She has not had a bet since November and now hopes to become a counsellor so she can help others conquer their gambling addictions too.

Before the online poker started, I was a social gambler, verging on a heavy social gambler.

It was slot machines, going to the bingo, the lottery.

I first started going to casinos about 25 years ago but it became a more regular feature about 10 years ago.

About three years ago, I met some women in the casino that I used to go to and they were quite interested in playing poker.

I didn't know how to play the game so I looked on the internet and started to play for points. I thought it was quite easy so I started playing for money.

Sometimes it would run to two or three days at a time - I wouldn't go to bed Female addiction 'on rise'

In terms of what you read about and, when you speak to people, my losses were minimal.

My real problem was in the number of hours I spent playing.

I would stay up until 4am, 5am or 6am. Sometimes it would run to two or three days at a time - I wouldn't go to bed.

If I had 20 minutes in the morning before work I would spend that time playing poker.

It also affected my work. I'm a lecturer and I would finish class early so that I could come home.

The only thing that was in my mind was to get back onto the web to play - it was total compulsion.

For three years my life was on hold. It was totally all-consuming.

I more-or-less gave up my reflexology practice and lost contact with quite a lot of friends.

Husband's ultimatum

My husband, after a year of this, was getting a bit cross. He actually found me the Gamblers Anonymous site but I didn't feel too comfortable about it.

It was partly because I didn't have a problem. Everybody else had a problem. I didn't need to go - I wasn't losing a lot of money.

Six months later, my husband said, 'Do something about it or I'm off.' I started counselling.

For me it was about just doing it - the excitement, the buzz, the rush

A big thing was that my husband knew how much I was spending because he could see it on the credit card.

For about three or four months I didn't use my credit card so, instead, I used my daughter's bank card.

The whole thing about gambling and gamblers is that it's a solitary occupation - all of us are in our own little world.

There's only superficial contact because we're far too focused on what the next hand is.

I think for me it was about just doing it - the excitement, the buzz, the rush.

Telling dream

Having the counselling was helping, though. My counsellor asked me had I had any dreams?

I said I had a dream about being a young child playing in my grandparents' garden. My grandfather said, 'Come in, it's time to stop playing.'

I said to my counsellor, 'It means I have to stop playing poker.'

Because it was difficult to co-ordinate with my counsellor, the sessions weren't that regular.

I then came across the site run by the Gordon House Association - a charity that helps addicted gamblers - which gives online counselling.

'Explosion in waiting'

I'm where I am because of my counsellor there who runs the gambling section of the site.

I have weekly counselling sessions with her in a secure cyber room with live chat.

That's one part of it. The other part has been her availability in terms of e-mails.

In the first few weeks when I was 'coming off the web', I would send emails saying, 'Help, I can't cope.'

There have been a number of slips. And I still get thoughts. But I haven't had a bet of any sort since 17 November last year.

Everything has completely changed. I've enrolled to do a counselling course in September - partly because I want to repay the confidence and patience my counsellor has given to me.