Previously played for Wales
A successful rugby player has spoken out for the first time about his gambling addiction. Scott Baldwin admitted that he has lost “tens of thousands of pounds” while addicted to gambling.
Baldwin revealed how his love affair with gambling began at 15 years old
Speaking on BBC Scrum V podcast, Baldwin revealed how his love affair with gambling began at 15 years old, when he would play fruit machines in bars. He then progressed to playing poker and online roulette.
Ease of online betting
Baldwin said that his addiction started to become more serious while on loan with Italian team ASR Milano in 2011. Staying there for two to three months, the young player was bored and began gambling on his phone.
Commenting on the ease of online betting, Baldwin said: “It’s so accessible it’s ridiculous.” He spoke about losing money and betting more to try and recoup his losses. During his career with the national Welsh rugby team as he began earning serious money, Baldwin was betting thousands.
He said: “It’s not the winning looking back now which was the buzz, it was the chase of when you were losing rather than when you hit it to get it back.”
The rugby player would continue playing until his balance was zero, although he never got into debt over the problem.
Now a family man
The former Ospreys front-rower is now married with a young son and credits his decision to stop gambling with starting a family.
He said: “Someone said to me something along the lines of, ‘If you wouldn’t want your son to do it, why would you do it,’ and that sat with me. I’ve written that down in my phone – ‘I’m Scott Baldwin and I’m an addicted gambler.’”
decided to speak out about his own experiences after helping a fellow colleague
Baldwin now abstains from any kind of gambling and wants to warn others of the dangers. He decided to speak out about his own experiences after helping a fellow colleague, and stated that he would love to help other rugby players open up on their addiction.
He added: “I’d like to think by doing this and being proactive it shows that you can come back from things.”