Australia is the only country in the world to have a public holiday for a horse race. We are known for loving a flutter.
And it’s not just the Melbourne Cup. There are half-day gazetted holidays in country towns in NSW for their major race meetings and some places have a full day off for their Cup meeting.
It was once deemed quintessentially Australian to go to the races and have a flutter.
And that was okay. But this country has gone from a country that loves a flutter at the races to a nation that bleeds money through gambling.
Statistics show that Australians lose more money through gambling than any other nation in the world.
On a per capita basis, Australians lose more than $1200 per year from betting, whether it be through racing, gaming machines or buying Tattslotto tickets.
That’s more than double of the second-placed nation, Singapore, whose people lose about $600 per year on gambling.
Something has to change in Australia.
(AAP Image/James Ross)
It’s time for this nation to take a stance and stop the rot.
As a racing fan, I don’t have an issue with people going to the races to have a bet on a horse.
I’m not about to call for a ban on gambling in Australia. All it would do is make more criminals by introducing an underground betting racket.
But there needs to be more regulation.
If I was in Scott Morrison’s chair, I would introduce a bill that bans gambling advertising. Not just on TV, but everywhere.
No more billboards, no more radio commercials, no more signage at stadiums and on sporting goods.
Currently, you can’t watch any sporting event on TV without being reminded of the odds.
It is rammed down our throats and it needs to stop.
It was somewhat comical when Jaidyn Stephenson was handed a ten-match ban by the AFL on Wednesday.
Sure he did the wrong thing and had to be punished, but the AFL should also have a good look in the mirror.
One company (I won’t name them to give them a free plug) is paying the AFL $10 million to be its official betting partner.
And it’s not just the AFL. Cricket Australia’s boundary ropes had betting advertising on them during the summer, while you can’t watch an Australian-based NBL game without seeing a wagering company’s logo plastered over the courts.
This has to stop.
I’m not against ads appearing on Racing.com or Sky Channel because horse racing is a sport that is stimulated by betting.
However, I think that the government should introduce new laws that stop betting companies from feasting on problem gamblers.
As it stands, a punter can self exclude, but there is no rule that says a bookmaker must stop a gambler from continually betting.
It might sound like nanny state kind of stuff, but research says that most problem gamblers come from the lowest socioeconomic sections of society.
Which means that the people who can least afford to gamble are the most affected.
This goes for the pokies, too. Something must be done on what is a leech on society.
I understand that thousands of jobs would be lost and many small towns would be crippled if pokies were to be banned, so I’m not going to call for a shutdown of electronic gaming machines.
However, I feel like punters should have a loss limit. When you enter a pub or club, you can make one deposit on the card for a predetermined limit.
You use the card to play the pokies. When you run out of credit, you can’t top it up for another, say, 72 hours.
Limits could be higher in casinos, but pokies were once supposed to be fun, just like having a flutter at the races, not so people could insert thousands of dollars in them.
A lot of people won’t like what has been written here because they feel that they can control their actions and shouldn’t be punished by law changes.
But the law changes are not for them. They are for the people who are unable to help themselves.
The statistics say it all. Australia loses more than double the amount of money to gambling (on a per capita basis) than the next country.
Let’s make this generation the one that starts the swing in the right direction.
There’s no issue with having a bet on the horses on a Saturday or putting $50 in a gaming machine when out to dinner on a Friday night (if you can afford it), but there is an issue when you can’t put food on the table.
Gambling has destroyed too many people and too many families in this country for us to keep ignoring it.
Make some changes, get rid of gambling odds from our TV screens and be happy when your horse runs third in the Melbourne Cup sweep.
Anybody impacted by gambling (your own gambling or someone else’s), can call the Gambler’s Help line, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1800 858 858. This service can give you the contact details for your nearest Gambler’s Help service or, if you prefer, a service away from where you live.
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
I wish there was a way to increase the amount of likes to a thousand specifically for this comment. The truth is that crackdowns on advertising for sports betting would be counterproductive. The reason is exactly as you point out, poker machines. They are far more addictive than other forms of betting and contribute far, far more to problem gambling, and as you say, they don't advertise. But during the period where advertising for online went genuinely beserk, what happened to gambling in Australia? Well, in real per capita terms, it went down. People spent less money on gambling. Probably because more people were betting online on products with less potential for harm than poker machines. The data is in this article I wrote here. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theroar.com.au/2017/05/16/horse-just-bolt-gambling-reform/amp/ The idea that if you restrict gambling ads then people will gamble considerably less is so self evident that no-one who espouses it checks the empirical data to see if it is true. I'm all for regulating gambling, but what's the bloody point of introducing regulations that will fail?
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Matt, Punting is relative. The greatest punt than any man makes is getting married. History says the majority back a loser and loses everything they worked hard for. Good luck to those who did their form and backed a winner...
