More young men than ever are gambling, but not to win

Australians spend an eye-watering $30 billion each year on gambling. We are, comfortably, the world's most profligate punters.

It is a challenging figure to quantify, but observing the front bar of your local pub can help to understand who, and where, that 10-figure sum comes from.

As the AFL and NRL finals played out, venues across the country were packed to the brim, most in attendance in varying stages of desperation for their team to score.

While all were focused on the game, most kept one eye on their phones, hoping one or more legs on a bet had come off. 

While winning money would seem like the obvious goal, it is increasingly no longer the only one.

Win or lose, having a bet on is increasingly part of the social life of thousands of men across the country.

The local watering hole

The ABC visited a pub in Bunbury, WA's largest regional city, during the recent finals series, where almost every table of men had a bet on.

Roy, who was having a casual Thursday night drink with his friend, had two multi-bets on, despite not supporting either team. 

"[I have a bet on] for all games, regardless of who's actually playing,"

he said.

Across the room, sitting together at a small table, eyes darting between the 90-inch screen on the wall and the smaller one in their hands, Adam and Dylan spoke about how gambling applications on their phones had impacted their habits.

"I had multiple apps, but I've deleted most of them," Adam said.

"I used to be pretty bad, but I've slowed down now.”

Dylan said inducements from his application of choice, Sportsbet, were frequent.

"Sportsbet loves me … I don't get any messages aside from them," he said.

"It's a love-hate relationship … I'll never learn my lesson."

The ABC also spoke to a table of women who were not gambling.

Tanika said that while she did not bet, it was something that surrounded her. 

"A lot of my friends gamble … my brother and my dad do it as well,” she said

"I think it's just like one of those things, like the social, the footy club, everyone's doing it."

Mateship and the multi

In January, the federal government's gambling reforms will come into effect, including an opt-out service for online betting advertising.

Experts are pushing for public access to the data collected by gambling companies, in a bid to allow more targeted research and support.

But they are also pressing the government to address the social drivers of gambling's rapid growth among young men.

Vincent Mancini, a senior research fellow at The Kids Research Institute, said a growing number of young men considered betting part of their identity.

"The gambling industry has built sports gambling participation into the expression of manhood,"

Dr Mancini said.

Sports betting sits alone in this sense, with poker machines and horse or greyhound racing lacking the same cultural cachet.

Dr Mancini said gambling had become so synonymous with socialising, it was no longer about the win.

"When we speak to a lot of young boys, they realise that they're eventually going to lose the money," he said.

"But it's what they're getting along the way. It's the social [interaction], it's the banter, it's the friendships."

Sports betting surging

The 12 months to March this year saw participation in online gambling surpass venue-based gambling, like poker machines or casino gaming, for the first time in Australia's history. 

Again, WA provides an interesting case study, boasting both the nation's most restrictive betting laws and its second-highest rate of gambling, according to the Australian Gambling Research Centre.

That is despite WA banning poker machines in 1962, limiting their use exclusively to Perth’s Crown Casino, in an attempt to curb gambling losses.

As other states look to introduce stricter controls on poker machines, data shows online gambling will likely undermine reforms.

It is a trend and discussion that is front of mind for football clubs like the Busselton Magpies, and others all over the country.

"In our club rooms, we've got probably seven TVs that run every game of football while we're playing and training," club secretary Ray Gannaway said.

"Of course there's every betting agency in our face at every break, at every change."

He said the club has been working with the AFL to run mental health programs for younger players across all age groups, with gambling forming a big part of those conversations.

"We just aim to make sure our players are well informed about the ramifications if gambling becomes an addiction," he said.

"We're well aware that the boys will team up and have a punt on special occasions." 

Mr Gannaway wants gambling advertising banned, and understands why young men get addicted.

"Exposure is what gives conversation, so take the exposure away, we stop talking about it," he said.

Australia's identity crisis

The other key factor is the prominence of gambling in Australia's cultural life, from two-up and its links to Australia's mining and wartime history, through to the national status of events like the Melbourne Cup.

Legalised casinos took gambling from back rooms and SP bookmakers to social and commercial hubs in every major city.

Curtin University gambling researcher Louise Francis said the industry had traded on that history to legitimise near-universal access to electronic betting.

"We're talking, like, highly sophisticated gambling machines, highly sophisticated wagering, the multi-bets," she said.

"And how they know that they can send things, you know, inducements to one person, not another — they can latch on to people.

"That's not tossing up two coins in a two-up ring; we can't compare the gambling of 200 years ago to today."

Dr Francis said the federal government's most recent reforms should have been a "blanket ban."

"I think they find it increasingly difficult to stand up to an industry that is so pervasive and powerful, and it is not just a gambling industry.

"We are talking about a sporting industry, we're talking about broadcasters that rely on that advertising revenue … it's a whole ecosystem." 

Advertising ban unlikely

One million Australians either suffer from, or live with someone suffering from, severe gambling harm.

Dr Francis said the industry's resistance to advertising restrictions demonstrates the importance of marketing.

"Sometimes you see industry say 'oh, advertising is not that big, people would do it anyway if we didn't advertise,'" she said.

"It's a huge component of how they engage with the population … if it's not that important, don't advertise."

Independent Senator David Pocock said the Albanese government's reforms were too "weak" to have a meaningful impact.

"The parliament recommended a complete advertising ban and an end to all inducements for a reason," Mr Pocock said. 

"The changes won't drive the deep cultural change we need to stop Australians being the biggest losers in the world when it comes to gambling losses per capita."

But Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government's reforms struck the appropriate balance.

"Children should be able to know the players and follow their team and celebrate a goal without gambling being an inextricable part of that," she said.

"These reforms also introduce choice; if you do not want to see gambling ads online, you will not have to."

The gambling industry body Responsible Wagering Australia warned against further reform. 

"We risk pushing Australians towards illegal offshore websites where they lose the safeguards Australians rightly expect," they said.

"The industry has already taken significant action to reduce wagering advertising, voluntarily cutting free-to-air television advertising spend … on top of the federal government’s new restrictions from 1 January 2027."