 | Personally I can’t see the attraction. How anyone can glean any enjoyment from sweating over which horse wins a race, or whether a little ball drops into a certain red or black numbered slot on a roulette wheel is beyond me. Some people certainly do, though. My Father-In-Law, for instance, liked a flutter on the gee-gees, but he never, ever bet more than he could easily afford to lose. Not so, others, however. Gambling can quickly take over and destroy lives. One such man who knows all about that, first hand, is the author of this true story of a gambler out of control, Jason Haddigan. |
It’s a roller coaster tale, telling how his addiction began as a child feeding fruit machines, taking in his life on the road scamming bookmakers to fuel his gambling, which simply saw him returning almost every penny in lost bets, and ending with his extradition from the USA, having played – and lost – in the casinos of Las Vegas. A particularly poignant thread running through the book is his relationship with his Mother and Father.
The well written and gripping story, tells how he lived off the proceeds of gambling for many years, including betting on horses, dogs and his own snooker and pool skills. He took to scamming bookmakers across England and Scotland and also gambled regularly in Las Vegas. A winner and loser of sometimes breathtaking amounts, the reader is treated to the incredible highs and lows which that brings, along with details of his numerous trips to the fabulous Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and his women, children and booze-fuelled lifestyle.
Of course, he eventually lost everything and ended up in prison, as well as being banned from most betting shops nationwide.
The well written and gripping story, tells how he lived off the proceeds of gambling for many years, including betting on horses, dogs and his own snooker and pool skills. He took to scamming bookmakers across England and Scotland and also gambled regularly in Las Vegas. A winner and loser of sometimes breathtaking amounts, the reader is treated to the incredible highs and lows which that brings, along with details of his numerous trips to the fabulous Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and his women, children and booze-fuelled lifestyle.
Of course, he eventually lost everything and ended up in prison, as well as being banned from most betting shops nationwide.
 | I've given this excellent book 5 stars in my Amazon review...and I was so captivated by it that I took it on my recent cruise, reading it in Santorini, Marmaris and Syros! While it's not cheap – the paperback will do you for almost a score (see, I picked up some of the betting terminology) – it makes fascinating reading for all sorts of reasons, including those I’ve mentioned above. But for me, the highlight is the incredible final chapter, An Appointment With The Mexican Mafia, which reads like it comes straight from a thriller novel. |
Oh, and I’ll end this review with one last thought – what does Jason Haddigan have in common with the late Sir Roger Moore? The answer: they’re the only two people whose autobiographies I’ve ever read, and I think it’s a dead cert that this one will become a bestseller. Jason Haddigan may have been a compulsive gambler once…now his book is compulsive reading.
How And Why I Conned The Bookies, by Jason Haddigan, and published by Waterside Press, is available on Amazon, here.
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