Jesse Murphy wasn\u2019t sure what to wear when his VIP gambling manager texted him: \u201cLooking forward to having a beer with you!\u201d<\/p>\n
His frequent betting had just earned the then 25-year-old free tickets to a gambling company\u2019s corporate box at the footy with free food and alcohol. His handler was waiting for him. He told Murphy to wear a shirt before joining for drinks.<\/p>\n
Between 2019 and 2024, these events became a regular fixture. Sometimes, it was an \u201call inclusive lunch and drinks throughout the afternoon\u201d. Occasionally, they would ask him which bar the VIPs should meet at and promise \u201ca great night\u201d. But mostly, it was free tickets to the AFL and horse racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I needed to continually keep in touch with him so I wouldn\u2019t lose access to the benefits and offers I was receiving,\u201d says Murphy, who hasn\u2019t placed a bet in almost two years.<\/p>\n
Text messages over a five-year period show VIP managers would routinely place bonus bets into Murphy\u2019s account without asking. When he was running out of money and asked for free bets, or for bookies to match his deposits, he would get the same answer: \u201csorted mate\u201d.<\/p>\n
When Murphy texted saying he\u2019d \u201chad another shit week\u201d gambling and \u201cmight have to give it up soon\u201d, his minder sent him a link to a responsible gambling tool \u2013 but immediately supplied him with more bonus bets.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust added some love for you mate,\u201d one VIP manager said.<\/p>\n
18 March 2024<\/p>\n
Jesse Hey mate, what bonuses are available to me after a big turnover yesterday? Have a good day \u270c\ud83c\udffc<\/p>\n
VIP manager Sorted for you mate, may be able to do more later today as well<\/p>\n
Jesse Thanks mate, I blew it. But just deposited 1500 if you want to match that with whatever<\/p>\n
VIP manager Sorted mate<\/p>\n
20 March 2024<\/p>\n
Jesse What have ya got for me man after the last few days<\/p>\n
VIP manager Just added some love for you mate<\/p>\n
Jesse Thanks bro!<\/p>\n
VIP manager All good<\/p>\n
By the time he eventually quit, one company had sent him $43,700 in bonus bets in just over two years. It wasn\u2019t until he stopped gambling that the generosity disappeared. The free tickets, drinks and food dried up, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure that will change back if you continue betting with [us],\u201d his VIP manager said.<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n Murphy shared his experience of placing more than 15,000 bets worth nearly $1m with a parliamentary inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy (no relation to Jesse Murphy). Its bipartisan recommendation in June 2023 was a total ban on inducements<\/a> \u201cwithout delay\u201d.<\/p>\n This week, the Albanese government ignored that recommendation, instead placing limited restrictions on the marketing of inducements. The final form of the contentious bill \u2013 which passed the Senate on Wednesday night \u2013 will not include a ban on VIP managers rewarding gamblers with free gifts that disappear when their bets do.<\/p>\n The communications minister, Anika Wells, says the bill will stop \u2018the most toxic\u2019 form of inducements. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n The communications minister, Anika Wells, says the government will stop \u201cthe most toxic\u201d form of inducements. But critics says the changes are just \u201cwindow dressing\u201d, \u201cminor tweaks\u201d and \u201cpiecemeal amendments\u201d.<\/p>\n Murphy is also unconvinced.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these laws were in place at the start of my journey, I have no confidence they would have made my experience any different or any easier,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The issue with inducements<\/p>\n One of the government\u2019s changes requires gambling companies to identify \u201chigh risk\u201d customers and bans them from being pushed inducements. The industry will be consulted on what \u201chigh risk\u201d means and monitor this themselves.<\/p>\n One Liberal MP who crossed the floor to vote against the bill,<\/a> Andrew Wallace, says this is like putting \u201cDracula in charge of the blood bank\u201d. It\u2019s a criticism strongly rejected by industry lobbyists, who say they\u2019re already tightly regulated and legally compelled to limit harm.<\/p>\n The Northern Territory government, which regulates most online bookmakers, already bans them from sending inducements to people showing signs of distress. But this hasn\u2019t stopped the flow of inducements, including to a man who \u201cbinge gambled\u201d $40,000 in an 11-hour session and was assigned a VIP manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBad actors are already ignoring these laws in the Northern Territory,\u201d said one senior gambling insider unable to comment publicly.<\/p>\n Queensland LNP MP Andrew Wallace crosses the floor to vote against the gambling reform bill. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n In May, lawyers for Australia\u2019s biggest gambling companies appeared at a coronial inquest into the death of Kyle Hudson<\/a>. The Melbourne man had gambled $895,733 online in the four years from his 18th birthday to the day he took his own life.