therewas nobody in the office. I then saw the cheque book and ripped
out two cheques from it, wrote them out tomyself totalling £8,000 andwent and cashed
them in. Being honest, at the time I was so deluded and obviously ill that I didn’t even
think I was doing anythingwrong. Inmymind I was just borrowing it for a short while
andwould pay it back in no time.
As it turned out, I gambled awaymost of themoney I had taken and had noway of
paying it back. Inevitably they found out and I was thrown out of the club, and also had
to voluntarily handmyself into the police andwas chargedwith theft and fraudulently
forging a signature.
By the time the court case came round, mywife still didn’t know the extent of trouble
I was in, nor did anybody else I was close to. I just couldn’t find away of telling anyone.
However she eventually read about what I had done in the newspaper aftermy court
case.
I moved back to England to try to pay off the debts I was in. Luckily I managed to
get the debt repaid thanks toworking back over here and alsowith some help frommy
family. Yet still I couldn’t stop the urge to gamble.
THE TIPPING POINT
After forgivingme for what I had done, mywifemoved back over to Englandwithme
and our children. Yet again even that wasn’t enough to stopme gambling. It was then
that I did the thing that I ammost ashamed of.
I had run out of gamblingmoney again and had run out of ways of raisingmoney
due tomy credit rating being poor due to previous unpaid debts. One daywhenmy
wifewas back at home for a few days, I pawnedmy children’s things and also some
other household items in order to raisemoney to gamble. Inevitably I lost themoney
very quickly.
I then realised after all that time I no longer wanted to live this life. I was too ashamed
to tell her what I had done and couldn’t have looked the children in the eye, so I decided
the best thing for everyonewould be if I tookmy own life.
I planned to jump in front of a train, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t bring
myself to do it. I don’t really remembermuch else but I turned up atmy parents house
and told them everything I had done and that I really needed help.
Luckily I contacted SportingChanceClinic andwas able to spend time in the
residential treatment centre. I spent 26 days in the clinic and it was the first real time that
I was able to be honest with people about what had happened and how I felt.
LOOKINGBACK
It was over two years ago now that I was at the clinic and since thenmy life has turned
around to the point where I can be honest with people, gaining back the trust ofmywife,
family and friends.
Don’t getmewrong I’m far from perfect, but I can deal with real issues in a sensible
and controlledway, instead of running away to the bookies. I am so grateful to Sporting
Chance, and also the RPAwho agreed tomake a donation towards the cost ofmy
treatment.Without their help I don’t knowwhere I wouldbe.
Currently I am still playing atmy club Liverpool St Helens, and I’m able to playwith a
clearmind and really enjoyingmy rugby at present.Mywife and familywho bothwent
through a terrible time throughoutmy gambling addiction cannow enjoy their lives again,
as I can see now the effect it had on themwhen I was atmyworst. Generally life is better
and I can look forward to some good times ahead now I am in recovery.
Gambling is a very secretive and lonely addiction and affects everyone around you. It
is only since gettingwell that I’ve realised the extent of how it can grip you and I would
say to anyonewho feels anything similar, speak out and ask for advice or help before the
problem spirals out of control as it did forme.
I amnow doing somework for SportingChanceClinic and enjoying the chance to
help others. I have also recently got involvedwith the RPA and hopefully this can help
raise awareness to both players and their families of the dangers of gambling addiction.
MarkPotter:
MyGambling
Addiction
Gamblinghas thepotential to rip you and your family apart. It’s a cruel addiction that canhave extremely
dangerous ramifications for not just your rugby career but also thepeople you love and cherish.
THE EARLYDAYS
Up until my late teens I only ever used to bet very
infrequently, the odd football coupon and the odd
horse on a Saturday. Looking back, my issue started
when I suffered a bad shoulder injury at 19/20. At the
time I was at college and playing rugby at a decent
level, but earning very littlemoney. As people know,
injuries are frustrating and boring and as I wasn’t doing
much else, I started to open up a couple of betting
accounts in order topass some time. Firstly I would
depositmaybe £20 at a time and use that until it had
run out, a couple of quidhere and there on horses and
sports bets.
