The Gold Coast’s pokie machine spend was up $2.6m in the past month, as reformed gambler shares her shocking story
A former pokie addict who stole money from her boss to fund her habit has a serious warning for Gold Coasters "chasing the buzz".
Gold Coast
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FORMER pokie addict Sarah went from a weekly flutter with girlfriends while her kids were at school to stealing money from her workplace and lying to family to feed her gambling addiction.
“Once I started I could not stop,” she says. “I was a phony and a manipulator and would do or say anything including taking money from my employer. I always had an answer for why it was missing to the point where I became incredibly cunning. I got away with it for years.”
She was 52 when she walked into her first Gambling Anonymous meeting. Nearly 25 years later, Sarah is telling her story in a bid to encourage Gold Coasters who are “sick and tired of being sick and tired” to attend the Gamblers Anonymous one-day conference at the Helensvale Cultural Centre auditorium on Saturday, May 1.
Counsellors, doctors and gaming venue managers are invited to the interactive event to learn about the support offered. Reformed gamblers will share stories of how their occasional flutter turned into a full-blown, life-destroying addiction.
It comes as the latest gambling statistics reveal Gold Coast punters threw $31.3m down the throat of poker machines last month —$2.6m more than in February.
Sarah, like thousands of Gold Coasters, put thousands of dollars through the poker machines every month, craving that “buzz’ that she first felt as a 12-year-old.
She grew up in a household where her father was a horse punter and her mother played cards constantly, gambling was a daily occurrence.
“When I was 12 my father took me to a bingo game because I was sick from school and my mother was out at work. My father was a compulsive gambler so she had to work and earn extra money to keep us fed.
“I had fallen asleep on his lap and he woke me saying the person had given him too many bingo cards and that I would have to play one for him. I remember the feeling when I had only one number left and got excited and showed Dad the card.
“Just as I showed it to him, the one number I had left on my card came out. I’ll never forget that rush, it was like my whole body was excited, the buzz was incredible.
“I spent most of my life chasing that buzz. I chased it for a long time.”
The 76-year-old says she wanted for nothing as a stay-at-home mother, as her husband worked and she stayed at home with her daughters.
Married to the “man of her dreams”, once her girls started school she met a bunch of mums once a week at the club and they played the poker machines. She wasn’t into the horses or dogs.
“But after a few weeks something happened. I started to think I was wasting my time with the girls, I wanted more of that buzz so I started to arrive before they did and once they left I’d also stay behind a bit longer.
“Then I thought I wanted to do it on my own and soon I was a regular and ended up getting a part-time job to fund my gambling. I remember justifying it by saying ‘it’s Sarah’s time out and it’s just a bit of fun’.
“I told myself I was just doing pokies to chill out. But slowly and subtly over about a five-year period it became that I was spending whatever I had in my pocket, my wallet, my bank account.”
By this stage Sarah was in her 40s and was lying, taking money that didn’t belong to her and manipulating whoever she could to gambling, including stealing from her workplace.
She hit rock bottom when she could no longer look at herself in the mirror without feeling sick.
“With alcohol and drug addition you can see it, but gambling is an invisible illness,” she says. “I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Of all the lies, all the covering up, all the deceit.
“The moment I walked into that first Gambling Anonymous meeting, I can’t explain it, but it was like, for the first time, I did not feel alone.
“Sure, the stories are different, but we’re all in the same boat. We can never stop once we start.
“But just because I haven’t gambled in decades, it doesn’t mean I can stop going to meetings. It’s a one-day-at-a-time program and I need to be reminded of where I was at so I’m not tempted to go back there.”
Her husband of 57 years has never left her side, which Sarah says helps her to keep away from the pokies.
“I just hope one person might see my story and get help before they go down the same path that I did. Help is there if you really want it.”
To find a meeting near you visit gaaustralia.org.au or call 0467 655 799.
Coast’s skyrocketing pokie spendings
March 22, 2021
GOLD Coast punters have thrown nearly $191 million into pokie machines in the past six months — $17.5 million, or almost 10 per cent, more compared to the same period last year.
Last month alone local gamblers splurged $28.6 million on pokies, up $1.32 million compared to February 2020. It was an increase of $4.2 million compared to 2019.
Experts think once JobKeeper ends there’ll be a reduced spend but caution gambling is intrinsically linked to stress and anxiety – predicted for thousands of workers when the job subsidy ends on March 28.
Recent State Government gambling data reveals from September 2020 to February in 2021, Gold Coasters spent $190,832,091 on pokies compared to $173,291,588 in the same time period last year.
