“I have no business watching a horse race now because it’s predominantly about gambling. I’ve no business watching horse racing and I’ve no business being in a bookie’s. There’s a saying in recovery, ‘if you’re in a barber’s long enough, you’ll end up with a haircut’.”
It’s Galway races week and once upon a time, former post office manager Tony O’Reilly would have viewed the event as another in a long list of potential gambling opportunities. While horse racing was not an obsession of his, even while going through a spell of high-stakes risk-taking that ended with him stealing €1.7 million from his employer, it’s something that he can no longer watch.
“Racing wasn’t a huge part of my gambling, I think I just gambled on literally everything,” he says.
While the Galway Races is a major tourist attraction for the region and a source of much enjoyment for many, for people with a gambling problem it is best avoided.
For O’Reilly, the 2010 version was a major milestone on his downfall and contributed in no small part to his eventual arrest and imprisonment – which in turn led to his rehabilitation and recovery.
Today, the book he wrote with Declan Lynch – Tony 10 – has sold steadily since its March launch while his new website tonyjoreilly.ie aims to help those who could be prone to gambling problems. He is also working with Epic Risk Management to help educate people and try to minimise risk-taking.
Eight years ago, that was the last thing on his mind when Galway race week came around and he was in the early stages of his problems.
“It was probably the only time I can ever remember being nearly up [in profit]. I had won about €10,000 on a bet in the World Cup. I could have cleared all my loans, they weren’t gambling-related at that stage. I would have been left with about €1,000 and that was the weekend before Galway.
“I had all the intention at that time of paying off all my personal loans and maybe going on a holiday, but I decided I would have a bet on the Galway races and wouldn’t bother going on holiday.”
The rest is history and his losing bets set off another chain of losses which ultimately led to him stealing from his employer, An Post, going on the run and ending up in prison.
‘A reminder’
“So the Galway races are a reminder to me of then . . . I did start really getting a lot worse from then on.”
Nowadays, he avoids race meetings, even on the television.
“This week, I’ll be just focusing on other things and that’s what I’ve done over the last couple of years. I’ve made my life a life that doesn’t involve gambling,” he said.
“Someone once said to me, which I always thought was a lovely piece of advice, if you have an amount of money on a sporting event and you don’t enjoy watching the event, then it means you have too much money on it.
“Try not to get caught up with it too much,” he advises people who will be putting some of their earnings on this week’s spectacle. “If you’re going out to watch it, only bring the exact amount of money you’re prepared to lose. If you’re gambling online, keep your deposit level manageable. Never bet more than you’re prepared to lose. If you do feel you’re struggling, just reach out and ask for help.”
