Gambling Addiction PODCAST #17: 'Gambling Guard'

In this episode of The Invisible Addiction Podcast @GamblingGuard - reveals his gambling addiction story in full for the first time.

Gambling Guard has built a huge following online, with hundreds of thousands of views on gambling addiction awareness videos on Tik Tok and Instagram.

Earlier this year, his Twitter account went viral, with one of his tweets which detailed his gambling losses – placing more than 15,000 bets, making over 6,000 deposits and betting nearly £500,000 over the course of 12 years.

In the Podcast, I wanted to explore the relationship between the competitiveness nature of sales and gambling.

How did he start betting?

What impact did his addiction have on him and those around him?

What tips and advice does he have for people wanting to confront their gambling addiction…?

It’s a powerful and moving Podcast – full of extreme highs and crashing lows – and is also one that’s highly relatable – from Premier League football betting to trips to Las Vegas.

I’ve been hugely excited to share the conversation with you, not least because of his positivity in recovery and inspiring videos!

Here's a rough breakdown of the conversation:

00:00 Introductions and hearing about the start of his gambling addiction story

13:24 ‘Professional gambling was high up on the list of potential careers’

26:44 ‘I’d had the biggest win I’d ever had and yet I was completely numb to it’

48:10 ‘I just loved winning’

102:04 ‘You can’t recover if you don’t know what you’re recovering from’

121:52 ‘I want people to feel the freedom of recovery, what it can give you, and not something that defines you’

***

This Podcast is proudly sponsored by TalkBanStop which is a partnership between GamCare, Gamban and GAMSTOP to help anyone experiencing gambling harms to start their recovery journey:

https://www.gamcare.org.uk/talk/