Dave Farrar was like most other gamblers. Fairly low stakes and fascinated by sport, he loved taking on the bookies. And he'd got to a point where he'd started to win more than he lost. He'd started to believe that he had gambling worked out. But then it all went wrong.

Dave's brief downward spiral came about because the girl he thought he was going to marry walked out on him without explaining why. And he chased her, and waited for her, but still nothing happened. The days got harder to fill and so he needed something to hide behind. He chose not alcohol or drugs but punting. He...