Sadly: the key snooker player has died……

While the dark pall of literally betting away your house stalked the great W.T. with more foreboding than Dick Francis riding Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National, it did not detract from his prized reputation as one of the most talented – and later deeply tormented – figures in snooker folklore.
It also did not harm Thorne’s image or popularity among the British public, who have long held the belief that snooker professionals from the 1980s generated a level of interest in the game that has never been or will ever be replicated in modern times

Thorne had a lot in common with traditional sporting hell-raisers like Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins George Best, and his after-dinner speaking chum Paul Gascoigne despite being such an affable charming, thoughtful, and well-groomed character. The difference was that his main drug was gambling away his shirt rather than obscuring reality with a bottle

Thorne’s personal life was more chaotic and dangerous than any of the challenges he faced as a professional snooker player between 1975 and 2001.
In 2016, he declared bankruptcy due to his desire to gamble. He felt bad about being unfaithful to his partner, battled depression, considered suicide, was threatened by money lenders, and had his £475,000 house repossessed. While battling leukemia in Alicante, he relied on donations from a GoFundMe page to pay for medical treatment

Is he a flawed character Yes absolutely Is he a likable character Yes absolutely He was regarded as a man’s man, a stellar geezer, and a fantastic raconteur in the 1980s snooker culture, but he battled a slew of personal demons

For all of his iconic moments in the sport and his penchant for making 147s, which saw him become the self-styled ‘Mr Maximum,’ rising to world number seven and reaching two World Championship quarter-finals, there are numerous tragic stories of an individual with a destructive streak due to the disease of compulsive gambling. He estimated that he spent £3.5 million on gambling and was once barred from entering British racetracks due to debts

“Snooker and horse racing had become the twin obsessions of my life,” he wrote in his autobiography, Taking A Punt On My Life. “The former helped me make a lot of money, while the latter ensured that an awful lot of it was wasted

My own father, no stranger to the seduction of the gee-gees, ran into Thorne in a local bookmaker during a break from his commentary stint in 2004 when the sport’s old Premier League was held in Scotland. “He wasn’t holding back,” was the message, which was unfortunately in keeping with the theme of his crippling gaming debts

“I suffered from depression most of my life,” he told me. “It’s the spotlight.” Snooker players have a lot of free time, and football players have a lot of free time, which is why so many football players gamble.”
Thorne’s death marks the end of an era in which professional sports seemed more innocent and less serious. The only issue was that it was a myth. What happened behind closed doors back then is still happening today. It’s just that there were no social media platforms or 24-hour news channels to infiltrate personal thought processes

I think you are born with it,” said Paul Merson, a former Arsenal and England midfielder who blew an estimated £7 million. As soon as the bet is placed, you wonder, “What did I do that for?” When self-worth enters the picture, you despise yourself
The ticking time bomb of mental health was not the primary concern back then, which is an indictment on how society should have been run. Thorne could and should have received assistance long before he plunged into the abyss