Kangajets
Guest
Good article I’m sure the tab app allows me to put deposit limits on for certain periods if I choose Also I noticed they sent through some messages if there are frequent deposits It’s like a handbrake for problem betting I’m guessing It’s best to know your limits and not chase losses, but it’s like any addiction, some people can’t control it and they are the ones who should not bet at all I agree to get rid of the advertising, which they did to the tobacco industry
no one in particular
Roar Guru
gambling is mostly restricted in other countries due to religious and puritanical reasons, not welfare reasons
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Australians spend 4.25 times more money on poker machines then all racing and sports combined. Add in lotteries, scratchies and casinos and this number rises to to over 5 times the amount. Restricting ads on tv for bookmakers won't do a thing in regards to people losing on negative expectation games. Poker machines cannot advertise, yet these restrictions have done nothing to curb the public from ploughing dollar after dollar into these machines. Launceston Cup Day plays no role in people playing pokies. The AFL has done nothing hypocritical. It is no different then punishing a player for being drunk, even though they take money from alcohol companies Generally when doing opinion pieces the writer would do research and back their opinion up with facts and figures. Maybe you could have included in your article problem gamblers by gambling type. Maybe you could have included the impact restrictions on alcohol and tobacco advertising has had in regards to issues attributed to those products Personal responsibility obviously has no place in Matt Nicholls utopian society.
elvis
Roar Rookie
No I don't. Plenty of items are legal and unregulated. And your examples enforce my point. Banning smoking ads, nanny state. The overregulation of prescription drugs, nanny state.
PeteB
Roar Rookie
Agree. Just stop the advertising. It’s spiralled out of control in the last 10-15 years. The addiction of sports and governments to the gambling industry is a national disgrace.
Onside
Guest
Betting agencies want the mug punters, and as demonstrated in the report below, restrict punters who win too often or too much, saying that if it was not the policy, they would not have successful business model. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-20/gambling-how-bookmakers-stop-winning-betters/10708394
Onside
Guest
The ABC's 7.30 report recently said that between Jan 2013 and June 2018 SPORTSBET paid out over 450 million dollars in marketing and promotional activities to over 1500 different organisations. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-05/sportsbet-documents-reveal-millions-spent-on-marketing/10833196
max power
Guest
think you need to get a new definition of nanny state. plenty of items are legal but regulated. Pornography is legal - but you want it be shown on free to air tv at 6pm Smoking is legal - but you cant advertise it Prescription drugs are regulated
peeeko
Roar Guru
plenty of people trying to get people to eat better
peeeko
Roar Guru
its banned in many countries. go out and buy another pack of smokes
mds1970
Roar Guru
North Melbourne are the only Victorian club with no poker machines. GWS Giants doesn't have them, neither do the Swans. Pretty sure West Coast & Freo don't either. Don't know about the SA or Queensland clubs.
Onside
Guest
Hi Davico, I have no answers, plus i'm not moralising . I only point out the stated facts that show its a lot of money. I notice North Melbourne is the only AFL club with no poker machines. Regarding gambling on ALL football codes,not just AFL, anecdotally huge sums are bet offshore that Australian authorities have no control over. I suppose companies like Betfair only advertise because it is successful. I limit my annual donation to the Melbourne Cup .
Davico
Roar Pro
What do poker machines have to do with gambling advertising in sport? It does not happen!
Onside
Guest
Australians lose about $24 billion, thats , twenty four thousand MILLION dollars , on gambling each year. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-10/chart-of-the-day-how-aussies-lost-24-billion/10139778
Onside
Guest
Victorians (not including the rest of OZ) lost two thousand seven hundred MILLION dollars on poker machines last year. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-27/poker-machine-losses-in-victoria-the-highest-in-a-decade/10042964
Davico
Roar Pro
1. Australia does not have a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup. The state of Victoria does! 2. Gambling is legal in this country. If people don't have the will power to stop themselves from spending the money that should be spent on rent, food etc that is the persons problem. Nobody is forcing them to gamble. 3. Where is the outcry to ban KFC, Maccas etc from advertising non-stop? Sponsoring sports? Pretty sure there are more Obese people in this country than there are problem gamblers?!
elvis
Roar Rookie
Not nanny state? Stopping an adult doing something that is legal for their own good is the very definition of nanny state. At least be honest about it. If you want to stop people gambling you need to get to them early and educate them, not make more useless rules and regulations that cost money for nothing. I don't gamble and I don't see gambling ads as I use an adblocker.
peeeko
Roar Guru
great write up Matt, and kudos to the roar for printing it. quite amusing to read while the contento f the article is surrounded by betting ads. there needs to be more regulation especially with regards to advertising. simple game - bookies win, you lose. stop pretending to be our friends