Some people take on the demons of alcohol. Some take on drugs. Others risk it all on gambling. Few take on all three.
Paul Merson is one of the latter. Cocaine addict, alcoholic and compulsive gambler - an unhappy hat-trick of misery.
Merson takes his seat as permanent
Walsall manager in 2004
He estimates his addictions have cost him a cool £7million in monetary
terms but still reckons his luck's in; it could have cost him a whole
lot more - his life.
The Walsall FC manager and former England, Arsenal, Aston Villa and
Middlesbrough star gambled more money away in 20 years than most people
earn in a lifetime.
He estimates the figure at that eye-watering £7 million and talks frankly about being "lucky".
In another life, he believes, his addictions might not have propelled
him into the tabloid spotlight but they could easily have landed him in
jail, or worse.
"I have definitely been lucky; 100 per cent," he says.
"You see people who haven't got the money to feed their habits and some of them end up in terrible states.
"When people are betting more than they can afford they can end up 'nicking' and that's when you wind up in prison.
"I was extremely fortunate to be blessed with the ability to play
football at the level I did, in teams that were winning things and
doing well.
"It meant I had the money to feed my addictions. I would have rather
not had the addictions but at least I didn't have to resort to stealing
or crime.
"If I had had my addictions without football I would be very surprised to be still alive now."
As for the figures, Merson can only make an educated guess at the amount his compulsive gambling cost him financially.
He believes his gross losses amount to around £7 million, and while the
net deficit is some way short of that it still runs to several million
pounds.
"That's about the figure I've lost, but there would be winning and losing in there," he explains.
"I don't know how mch I would have won over the years but it wouldn't be anywhere near £7 million."
Merson's life, and especially his gambling, has often hit the headlines.
Some stories are accurate while others are wide of the mark. The
37-year-old reads them all and dismisses most as an occupational hazard.
But as someone whose betting has been out of control, he laughs when he
sees current footballers' big money gambling habits painted as problems
by the national media.
"John Terry earns £70,000-a-week and according to the papers he is betting £5,000-a-week," he says.
"That's the equivalent of a postman who earns £300-a-week betting £50.
If that postman was betting £301-a-week that would be a problem.
"What John Terry is reportedly doing isn't a problem."
Merson's betting was a problem, and not just for a few months.
He had his first bet at the age of 16 as he rose through the ranks as a highly talented Arsenal apprentice.
As he became a first team regular and the creative hero of the Highbury
terraces his income rose and so did the size of his wagers.
His addictive nature took over and eventually heavy gambling led to
heavy drinking, heavy drinking led to a cocaine addiction and all three
vices led to public tears and a whole different place in the media
spotlight.
The drug problem was solved quickly but the drinking, and especially the gambling, would not go away.
They haunted him at Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth and
followed him to Walsall, where they came to a head very publicly in
2003.
When Merson spoke to the Express & Star about his problems in his first season as a Saddlers player he was in a mess.
Having spent a night in police cells following a row with his wife,
Louise, that got out of hand, he admitted driving to phoneboxes several
times each night to place big-money bets.
It came as little surprise when a spell in rehabilitation in the United
States followed, and since his return 18 months ago he has become a
manager and barely looked back in his personal life.
"I wouldn't say my problems are behind me, but they are under control," he says.
"I don't drink heavily any more, I don't bet the kind of money I used to. It's about knowing what you can afford to lose.
"When I was at Arsenal and having problems I would sit at home in the
afternoon, turn on Teletext and put £5,000 on a greyhound I couldn't
see and knew nothing about.
"It could have had three legs."
Merson admits to losing £250,000 in a single weekend at the height of
his problems, and yet he has remained in football and retains the
chance to prove his managerial credentials at Walsall.
It adds further weight to his view that Lady Luck has smiled on him. In
fact, he believes even the era he was born into was a stroke of good
fortune.
"When I was at Arsenal and we were out drinking and gambling everybody
at the top level was doing the same, so it evened itself out," he said.
"I just couldn't do it now and play at the top level because things have changed so much.
"Thierry Henry wouldn't be half the player he is if he was doing the things I was doing.
"I've been extremely lucky to achieve what I have and be able to earn the money to pay for my addictions.
"There are people in prison for making one mistake, and they haven't been as lucky as me.
"I've got a nice house, nice wife, great kids. I get good wages.
"I earned a lot of money, I lost a lot of money
"I'm the happiest I have been for a long time."