Brisbanites spent $286.7 million in six months and the Sunshine Coast’s 330,000 residents put $89 million into pokies.
But Brisbane’s spend was considerably lower per capita. The Gold Coast – with 630,000 residents – spent an average of $303 each whilst Brisbane – with 2.3 million residents averaged $124 each.
Last year’s data showed in July 2020 after COVID restrictions lifted, a record breaking spend of $37.8 million on pokies on the Gold Coast and $38 million in August — the highest recorded monthly spend since records began in 2004.
Associate Professor Catherine Prentice from Griffith University’s School of Business said the spike in pokie spend could “absolutely” be a reflection of stress and anxiety Gold Coasters are feeling as a result of COVID and Jobkeeper soon ending.
“Research has shown stress and anxiety are precipitating and perpetuating factors of social gambling, problem gambling, possibly pathological gambling. Playing pokies is one type of gambling, normally for those recreational or low-income players,” she said.
Assoc Prof Prentice said it was “likely the spending will be reduced” once JobKeeper ended but: “If people only started gambling because of COVID or JobKeeper scheme, they may still continue to gamble, either for recreation, social purpose, or simply becoming addicted.
“They may develop a sense of Eureka after some fun experience with gambling on pokies.”
A spokeswoman for Relationships Australia Queensland said it was concerned by the recent report indicating record spending in recent months at the pokies on the Gold Coast.
“For many people who are already experiencing depression, anxiety and trauma, the COVID-19 pandemic this year has tipped them over the edge and into problem gambling behaviours that contribute to increased household, financial and relationship stress,” she said.
She said gambling wasn’t a problem faced solely by the gambler but it could negatively impact the lives of up to 10 others — meaning up to five million Australians are potentially affected by problem gambling.
Gambling Anonymous (GA) public information committee member Paul, who did not want his surname used, said there were five locations across the Gold Coast for gamblers to visit.
“Ancedotecally probably yes, there has been a growth in people contacting us, and poker machines are still the main reason but also there’s been a growth in online gambling — basically people have a casino on their pockets now,” he said.
“The biggest challenge for people is they don’t know how to fill all the time up they used to spend on gambling. When we give up an addiction we need to find some other passion in our lives,” said the recovered gambling addict.
* The Gambling Help Service is a free service funded by the State Government. Help is available 24 hours day on 1800 858 858 or visit www.gamblinghelponline.org.au
* Gambling Anonymous Qld has give Gold Coast meetups. Call Paul confidentially on 0467 655 799 or visit https://gaaustralia.org.au/
EARLIER
A Gold Coast hotel is “luring” seniors by offering free pokie vouchers in a meal deal advertising ploy which a legal expert claims is “borderline” in terms of the gambling code.
The Coolangatta Hotel’s website includes an online menu that details three seniors meals with a special promotion offering diners a “complimentary pokie voucher with every meal”. The promotion imagery is accompanied by a stack of gold coins.
The free voucher deal is also on the website’s restaurant page, telling patrons to “check out our $12 seniors’ meals, available 7 days, 11am-late. Plus receive a complimentary pokie token”.
A patron, who did not want to be named, said they noticed the advertising on banners outside the hotel, posters inside and on the menu.
The Coolangatta Hotel has not returned requests for comment.
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According to the State Government’s responsible gambling code of practice – which is voluntary – section six states advertising and promotions must be delivered “in a responsible manner with consideration given to the potential impact on people adversely affected by gambling”.
It specifically states “strategies will ensure that any advertising or promotion is not implicitly or explicitly directed at minors or vulnerable or disadvantaged groups”.
The local said they felt “luring oldies to the pokies with a cheap meal would qualify as targeting the vulnerable”.
“I thought it was just messed up.”
Gold Coast lawyer Bill Potts says for years “pokie palaces have been enticing the elderly to come to their venues on cheap bus rides for cheap meals in the hope that they will put their money through the pokies”.
Mr Potts said the advertising ploy was “borderline” with respect to the gambling code and better regulation was needed around the linking of necessities like food with gambling.
“I’m not against people having a punt or enjoying themselves, but more often than not the money is being extracted from those who can least afford it.”
A spokeswoman for support service Relationships Australia Queensland (RAQ) said the issue was not so much the age of the person but their capacity to afford gambling.
“All venues should ensure they are not encouraging patrons to gamble more than they can afford,” she said.
“Gambling is a major public health issue with a significant community impact.”
She said RAQ offered counselling and support to help people with gambling addictions but that it also welcomed opportunities to work with the hotel industry or an interested party to “reduce gambling harms in the community”.
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