A gambling addict who blew his entire student loan within 24 hours of receiving it says rehab saved him - and he now knows how others can avoid falling into the same trap.
Recovered Bray Ash, 28, begun playing fruit machines when he was a child.
But it wasn't until he went to university and could legally gamble at 18 that things started escalate.
Bray, from Sevenoaks, Kent, went on to lose a whopping £40,000 betting mostly online on horse races, dogs, tennis, darts and basketball.
The football fan says the day his life totally turned around was when he fronted up and asked for help.
"When I went to university, I had more money and time on my hands," he recalled.
"I would miss lectures, and I wasn't even socialising that much. I was sporty as a child too but at university, gambling took over my life."
His lowest point was when he lost his entire student loan in just a single day.
"In the January term I got my student loan of £1,600 and within 24 hours I had bet it all away," said Bray.
"I didn't come out my room for two days, I couldn't talk, it was just awful.
"That was the one where I knew was something seriously wrong."
After a night out with friends instead of going home, Bray would hit the casino in search of a winning thrill.
Things changed in 2018 when he received treatment at the Gordon Moody Association in Dudley, West Midlands.
However, Bray says the money he lost isn't what he regrets most.
He said: "At school I was sporty, popular and outgoing. But at Uni my life flipped upside down and I changed.
"It took me a long time to learn how to enjoy life again, I'm back now playing football. I don't care about the money I've lost, it's the time and opportunities. But I don't dwell on it."
After Bray graduated, he began working and was able to borrow money to gamble with, plunging him into debt.
"My mental health suffered a lot. It got to the point when I was 25, I went to rehab," he said.
"I managed to get a place in the only residential gambling rehab in the country and that really helped."
Now recovered Bray is a member of the Gambling Commission's Lived Experience Advisory Panel.
He said: "I'm not anti-gambling, I know a lot of people who do gamble responsibly.
"One of the biggest things that I'm passionate about is there needs to be more money donated for treating gambling addicts and their family.
"The companies are making profits but they're not giving back enough to the problem they cause."
Bray says bookmaker firms only want losers and will restrict accounts owned by those lucky enough to win money.
"That really highlights they're not interested in playing fairly, the business model is based on people who continually lose," he said.
"Some of the advertising needs to be reined in also.
"I don't think gambling companies should be allowed to advertise on anything other than sport. And it should be past 9pm."
