A private-hire car driver, we'll call him Tom, lost more than S$8,000 betting on World Cup matches.

The man, speaking to Lianhe Zaobao, revealed that he has been suffering from kidney problems for 18 years.

He admitted that he was already in financial trouble before the World Cup started, primarily from his tendency of frequenting lounges to have a drink.

To sustain his lifestyle, he would borrow money from his aunt once he ran into any financial trouble.

Perfect opportunity

Tom then saw the World Cup as the perfect opportunity to settle whatever debts he had accrued.

The only problem was, Tom did not follow football at all, and had no idea which team was considered the favourites or the underdogs.

To counter this potential setback, Tom decided to bet on every single match in the World Cup.

The more he lost, the more he spent on another match.

Which resulted in him losing S$8,000 within the first week of the competition.

Happy-ish ending

The silver lining to this story was that Tom figured out in time that he was digging a deeper hole for himself.

He closed the gambling account after taking some loans from his aunt and friends.

He then approached Adullam Life Counselling, a non-profit that provides support for problem gamblers and their families, for help with his situation.

And Tom definitely sounded remorseful for his actions, promising to not spend that much money on gambling in the future.

H/T Zaobao

[related_story]

Image from NCPG