A FIRSTBIGWIN
Then one day everything changed. I always remember
this as the very day that I really started to get excited
about gambling, I had £52 inmy Ladbrokes account,
and placed a lucky 15on the horses, a football coupon
and a lottery bet. I closed downmy computer and
went out for the day. I returned home later that night
and had a look atmy account to find it had £11,000 in
it. As I say at the time I was on a relatively small wage
and this amounted to about 8months salary. To say I
was excitedwould be an understatement and I literally
ran to the bookies towithdraw some of it. I took
£1500 cash over the counter onmy card and left the
rest inmy account.
THEDESIRE TOWINMORE
That £1,500would be the onlymoney ofmywinnings
that I ever withdrew. I foundmy excitement levels
massively raised andwith that, the amounts that I
then started to stake got significantly higher. I found
it pointless to put a £5 bet on anymore as I had such
a bigwin and I think I just wanted to recreate that
feeling of excitement and adrenalin.
Therefore I started to increase to £50 or £100
per bet and at first it wasn’t a problem as I was just
using up thewinnings inmy account. However the
remaining £10,000 quickly disappeared and then the
real problems started as I was back to usingmy own
money. I found I couldn’t then go back to placing small
bets and it wasn’t long before I started gettingmyself
into debt, as I was now depositing £250-300 per day
intomy account.
Everything just spiralled out of control and I soon
started to borrow off friends, family and take out loans
just so I could carry on gambling huge amounts of
money that I couldn’t afford.
THEDEBT STARTS
Aroundmymid-twentieswhen I metmywife, I was
about £20,000 in debt and had leftmy club, so I
decided tomove over to Ireland to get away from
what I was doing over in England.Mywifewas Irish
andwas also pregnant at the time sowe decided to
live over there and try to give up gambling andmake
a fresh start. However it never went away and quickly
I openedupmore accounts andprettymuch got back
into the same routine.
Fast forward two years down the track and I
managed to do the exactly the same thingwhich I did
in England. Got into debt, gambled every day, but this
time I had responsibilities andwas findingmyself lying
tomywife and getting behindwith house payments
and other bills. It literally got to the stagewhere I was
intercepting the postman and changing our phone
A reminder all RPA
Members can access
confidential support on
the LPP 24/7helplineon
01373858 080
Mark’ssixwarningsigns
1.
Money issues betweenplayers, i.e.
borrowingmoney on a regular basis.
2.
Mood swings
3.
Dips inperformance
4.
Looking tired
5.
Late for training,missing social
events etc
6.
Bad tempered, arrogant reactions
tobanter
Theeffectsofgambling
onyouandyourfamily
• Financial problems e.g. consistently
gamblingmore than you intend to,
getting intodebt to fundgambling,
problems payingbills.
• Obsessive thinking about gambling to
the extent that it is hard to focus on
other important areas of your life.
• Impact on relationships e.g. lying to
partners and lovedones about
gambling, borrowing from friends
and family, arguments.
• Mental healthdifficulties e.g. guilt
and shameabout gambling,mood
swings, anxiety anddepressedmood,
sleepdifficulties
If you’re struggling andneedhelp, please
contact LPP24/7 for confidential support
on1373 858 080
SupportandAdvice
For further support and advice, please visit
the followingwebsites.
• GamCare: Freephone: 08088020 133
or visit
• SportingChanceClinic:
/
education-training/gambling
• Gamblers Anonymous UK:
• Gam-AnonUK and Ireland:
Onemanwhohasbeen
through it all and
experienced thebrutal
lowsof agambling
addiction isMarkPotter.
Themarried father-of-
threewho still ply’shis
rugby trade for Liverpool
StHelens, has a
powerful anddisturbing
storyandonehehopes
will preventmore
players from following
inhis footsteps.
mark potter
Gambling isaverysecretive
andlonelyaddictionandaffects
everyonearound
you
24
25
RPA
.co.uk
RPA
.co.uk
