A COMPULSIVE gambler claimed hypnotism help him beat the odds – and his addiction.
Tony Mays, 38, said he quit thanks to Huddersfield hypnotherapist Heidi Dawson.
Mr Mays has just sold his business, Village Bakery in Marsden, to start a new life with wife Zoe in France.
He claimed he was cured after just three sessions.
“I knew instantly that I would never bet again,” he said.
“I couldn’t even bring myself to buy a lottery ticket.”
Mr Mays said he started gambling on arcade machines at 13, when he lived in Blackpool. He added: “I’d probably known since the age of 20 that I had a problem, which I tried to hide.
“It wasn’t the money that was a problem – I didn’t get into debt or put my career or business at risk – it was the amount of time it took up.
“I felt guilty that Zoe was always waiting around for me and I felt tired all the time.
“I must have spent around 30 hours a week in the bookies. It was compulsive to go every day.”
He decided to change after his mother’s death from cancer a year ago.
During three sessions with Mrs Dawson he learned to self-hypnotise.
He claimed the treatment also helped him lose weight and get fit.
He said: “Over a year on, my former gambling colleagues still can’t believe the change.
“When we went back to Blackpool I had absolutely no desire to gamble, I just wanted to tell all the lads playing the machines to get treatment.”
Mrs Dawson, who is also a life and business coach at Pathways Coaching, at New North Road, Edgerton, said: “Hypnotherapy is for those situations when willpower just isn’t enough.”