Bentley reveals gambling problem

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

BLACKBURN, England (AFP) — England midfielder David Bentley has admitted he had a gambling problem that threatened to wreck his career.

Blackburn star Bentley was hooked on gambling when he was a teenage youth player at Arsenal and would place up to 100 bets a day on horse racing, greyhound racing and play internet poker.

"I loved it. I was 14 when I first started going to a betting shop. I got carried away with it," Bentley told Setanta Sports' Football Matters programme.

"As I started earning more money I really started getting heavily into it. You just get addicted. I was on everything, the horses, the dogs, online with poker, betting on bingo, all sorts. I was betting on everything.

"You could get a certain amount of money and then just blow it...