Society & Culture Problem gamblers

[fairdinkum]

Have you ever met one? Befriended or worked with one? Perhaps lived with one or even been related to one? There's bound to be a few problem gamblers on this very site reading this very post.

I had vaguely known one or two people over the years who were addicted to pokies but had never actually gotten to know personally a problem gambler until recently. Long story short, a bloke I work with burns through on average at least $100/week on the punt. Random tennis matches from around the world are his go during the week and then on weekends it is the major football codes which take his fancy.

He will get home from work, load up a streaming site, hit up betfair, and spend hours on the punt. Almost every night.

He hasn't given me the full details but I have good reason to believe he has burnt through five figures in the past couple of years alone. Even at work, the main thing he talks about is who he is punting on this weekend. He is a Suns fan and I am trying to talk him out of a bet he has had planned for months: five hunge on the Suns vs GWS.

The thing is he is a nice guy, easy to talk to (although a little shy at first until you break the ice), I've even had a few froffies with him after work. But I can tell this punting business is at best holding him back and at worst ruining his life.

Anybody here have any stories to share about people who were hooked on the punt? I'm not asking for strategies on how to 'help' the guy out, by the way. It would be a bit rich for an excessive drinker to lecture an excessive gambler on how to llve their life. Just interested in peoples stories and insights.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

Enjoy a punt but I bet only small amounts. Reckon I have lost about $200 in the last year. No pokies though. Not sure how anyone could find that interesting. I usually only bet when with mates(most weeks that is though). Only a couple occasions have I gone down to the TAB to have a bet by myself

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

Until recently I worked predominantly with problem gamblers. Gotta few tales, most are just ****ing depressing

 

[Andre]

My father-in-law. Basically wrecked his marriage, relationship with his kids and every friend he ever had ripping them off to feed the habit. I've never met him as my wife had cut off contact with him prior to us hooking up. They now have email contact, but he's unlikely to ever see his grandkids unless they want to look him up when they are old enough.

I think there's a definite genetic pre-disposition to being a problem gambler. It certainly ran in his family and both my wife and her sister will not go near a pokie machine as they know they'll quickly change to withdrawing money and keep playing. They learnt the lessons the hard way from their father and never put themselves in such a situation.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Sad hearing these stories, then seeing that smug **** Tom Waterhouse just continuing the pain.

I hate gambling advertising. Despise gambling...hate it

 

[Ed_Gein]

Wow Andre, harsh.

When i was 17/18 had a friend at the time that was hooked on Pokies. He was a little bit older than me, but i distinctly remember going on a road trip with 4 other people, me and 2 others were only 17 at the time, whilst the pokie friend and another were 18. Anyway, on the way we drive past this RSL and he decides (since he was driving) to do a u-turn and go in for a quick slap. The 3 of us that were 17 groaned a bit as we had to wait in the car on him while he went inside. We were thinking "how long is this going to take?" 5-10 minutes later he walks out and he tells us he's wasted over $500. He was ridiculously open about his habits on the pokies, but it never (to my knowledge) got to the stage where he was asking any mates for money.

He worked hard for his money though, i'll give him that. It wasn't too long after that RSL story that i stopped speaking to him, but i was checking into a half decent hotel in Sydney one time with some slurry when i was 19/20 and he was actually the manager there.

 

[half_back_flank]

He hasn't given me the full details but I have good reason to believe he has burnt through five figures in the past couple of years alone. Even at work, the main thing he talks about is who he is punting on this weekend. He is a Suns fan and I am trying to talk him out of a bet he has had planned for months: five hunge on the Suns vs GWS.

The thing is he is a nice guy, easy to talk to (although a little shy at first until you break the ice), I've even had a few froffies with him after work. But I can tell this punting business is at best holding him back and at worst ruining his life.

The fact that he has been talking about a 500 dollar bet for months on what was always going to be a ~1.50 shot means that he isn't betting that much day to day or week to week.

At the moment I'd classify it as a hobby, although probably not a very healthy one and of course has the possibility of turning into something more serious.

 

[MrNatural]

I wouldnt have thought losing $100 a week meant you were a problem gambler. Most people would waste that sort of money on the drink.
But anyways.
Ive known plenty of problem gamblers over the years.
The footy and cricket clubs ive played for are prime examples.
I remember many a time at a footy club i played for, it would be half time, we would be in the rooms, immersed in a struggle to win (most of the time we lost), id be concentrating on what i had to do to help the team win, but the majority of my teammates would be more concerned about who was racing where.
"Who you got in the 5th?" etc etc.
A couple of my mates dads are heavy gamblers. They would easily lay down $1000s every weekend, not sure if they win or lose, but $100 a week is chump change really.

