Disgraced snooker star Mark King reveals how downward gambling spiral began playing YAHTZEE with nan when he was 10
DISGRACED snooker player Mark King admits his lifelong gambling hell began as a kid playing Yahtzee with his nan over PENNIES.
The Romford-born star’s crippling addiction took hold while growing up in Essex and it even involved playing cards with a ten-year-old Ronnie O’Sullivan, who hailed from the same area.
And as King got older, money was wasted on fruit machines with £250 jackpots, as well as bookmakers, horse and dog races in betting shops, plus roulette machines — “the absolute crack cocaine of gambling”.
But, incredibly, that buzz for a flutter — which almost destroyed his life and has stunted his snooker career — began when he started playing the popular dice game with his grandmother.
King, 51, who is currently serving a five-year ban handed out in November for match fixing, explained: “From a young age, I used to stay round my nan’s house on a Thursday. We played Yahtzee, an old-school game.
“My nan used to give me a bag of two pences. She would put them in front of me.
“But that’s how I started betting and learning that sort of stuff.
“I used to go to the snooker club in Romford, the club where Steve Davis first started.
“And I was playing on the fruit machines — all day, every day. At that time, fruit machines were 10p a go and the jackpot was £100.
“I was only ten or 11 years old and I wasn’t allowed to play them.
“Once I put in one pound and won £16. I got four bells. I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m rich’, and I had to run with it in my pocket to the toilet.”
King, who turned professional in 1991, became a “compulsive gambler” and often spent his days in betting shops before he would play in ranking competitions later that same evening.
And if it had not been for his gambling addiction, King reckons he would have “definitely won more tournaments”.
The 2016 Northern Ireland Open champ recalled: “I played John Higgins in the semi-finals of the 1998 Welsh Open. I lost 6-5.
“I was in the betting shop all day until 6pm.
“The first dog race was at 11am and I think I did about a grand. I was not in the best frame of mind.
“I should have been resting, sleeping, and getting ready for a massive game. I was only 24.
“I had just started getting to that stage where I was doing better in competitions, getting further, and knocking on the top 16. But I just wanted to bet.
“It hurts me to say it but I’d have a row with my wife, just so I could get out and punt.
“Once I did about £3,000 in the betting shop. I owed a bookmaker and I told him to wait as I had a cheque to come from the German Masters.
If I ever have another bet, then my marriage is done. It’s gone.
Mark King
“Nowadays, you can gamble 24 hours a day.
“You can sit on the loo and do £10,000 on your mobile phone.”
King first attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings in 1997 and has only suffered four “breakouts” where he has relapsed.
And his last bet was now 13 years ago.
The father-of-two admitted: “If I don’t go to my weekly GA meetings then I know I’m in trouble.
“If I ever have another bet, then my marriage is done. It’s gone.
“My life is brilliant now. It’s wicked. I have a lovely family and a couple of lovely dogs.”
Talking on the Cue Sport Hub YouTube channel, King does not discuss the lengthy match-fixing ban slapped on him in the winter.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
An independent disciplinary committee found him guilty of one count of match fixing and providing inside information on a match.
King appealed the decision and branded it as “c**p” that “I can deal with”.
It is believed he has been forced to sell his snooker table during legal action with baize bigwigs.
To pay their bills, his wife works in a school and he is essentially now a “house husband”, doing some labouring while “buying and selling a few bits and bobs”.
Reflecting on his 33-year career, King added: “I look back and think, ‘What a plank I was!’ I much prefer the person I am now.
“I can go to sleep now and I do not have to worry about owing people money.
“I also do not have to worry about coming home at silly o’clock in the morning.
“I was like a firework that went off and when I gambled, everything around me got hit — my wife, and my kids. I was a horrible person.”
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – gamcare.org.uk
- GambleAware – GambleAware.org
Read our guide on responsible gambling practices.
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.