Jail, financial ruin and suicide: problem gamblers have their say at the Crown Resorts royal commission

Casino perks like free food and drinks help draw problem gamblers into serious harm, Victoria’s royal commission hears.

The Crown royal commission has been looking at the casino’s impact on problem gamblers. Picture: David Geraghty

Unredacted evidence from Victoria’s royal commission into Crown Resorts has been told of the role patron perks and other inducements to gamble play in fostering gambling addictions that can lead to financial ruin, prison time and suicide.

The details of how practices at the James Packer-backed group’s Melbourne Casino allegedly encourage gambling harm were heard by the commission in confidential sessions last month, with their transcripts only now made available.

Commissioner Raymond Finkelstein has said one of his “top priorities” is “the manner in which it (Crown) deals with gambling addiction,” when it comes to his determinations over whether the company is a suitable steward of Victoria’s only casino.

One anonymous witness told the commission about how his sister’s gambling addiction, which began when Crown Melbourne opened in 1997, led to her suicide by hanging in 2012.

“Before she took her life, she put everything on the table, on the kitchen table, and it was the last 15 years of bank statements. She wanted us to see her behaviour,” the witness said.

He was convinced that his sister was persuaded to gamble by the inducements offered at Crown like free food, drink and parking.

“She just loved anything for free. She was a girl that would give blood just to get a cup of coffee and a sausage roll,” he said.

“So when Crown Casino opened, she continued that story.”

The woman’s escalating gambling problem - which she never admitted to her family - caused her to lose her home, steal from her relatives, and fall in to around $40,000 of payday loan debt she was aggressively pursued for.

“And that’s a great example of how inducements can destroy a life, because if it wasn’t for those inducements, she probably just would have gone and given blood,” the witness said.

“There is nothing responsible about their responsible gaming regime.”

‘Too late for me now’

Binbin Du was a young man from mainland China who studied law at Bond University, eventually marrying and settling in Brisbane by 2017 with a job and two properties.

Mr Du told the commission that when he lost his job he began gambling on sports betting apps, including CrownBet, a platform owned by Crown Resorts until late 2017 when the company sold its majority stake for $150m and the app was renamed BetEasy.

“I had a lot of free time and I thought, you know, to gamble and maybe this chance to make some money. Stupid thought, looking back now,” Mr Du said.

Mr Du estimated he lost $100,000 through online betting before switching to gambling at Crown Melbourne, induced through points he earned by using CrownBet.

Commissioner Raymond Finkelstein is concerned about problem gambling at Crown Melbourne. (AAP Image/James Ross)

Mr Du’s marriage disintegrated and his gambling losses forced him to sell his properties - but the $300,000 in equity he pulled out of his homes was ploughed into jaunts to Crown Melbourne.

He was eventually invited to become a commission-based player. It meant a fraction of Mr Du’s turnover would be paid back to him in cash as well as food, beverage and accommodation credits, inducing him to stay at the casino.

Despite gambling at Crown Melbourne every day between November 2019 and January 2020, he was only approached by a responsible gaming adviser once.

Separately, when he complained to his host about his losses he was told: “This is like water, you can either drink it or don’t drink it.”

The commission heard evidence in June that Crown had a “grossly inadequate” responsible gaming staff count of 12.

“Well, I would say there is nothing responsible about their responsible gaming regime,” Mr Du said.

By January Mr Du said he had been banned from the casino after complaining his rebate was slashed while he was told he needed to gamble more and more to earn perks, which left him feeling “bullied”.

He said had been back to Crown Melbourne since and nothing had changed.

“It is still going on now, because I’ve been there since the lockdown was lifted and, you know, it is business as usual.”

“It’s too late now for me”

‘I’ve got nothing to leave to my children’

Grandmother Carolyn Crawford told the commission that her addiction to playing poker machines - primarily at Crown Melbourne - led to her serving prison time for embezzling money from work to fund her habit.

“I took $407,000 over seven years and they all went down the pokies. And the Crown got a large percentage of that,” she said.

Ms Crawford spent 18 months in prison, where she received gambling addiction counselling alongside “numerous” other women who had engaged in theft to fund their activity.

Now fully acquainted with the psychology of addiction, she became emotional as she described how inducements encouraged her to play.

“They need to get rid of all these, excuse the French, but friggin‘ bloody loyalty cards. They need to stop this free parking,” she said.

She also said not one member of Crown staff asked if she was all right when she was on gambling binges.

“Honestly, if somebody had asked me, I might not have spent that time in prison,” she said.

Ms Crawford paid back what she owed her employer with an inheritance, but now has little remaining money of her own.

“I‘ve got nothing to leave to my children, and that breaks my heart.”

She now volunteers with various organisations assisting others with gambling addiction.

“It‘s too late now for me, but it’s not for other people,” she said.