 

[Smoooothy]

yeah i don't think $100 a week is a massive problem

when i was in my early 20's, i got involved with a girl through work that had a major gambling problem. she was from mt gambier and came up to adelaide for a week for training. every night we'd go out for a pub meal and make a trip to a pokie lounge where $200 was generally dropped pretty easily. the thursday night a group of us went to the casino, where she dropped a lazy $2000 playing nothing but dolphins treasure. she blew all of her money and had to borrow money from one of us to put petrol in her car to get home

this apparently was a regular occurence

 

[Lensen]

i've turned over about $13k on the punt since the start of july

come at me

 

[CLUBMEDhurst]

yeah i don't think $100 a week is a massive problem

when i was in my early 20's, i got involved with a girl through work that had a major gambling problem. she was from mt gambier and came up to adelaide for a week for training. every night we'd go out for a pub meal and make a trip to a pokie lounge where $200 was generally dropped pretty easily. the thursday night a group of us went to the casino, where she dropped a lazy $2000 playing nothing but dolphins treasure. she blew all of her money and had to borrow money from one of us to put petrol in her car to get home

this apparently was a regular occurence

Depends on your income. That'd put an unhealthy dent in a pensioner's weekly cheque

 

[poweredup]

Irony - I open up this thread and at the bottom of the OP's post there is an ad for Sportsbet.

On topic, I had a friend who went through $80k on the pokies, damn near destroyed her, however, the last time she put a coin in a pokie machine was approximately 5 years ago now, and she has a happy life again but still doesn't really know how it got to that point or even why she was doing it, she said she didn't really even enjoy it.

Help is out there though, and apparently it can be quite successful.

 

[Smoooothy]

Depends on your income. That'd put an unhealthy dent in a pensioner's weekly cheque

the guy the OP is talking about is pretty obviously not that - but yes i do agree with that

 

[YAZZ#13]

2004 - was 18 years old in Year 12 and working part time. Saved up around $800 with the intention of backing Makybe Diva to win the Cox plate as it was quite obvious months out that she would win. The day arrived, went to the track with my mates and plonked the lot on her @2.35 with an on course bookie. Of course she cruised around the field on the turn and won with ease, was one of the best feelings ever - closely followed by the $2k collect. Had never held that much cash before. Ever since then have been hooked on the horses. Probably only have 1 or 2 bets per Saturday throughout the majority of the year and head to the track for the Spring Carnival. It has never got to a point where I've ever bet more than i can afford to lose, but some of my friends have certainly gone down that path at times.

Agree with some who posted above, can't see how a $100 loss per week makes you a problem gambler unless you are unemployed/on minimum wage.

 

[poweredup]

Most gamblers aren't really that honest, even with themselves, about the amount they gamble, if he says he bets $100 week, it is probably double that.
It is all about disposable income though, if he's single and earns $120k a year, probably not much of an issue, but on $50k with a mortgage and a couple of kids, it is probably a huge issue.

It's all relative.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

Until recently I worked predominantly with problem gamblers. Gotta few tales, most are just ******* depressing

maybe you would like to share a few?

 

[checkraiseulite]

Where I was working during uni we got a 20 minute break, and there was a pokies place probably 800m away.

A guy I used to work with would literally sprint down to the pokies place and mainline $5 spins and then sprint back.

Have known multiple other people that have had their lives ruined by pokies machines, whether through their actions or someone else's.

Quite a few of my friends have had to self-exclude themselves from sports-betting sites too, but the worst problems I see are always pokies-related.

 

[blueboy25]

A guy I worked with a few years back had a massive problem. What started off with a couple of small $10 bets at the TAB once a week turned into a full blown gambling habit. He is now 31 and has been through a dozen jobs and has nothing to show for it.

Two stories that stick out.
1: His habit got so bad that he once sold his work computer to a pawn broker to get funds to gamble with, he told his employer that it had been stolen from the back seat of his car. The computer was traced and his employer was contacted and they found out the full story. No surprise that he lost the job which was a pretty decent high paying job.

