The world number 33 is a former ranking event winner.
Matthew Selt admitted that his gambling habit has potentially hindered his progress as a snooker professional on the Main Tour.
The Englishman was speaking on the World Snooker Tour Podcast earlier this week when he went into detail about his history with betting away from the game.
“I think maybe the only thing outside that would have hindered my snooker would have been the gambling aspect of life,” Selt reflected.
“I used to gamble quite a lot and still like the odd flutter now, but I gambled way beyond my means in regards to how much I earn, which is obviously not a good thing.”
“That was purely because, if my snooker wasn’t going well, I was always looking to get money from somewhere else, and that was the only thing I knew from growing up.
“That definitely would have hindered me over the years – (although) it played a massive part in me winning India, there’s no two ways about it.
“I think I had about a £1,000 left to my name before I went to India, and I managed to win £10,000 just gambling the first two days I was there on the cricket.
“England was playing the West Indies and I was earning quite a lot of money, so every match I went to play in I wasn’t really thinking about the snooker – as bad as that sounds.”
Selt secured a somewhat surprise success in the 2019 Indian Open, where he beat John Higgins and Lyu Haotian in the last two rounds to collect a top prize worth £50,000.
Last season, the 36 year-old additionally reached the semi-final stage of the Gibraltar Open – a run that he considers his best in terms of the snooker he produced.
“You said about India being the best week of my snooker career, and it is, but it’s not the best snooker that I’ve ever played,” Selt told Michael McMullan.
“The best tournament I ever played was Gibraltar last year in which I feel like I should have won that tournament really.”
“I lost to (Judd) Trump in the semis, but I made 69, 67, and 61 in that match and lost 4-1. Every match I played phenomenal and it clicked that week.
“When I play well I’m dangerous, and that’s definitely the case, but I need to start playing well more often.”