<\/p>\n The inquest was told that Hudson was repeatedly drawn back into gambling by inducements. From the time he opened his account until the day he died, he received 489 inducements. The companies said he was \u201cbetting within limits\u201d and that he never met their highest risk threshold.<\/p>\n Associate professor Sean Cowlishaw, an expert in gambling harm who was called to give evidence in the inquest, said the government\u2019s changes to inducements were a small improvement but ultimately weak.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the changes are going to make any substantive difference to most people in terms of reducing harms, including suicide risks,\u201d Cowlishaw says. \u201cI just can\u2019t believe they haven\u2019t gone harder on inducements, it was such low hanging fruit for them.\u201d<\/p>\n His frustration is shared by Kate, whose name has been withheld for privacy reasons. Her 24-year-old brother ended his life in the middle of a crippling gambling addiction. Kate has appeared before two parliamentary inquiries into gambling and addressed politicians in Canberra, urging them to adopt the Murphy review\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n She says her brother complained to her about receiving inducements that encouraged him to keep gambling. His suicide note, tendered to parliament, said he was \u201cpathologically addicted to gambling and cannot get myself to stop\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill doesn\u2019t touch the surface,\u201d Kate says.<\/p>\n Will the changes work?<\/p>\n When Mark Kempster confronted his gambling addiction \u2013 which led to him losing $100,000 and accessing his superannuation \u2013 he listed himself on a self-exclusion register. Gambling companies were banned from contacting him, but they still did<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reformed gambler Mark Kempster questions whether the bill\u2019s prohibition of gambling companies sending inducements in certain timeframes will be effective. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAP<\/p>\n One of the changes introduced by the government will stop gambling companies from sending inducements to people within 14 days of their account being created, or within 90 days of coming off the national self-exclusion register, BetStop.<\/p>\n While this change has been welcomed by some experts, Kempster, who works for the Alliance for Gambling<\/a> Reform, says it \u201cwill do absolutely nothing to stop the companies from preying on people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are these inducements suddenly safe for people to receive on day 15?\u201d says Kempster.<\/p>\n VIP managers will now be banned from receiving a commission from their clients\u2019 activity. Many major bookmakers ended this practice years ago, although it is still employed by smaller operators.<\/p>\n In parliament, the prime minister said the changes would \u201cmeaningfully increase protections for those who most need it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis legislation, across the board, will make an enormous difference,\u201d Anthony Albanese said.<\/p>\n A missed opportunity<\/p>\n In his Frankston home, Murphy worries the government\u2019s changes \u2013 presented as \u201cthe most significant reforms to online gambling in Australia\u2019s history\u201d \u2013 won\u2019t stop another generation of young men falling into addiction.<\/p>\n He says inducements should have been banned, as recommended by the bipartisan inquiry.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would take away the shiny, dangling carrot that lures us in beyond our control,\u201d Murphy says. \u201cFor me, that would have been a real sign that people were being put first.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesse Murphy says inducements should have been banned, as recommended by the bipartisan inquiry. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Those pushing for tougher laws fear the government\u2019s appetite for further reforms will be nonexistent once these changes pass the Senate.<\/p>\n As he waits for the coroner to deliver findings into Hudson\u2019s death and the behaviour of gambling companies, Cowlishaw agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is the response, it\u2019s going to delay significant reforms for potentially another generation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was the opportunity to do something proportional to the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n In Australia, Gambling Help Online<\/a> is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt Helpline<\/a> is at 1800 007 007. In the UK, support for problem gambling can be found via the NHS National Problem Gambling Clinic<\/a> on 020 7381 7722, or GamCare<\/a> on 0808 8020 133. In the US, call the National Council on Problem Gambling<\/a> on 1-800-MY-RESET<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jesse Murphy wasn\u2019t sure what to wear when his VIP gambling manager texted him: \u201cLooking forward to having…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-589714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}