2: His brother had sold his house and was moving back to the UK before settlement was complete. His brother appointed him to act on his behalf and transfer the proceeds of the sale to his UK bank account. My ex work colleague then thought it would be a good idea to withdraw some of the funds and head to the casino to try and make a bit of cash. He thought he would have a few wins then deposit back the money he borrowed and he would keep the winnings.

You can all probably guess how this ended up. He lost the money but even worse he then withdrew more cash to try and win back the money he had lost. In the end he fessed up to his brother and the rest of his family.

Unfortunately he must have a addictive personality as he had a few issues with drugs as he attempted to give up the gambling.

 

[Quokka]

Hope the things (pokies) never get loose in WA, probably put $5 in them in my life but they just look depressing win or lose.

I used to do night shift with a guy that would bet on just about anything, he made a killing on Bush winning in 04, according to him horses were for fun but he'd put thousands on the 'certainties' (top vs bottom of the table type of thing). He bragged one night that he'd made more betting the year before then he had working but from the way he'd bet during the shifts I reckon there was a lot of forgotten debt.

Nice guy and he was hardly losing it all but imo he'd have been a lot further along towards comfortable if it hadn't been for the drink and gambling.

 

[kong91]

I have been to the casino about once a week for 2 years.

I have seen some amazing things in that time, just in the standard casino. I have no idea what goes on in the vip. once, not long ago i saw a guy betting 20 grand a spin on the 10$ roullette. all with $100 chips. Thats a lot of tigers. He had about 100k in front of him plus a bag full of cash. Saw him 2 weeks later playing $5 roullette - $100 a spin.

This guy had a small crowd of people watching him. The interesting thing was a woman saying to me "I cant believe this, thats almost 2 thousand a spin!" When i told her that it was actually 20 thousand, not 2 thousand her jaw dropped. She thought the tigers were $10 chips. And she also thought that the "$10" sign on the table was the max bet, not the minimum.

I have played most of the games there, but the pokies have never interested me.

 

[radiojake]

I worked at the Adelaide Casino from '03 til '07 counting money out of the pokie machines. Let's just say that experience was enough to turn me completely off gambling - There were plenty of 'locals' who would pull way more hours at the casino each week than I would. I don't understand where they got their income in the first place to gamble it all away.

Another guy I worked with also hated pokies and gambling, but for slightly different reason. He had a massive falling out with his mother who accused him of stealing her money (she would get paid in cash) but he had never done such a thing. As a result of the falling out, they stopped seeing each other. But her money still went missing. Eventually his mother installed a tiny security camera and found out that her mother (or the guy's grandmother) was stealing her money and taking it to the pokies.

The guy and his mum reconcilled after that, but I get the feeling not completely -

This shit ruins families and relationships

 

[chargers 09]

My father-in-law. Basically wrecked his marriage, relationship with his kids and every friend he ever had ripping them off to feed the habit. I've never met him as my wife had cut off contact with him prior to us hooking up. They now have email contact, but he's unlikely to ever see his grandkids unless they want to look him up when they are old enough.

I think there's a definite genetic pre-disposition to being a problem gambler. It certainly ran in his family and both my wife and her sister will not go near a pokie machine as they know they'll quickly change to withdrawing money and keep playing. They learnt the lessons the hard way from their father and never put themselves in such a situation.

I agree that its genetic, I have a mate who owed 8-9 thousand when he was 16-17 years old. His dad had a gambling problem as well.

 

[checkraiseulite]

I agree that its genetic, I have a mate who owed 8-9 thousand when he was 16-17 years old. His dad had a gambling problem as well.

I doubt it's actually genetic. More likely that people with parents who regularly gamble will view it as normal and do it themselves. Just like with drinking, smoking, junk food, welfare and family violence.

 

[Miqar_Baqfhied]

Ive never got into punting cos I seem to have eternal bad luck. I literally never win anything and dont think Ive ever walked out of the casino a dollar up. Add to the fact I cant play cards very well.

I just dont get how people can put hard earned dolalrs on the line, and lose it in a flash. Whenever I have a bet my inner voice is telling me how long it would take to earn that money back. It amazes me when people can put hundreds of dollars on the line without a second thought.

Whenever I see people on pokies, it just seems so sad and lame. Pray to god they dont come to Perth.
The way the rugby league clubs whinged about pokie reforms was outrageous. I couldnt believe it. They are evil! How can anyone be against trying to do something about problem gambling?

 

[iGNITER]

I have two good mates who would bet on 2 flies on the wall.

They are both on Bigfooty and will know im talking about them if they read my post lol