Paul Merson opens up about gambling addiction 

😂😂

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It’s no joke: these media and sports organizations wanna have their cake and eat it too

😁and no doubt they will be showing the latest sky bet odds in the advert breaks along with all the players running around in their betting logo shirts. They will tell you to please bet responsibly though….then send you free bets if you ever dare to close down your account ..so they can hook you back in.

what's the point of buying a cake, if you're not going to eat it? @@Jettplayzgames

Same as the booze. Advertised everywhere.

Only this morning I was listening to talksport on my way to work, talking about the Tonali and Zaniolo and stuff, how dangerous gambling addiction is etc, and then immediately afterwards was a gambling site being advertised. It is quite ironic too how many players are being done for gambling whilst their own clubs have betting sponsors on their shirts or all around their stadiums.

Exactly! It’s shocking that it’s allowed.

I can’t believe it’s allowed really, if tobacco ads are banned so should gambling

bet you got some juicy free bet offers?

Yeah, it’s relentless now

Paul would be great on those ads. Always smiling having a laugh. Sign him up Sky!

*Brought

@@Tom-ws2zx love it,🤣🤣😂😂🤣

He always does. Every few months for many years he's spoken about it on TV.

Does he still gamble?

@@barry2924 he still gets free bets from skybet for doing the adverts

Cokehead moron.

Hes been talking bout this for nearly 30 years.Go away merson

Did it change your mind on the Toney too or just Tonali?

@@Obiodum_ shut up race-baiting spastic

Tonali doesn’t seem to be involved in match fixing, he never bet to lose so that puts a different slant on it for me.

Of course it does mate. Different strokes for different folks.

Without knowing any of the facts or details, Merson is assuming that Tonali is a gambling addict. Great work.

Addictions not an illness, it’s a way of coping with reality and making it better ! It’s a choice , yes. Difficult thing to end once it’s your routine ! But if you want to change , make the effort and you can ! I was a cocaine addict for ten years and gambling addict in between ! Met a woman who changed my life and I wanted to change , I chose to stop living that way , that was ten years ago . Merson is a pathetic excuse for a man !

@@STSauto if you are driven to addiction by factors outside your control it is not a choice. Like being abused by your dad making you have stress and anxiety issues for example. Merson is being honest about a problem we could all use education on. Addiction is an illness, medically and logically. You can deny it but doctors do not. Going to side with doctors on this one

@@STSauto addiction is not a choice. Speak to any recovering addict. Yes, the first drink, drug bet is. But honestly from the bottom of my heart as a recovering addict, I did not choose to be gripped by it, but it did, and by the time I hit my rock bottom, it was against my will. It's hard to understand for someone who is not an addict, but if you speak to those in recovery, they will tell you the same.

@@1andahalfmen268 I was an addict you melt ! You chose to go back , you chose to take a drug or a drink, see when your partner saves money for YOUR kids and her to buy a house and you waste it , that's not addiction my friend , that's a man who's had his own way throughout life and time and time again people fix it for him . He's a joke of a parent and man !

​@@TheWiseJameseducation will not solve the problem

⁠​⁠@@StephenC-49think you’re missing Merse’s point here. Get the lads help. Give them a 12 step program/therapy whatever it takes to help their demons. Obviously a fine is acceptable. But a hefty ban isn’t necessarily a deterrent. Speaking from experience.

Mans a loser , a grown man who can’t control himself is a loser ! Why this man is listens to is a disgrace ,

Good post mate.

@@Magicwhip1 thank you. Appreciated.

@@keef6586 100% right mate ! The worst part is when you start recouping your money and the bookies close your account because you are not “ profitable “ to them ! Ultimately though, they always take your money in the end.

What would you class as a compulsive gambler ? I bet on the footie most nights of the week but I don’t class it as an illness or addiction I just think to myself it’s fun , I lose I lose , I win it’s a bonus

@@markillingworth1972 one definition which I relate to is “I can’t stop when im winning and I can’t stop when I’m losing. “ You don’t seem to have a problem. It’s just fun for you.

So your recovering ....... You made a choice to quit eh ??? You changed your routine and Mates and made every effort to make yourself proud - merson doesn't , he talks a good game , but makes zero effort to change . Russel brand , Davina macall , heroin addicts and look at their careers , they chose to change. . Your doing amazing by being in recovery , keep it up , but that's a CHOICE YOU MADE , you knew life couldn't go on the way it was . Paul merson chooses his "addiction " over his marriage and his kids , says it all . He's still on TV , earning to gamble , if he wants to change , get out of media , get away from sport , make gambling companies aware he need a ban , make it impossible to gamble , within a year he'd be on the road to recovery . He makes zero effort .

@@STSauto Dont talk about things you dont understand, You are part of the problem.

@@jimjogger306 why's that ? What don't I understand ? I've been an addict . No people like merson are the problem and people like you who clearly can't read and only see what you want to see

@@STSauto I made a choice to quit 6 years before I managed to be successful. I attended self help meetings for years and couldn't break the cycle. Had it been as easy as just making the choice I'd be 16 years clean rather than 10. Seriously not trying to argue in any way, but Merson has a point; I needed support to stop. As a footballer, how can they access support if they are going to get destroyed and banned? I don't know the truth behind the Tonali stuff, because reports have been at every extreme possible. If he really is an addict though, I wish him the best of luck, as I would do any other addict.

