Isn't Gambling Addiction Enslavement?

Noteworthy in this article is the willing support network stepping forward to assist this gambling addict.

How many others suffer in silence, without the support and ultimate commit suicide?

If gambling creates addicts and enslaves people, why do we support it as revenue source?


Premiership footballer seeks help after racking up £800k in gambling debts
by Joseph Jeffries

Premiership footballer Matthew Etherington has sought help from his club's owners after running up gambling debts of £800,000, The Sun reports.

Stoke City winger Etherington is understood to have turned to club owner Peter Coates for help in paying back the huge debts he accrued by betting on horses, greyhounds and playing poker.

The 28-year-old had previously received a £300,000 loan from former club West Ham United for help with his long-term gambling addiction, and it is thought that Stoke City have offered the midfielder similar support.

Etherington revealed the full extent of his gambling problems after signing for Stoke City in January 2009. Shortly afterwards, club owner Coates - who ironically co-owns online betting firm bet365.com - decided to step in and offer support.

It is not clear exactly what type of assistance Etherington has received, but it may have involved a course of gambling addiction hypnotherapy. This increasingly popular treatment allows addicts to control their subconscious urges and gives them the confidence to resist the temptation to gamble.

Etherington has enjoyed an excellent start to the season and his recent form has fuelled talk of a possible call-up to the England squad. Stoke City manager Tony Pulis believes that this thanks in no small part to the support provided by the club's owners.

"Etherington's been a quality player and very, very good for us," The Guardian quoted Pulis as saying.

"He's got his life sorted out off the pitch, and you've got to give the Coates family great credit for getting involved with that and as a football club giving him the help he needed."

"The chairman took it on [to resolve the problem]. When he found out how bad the situation was, he organised everything and got things going for him. We have done a lot of things behind the scenes to help him," Pulis added.