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This Is Real Life : The Young Gambler ™/ Text / Ronnie Grebenyuk / Image / Liliam Liem Many of us have gambled at least once in our lives - you might have had a go at online poker or placed a bet on the FA Cup final. But for one young student, gambling was more than just a bit of fun. It ended up taking over his life. Sagar Khanna, aged 20, tells The Cut how he got caught up in gambling and the mess he got into as a result. How did you get yourself into gambling and why? There was no reason why really. I came to London in 2001 to live with my brothers who also sponsored me. One day me and my cousin went out for dinner,and decided to go the casino after, which was just opposite the restuarnt. Back then I didn’t even know about it and I had never gambled before. We went to a roulette table and started playing. I placed £50 bets on my lucky number 9 and luckily I won £1800, I couldn’t believe I’d won that amount of money for my first time and was very exctied. The next day I bunked school and went on a mad shopping spree with my cousin, spending the money. I had some money left over and didn’t know what to do with it so I went to gamble again, where I would sometimes lose, sometimes win money and that’s how I got addicted. Describe your daily routine of gambling ? In the evenings I used to go buy phones and sell them, and make like £50 everyday out of it. So I would use that money to go gambling with. Where did you get the money from for gambling? I used to make money from my part time business, it wasn’t enough though because I lost it so I started borrowing money from my family and friends. How did gambling affect you personally? Well I lost out on my education, I used to be really sucessful at school and get good grades but that all chnaged. I lost the trust of my friends and family and I lost trust in myself too. What was the worst thing that happened to you as a result of gambling? Sometime in January 2007, I thought of gambling big. I had £400 of my own, but lost it on gambling, so I borrowed £1500 from a couple of my friends and £1000 from my brother for gambling. Altogether that’s £2900. I lost it all in one day. I was very scared and didn’t know what to do, so I just left my home without telling anyone, no one knew were I was. I stayed at my friends house for 15 days. Then I called my dad, told him the whole story, begging him and saying sorry. Luckily after he came to pick me up and took me home. How did you get yourself out of gambling? I started working in my brothers shop in East Ham, made money and payed back every single person that I owned money to in about two months. How has gambling changed the way you see things now? After paying everyone back I realised it was bad what I did with the money, so I decied to return to my country and help my dad with his business. What do you do now? Now I’m a director of a limited firm called DESIRED AIRWINGS LIMITED. It’s a complete travel house, I enjoy it a lot, I work hard and make money the right way. What advice do you have for other young people who might get into a similar situation with gambling? I’m very happy with life now without gambling and would advise other people not to get yourself into gambling. It’s a big time waster and it can result in you losing things most important to you like family and friends. Focus on what really matters.		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