One of the world's best snooker players is also a gambling addict. He put his young family through hell, sent his career into a tailspin, and even contemplated suicide. Mark King is 36 years old today. He once sold a snooker table for cash and promptly blew it in 10 minutes on three spins of a roulette-wheel machine in a nearby betting shop.
He says, "There is a gambling culture in snooker, and many players relax in that way. However, I am a compulsive and I don't know when to stop. There is a massive difference between people who lose 50 and then don't play again for a month and me. If I got 200 down, it was like, 'You can't leave now'; I'd go to the cashpoint, then go to the next card table. When that closed, go to the roulette, then the blackjack, then the Caribbean poker. It's an illness."
Peter Kay, the chief executive of the Sporting Chance clinic, specializes in the treatment of addicts. He believes the kind of debts run up in the past by King would make players more vulnerable to approaches threatening the integrity of the sport. Kay says, "Hypothetically, if you owed someone 40,000 and they said, 'I can knock that off if you win five frames and then lose', that's a hell of a pressure."
King, who admitted last year he once rejected an offer from a stranger of 100,000 to throw a match, says, "If you are in debt, maybe you'd be more vulnerable to suggestions like that. But even at the height of my problems and debts, and with all the other crazy things I was thinking, never did it cross my mind to try and throw a match."
King is now a recovering gambling addict, continues treatment and attends meetings. He is delighted to have reclaimed a life that at one time looked to be spinning hopelessly out of control. "Without the meetings, I am a scumbag," he says, "so I will always do them. The last eight years have been the sweetest time. My kids don't cower because I made their mother cry rowing about gambling away the shopping money, and there is a lot of love in my life that just wasn't there before."
Here's an interesting bit of King smut:
King retired from snooker but soon reversed his decision. "At the time I wanted to snap my cue," he said. "I took a couple of weeks off, then had a long chat with my wife and we agreed I should stick with snooker."
King's mother, who has since passed away, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in October 2003 for killing her cousin.
In 2004, King became involved in a spat with Quinten Hann after the Australian defeated a close friend of King's, Andy Hicks. After the match, Hann squared up to Hicks and, as a result, King challenged the Aussie to a boxing match. The bout took place, Hann winning the fight – dubbed "Pot Whack" – on points.
In 2004, King reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship. He was losing to Stephen Maguire when a mobile phone rang in the crowd. King said, "If that's my missus, tell her I'll be home soon."
He is one of three players to temporarily have a winning head-to-head record against Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Source: Independent.Co.UK.com [Retrieved 25 March 2011]
Gambling really is a disease, though it is not often recognized as such. It is good to read Mark King was able to overcome gambling before it overcame him.
He says, "There is a gambling culture in snooker, and many players relax in that way. However, I am a compulsive and I don't know when to stop. There is a massive difference between people who lose 50 and then don't play again for a month and me. If I got 200 down, it was like, 'You can't leave now'; I'd go to the cashpoint, then go to the next card table. When that closed, go to the roulette, then the blackjack, then the Caribbean poker. It's an illness."
Peter Kay, the chief executive of the Sporting Chance clinic, specializes in the treatment of addicts. He believes the kind of debts run up in the past by King would make players more vulnerable to approaches threatening the integrity of the sport. Kay says, "Hypothetically, if you owed someone 40,000 and they said, 'I can knock that off if you win five frames and then lose', that's a hell of a pressure."
King, who admitted last year he once rejected an offer from a stranger of 100,000 to throw a match, says, "If you are in debt, maybe you'd be more vulnerable to suggestions like that. But even at the height of my problems and debts, and with all the other crazy things I was thinking, never did it cross my mind to try and throw a match."
King is now a recovering gambling addict, continues treatment and attends meetings. He is delighted to have reclaimed a life that at one time looked to be spinning hopelessly out of control. "Without the meetings, I am a scumbag," he says, "so I will always do them. The last eight years have been the sweetest time. My kids don't cower because I made their mother cry rowing about gambling away the shopping money, and there is a lot of love in my life that just wasn't there before."
Here's an interesting bit of King smut:
King retired from snooker but soon reversed his decision. "At the time I wanted to snap my cue," he said. "I took a couple of weeks off, then had a long chat with my wife and we agreed I should stick with snooker."
King's mother, who has since passed away, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in October 2003 for killing her cousin.
In 2004, King became involved in a spat with Quinten Hann after the Australian defeated a close friend of King's, Andy Hicks. After the match, Hann squared up to Hicks and, as a result, King challenged the Aussie to a boxing match. The bout took place, Hann winning the fight – dubbed "Pot Whack" – on points.
In 2004, King reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship. He was losing to Stephen Maguire when a mobile phone rang in the crowd. King said, "If that's my missus, tell her I'll be home soon."
He is one of three players to temporarily have a winning head-to-head record against Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Source: Independent.Co.UK.com [Retrieved 25 March 2011]
Gambling really is a disease, though it is not often recognized as such. It is good to read Mark King was able to overcome gambling before it overcame him.
![king_571092a[1].jpg](/data/attachments/130/130229-38e0e35bc6af73ca8b28c36bdada1d6a.jpg?hash=OODjW8avc8)