@@1andahalfmen268 no I do get your point , but we are pretty much in the same page. All I've seen from merson is constant whining , but I've yet to see him off sky sports for any period of time , he's surrounded by gambling adverts and talk. I had to leave where IAM from behind to change , I made a new life , I'm sure you made alot of changes aswell . But you made the choice that you need to change , my point is we choose to create a new routine with something that takes away reality then we make it an addiction , the only way that changes is if your whole routine totally changes. We are all different , I just never see or hear of what effort Paul makes , I've read his book and he just makes a joke of his whole life , there's zero remorse! I wish we could hear about how many struggle with drugs yet function and work , the media don't seem to want to talk about the biggest issue in Britain . Sorry if I've offended you

Its a common comparison used when talking about addiction, only uneducated idiots think addiction can be stopped by will power

It's so much bigger than football, the players should be banned from football so they can take care of themselves and not be distracted by the small issue of football.

bad idea. that will fuel their addiction more. unless youve been an adict dont comment. @@TomBerishaj

@@TomBerishaj Did you even watch Mersons interview? He is an ex gambling addict and said that playing football was his only release from it. If you take that away from footballers theyre left with lots of spare time on their hands and nothing to do.... but gamble. His argument was dont ban them from the sport they love playing(unless they bet against their own team of course)... Help them. If you want to take care of them then dont ban them.

@@Razormiller Yes, I watched. I would help them by banning them from professional football, freeing them up to bet on every game they please. As they work on recovery, I would encourage them to play amateur football, since they love the game so much. But I would not expect the professional game to allow them to bring disrepute on the game, thereby damaging a multi-billion dollar industry. I would not expect professional clubs to pay them the money they will use to bring the game into disrepute.

@@TomBerishaj Ah I see, youre a disingenuous imbecile. I didnt realise that when I replied. Take it easy.

No way of the possibility of Tonali coming forward in an effort to face a lighter consequence ?

Hes done that else he was looking at 3 year ban, probably getting 12 months instead. Still harsh @@Nostradanus86

Lol just because he plays for you?

@@Cal2929 should just have to pay double his winnings & face no ban.

chin up mate 👍🏼 it’s hard but keep at it it’s always there like drink and drugs

Bet you 20 quid you dont stop

Aye its a massive joke mate, everyones pissing their pants laughing @@Matty-kelly

@@Matty-kellyyou’re pathetic

Same here I want to stop but I just can't the thrill of it just makes me keep doing it

@@Matty-kelly hahahahaha next please ha

Its all a ploy to save face by national federations to not lead to the embrassment that 2006 calciopoli scandal caused.

He should be arrested for drug taking

@@pauldarn I’m pretty sure I did but will have a check in case it was a different one…fishing with David Seaman was part of it

@@paulcavanagh3324 Paul merson gambling and me it was called mate, wasn't the one with big Dave seaman on.

​@@hmq9052charged with drug taking😂😂

I believe you'll find Tonali was betting with illegal bookmakers based in Turin, Italy. The UK gambling industry has its faults, but they had nothing to do with this case. Why is it "astounding" and "deplorable"? I suspect that if Sky had not covered this story instead of being accused of "hypocrisy"... People would' be claiming Sky are not covering the story because of their links with bookmakers. Sky are damned if they do, damned if they don't. Personally, I applaud them for covering it in a sensitive way.

help me bro

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I noticed that. Sounded like Evan baxter off Bruce almighty.

Palace legend🔵🔴

Str8 outta trumpton

That's because they should have 5 minutes discussing this topic not near 15 minutes

Education is key. I just hope players are taught the mathematics of betting before they've even had a bet. I believe that had I not come across the mathematics of betting early on in my gambling it is very possible I might have ended up addicted.

@@markchapman2933 yeah, it's a difficult addiction to overcome and very hard to detect in other people. Someone calmly looking at their phone could be betting hundreds/thousands of pounds and you just wouldn't know any better.

Villa took him in his height of his gambling addiction and nobody outside of villa park knew it cause thats aston villa once you wear the famous claret and blue and perform to the level he did your family we've got a history of it he's never been back since and if he stood infront of the holte end again he'd get a standing ovation from villa park

He's broke that why he's the only ex pundit on sky sports...he's a mess financially I assume

So he can't work because of it? Not like Mers chooses the sponsorship on sky sports. Come on mate get real

It's called being a hypocrite@@lfclfc5683

@@lfclfc5683 Morals and principles.... just a thought.

@@lfclfc5683what you want him to turn it down and do a 9-5 bookkeeping? Get real

Very ignorant thing to say.

Feel better now?

Yeah I didn't understand that myself. The players will still get paid whether they're on a ban or not.

No they won’t, if the club want to pay them they can, I highly doubt they would though

What he needs to say is “ban betting from being advertised”, but his employer wouldn’t be impressed.

It's an absolute joke merson and others live in absolute cloud cuckoo land

Don’t bet on football, simple.

You’re sick.

It is NOT a serious illness. Get a grip of yourself.

What is it then would love to know

@@paulbarrow7320 It's an addiction. It's not an illness - 99% of illness's are physical. Being addicted to gambling is weak-willed.

The most nauseating advert in the history of adverts . Gamble responsibly, no such thing and they know it . If these mega rich footballers can't afford to lose money, how can average Joe on the street .

Heroin and crack worse