{"id":875737,"date":"2026-10-09T00:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T00:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/875737\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T00:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T00:38:16","slug":"gambling-rates-in-young-men-soar-as-betting-becomes-ticket-into-social-circles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/875737\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambling rates in young men soar as betting becomes ticket into social circles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australians spend an eye-watering $30 billion each year on gambling. We are, comfortably, the world’s most profligate punters.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

While winning money would seem like the obvious goal, it is increasingly no longer the only one.<\/p>\n

Win or lose, having a bet on is increasingly part of the social life of thousands of men across the country.<\/p>\n

The local watering hole<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Gambling helplines:<\/p>\n

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

“[I have a bet on] for all games, regardless of who’s actually playing,” he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“I had multiple apps, but I’ve deleted most of them,” Adam said.<\/p>\n

“I used to be pretty bad, but I’ve slowed down now.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Punters at a pub in regional WA speaking with ABC about how gambling shows up in their lives. (ABC South West: Neve Brissenden)<\/p>\n

Dylan said inducements from his application of choice, Sportsbet, were frequent.<\/p>\n

“Sportsbet loves me \u2026 I don’t get any messages aside from them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a love-hate relationship \u2026 I’ll never learn my lesson.”<\/p>\n

The ABC also spoke to a table of women who were not gambling.<\/p>\n

Tanika said that while she did not bet, it was something that surrounded her.<\/p>\n

“A lot of my friends gamble \u2026 my brother and my dad do it as well,” she said<\/p>\n

“I think it’s just like one of those things, like the social, the footy club, everyone’s doing it.”<\/p>\n

Mateship and the multi<\/p>\n

In January, the federal government’s gambling reforms<\/a> will come into effect, including an opt-out service<\/a> for online betting advertising.<\/p>\n

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

But they are also pressing the government to address the social drivers of gambling’s rapid growth among young men.<\/p>\n

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

“The gambling industry has built sports gambling participation into the expression of manhood,” Dr Mancini said.<\/p>\n

Sports betting sits alone in this sense, with poker machines and horse or greyhound racing lacking the same cultural cachet.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Vincent Mancini says that for young men, gambling is about socialisation rather than winning. (Supplied: The Kids Research Institute)<\/p>\n

Dr Mancini said gambling had become so synonymous with socialising, it was no longer about the win.<\/p>\n

“When we speak to a lot of young boys, they realise that they’re eventually going to lose the money,” he said.<\/p>\n

“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<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

As other states look to introduce stricter controls<\/a> on poker machines, data shows online gambling will likely undermine reforms.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Despite strict gambling laws, Western Australia remains the state with the second-highest proportion of gambling in the country. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

It is a trend and discussion that is front of mind for football clubs like the Busselton Magpies, and others all over the country.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“Of course there’s every betting agency in our face at every break, at every change.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ray Gannaway says consuming gambling advertisements is an unavoidable part of watching live sport. (ABC SOuth West: Neve Brissenden)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“We just aim to make sure our players are well informed about the ramifications if gambling becomes an addiction,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re well aware that the boys will team up and have a punt on special occasions.”<\/p>\n

Mr Gannaway wants gambling advertising banned, and understands why young men get addicted.<\/p>\n

“Exposure is what gives conversation, so take the exposure away, we stop talking about it,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ray Gannaway at a Busselton Football Club training session. (ABC South West: Neve Brissenden)<\/p>\n

Australia’s identity crisis<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Legalised casinos took gambling from back rooms and SP bookmakers to social and commercial hubs in every major city.<\/p>\n

Curtin University gambling researcher Louise Francis said the industry had traded on that history to legitimise near-universal access to electronic betting.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A punter spins the pennies in the two-up ring in Kalgoorlie. (ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)<\/p>\n

“We’re talking, like, highly sophisticated gambling machines, highly sophisticated wagering, the multi-bets,” she said.<\/p>\n

“And how they know that they can send things, you know, inducements to one person, not another \u2014 they can latch on to people.<\/p>\n

“That’s not tossing up two coins in a two-up ring; we can’t compare the gambling of 200 years ago to today.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Louise Francis says marketing has made gambling synonymous with Australia’s cultural identity. (ABC South West: Madigan Landry)<\/p>\n

Dr Francis said the federal government’s most recent reforms should have been a “blanket ban.”<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“We are talking about a sporting industry, we’re talking about broadcasters that rely on that advertising revenue \u2026 it’s a whole ecosystem.”<\/p>\n

Advertising ban unlikely<\/p>\n

One million Australians either suffer from, or live with someone suffering from, severe gambling harm.<\/p>\n

Dr Francis said the industry’s resistance to advertising restrictions showed how important marketing is.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes you see industry say, ‘Oh, advertising is not that big, people would do it anyway if we didn’t advertise,'” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a huge component of how they engage with the population \u2026 if it’s not that important, don’t advertise.”<\/p>\n

Independent Senator David Pocock said the Albanese government’s reforms were too “weak” to have a meaningful impact.<\/p>\n

“The parliament recommended a complete advertising ban and an end to all inducements for a reason,” Mr Pocock said.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

But Communications Minister Anika Wells said the government’s reforms struck the appropriate balance.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“These reforms also introduce choice; if you do not want to see gambling ads online, you will not have to.”<\/p>\n

The gambling industry body Responsible Wagering Australia warned against further reform.<\/p>\n

“We risk pushing Australians towards illegal offshore websites where they lose the safeguards Australians rightly expect,” they said.<\/p>\n

“The industry has already taken significant action to reduce wagering advertising, voluntarily cutting free-to-air television advertising spend \u2026 on top of the federal government’s new restrictions from 1 January 2027.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians spend an eye-watering $30 billion each year on gambling. We are, comfortably, the world’s most profligate punters.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[2205,368525,368519,147646,368520,97,368516,368524,259,260,368521,12319,1578,368523,239569,368522,2208,342286,77642,368517,368518],"class_list":["post-875737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-betting","tag-crown-casino","tag-do-i-have-a-gambling-addiction","tag-gambling-advertising","tag-gambling-west-australia","tag-health","tag-is-gambling-a-problem-in-wa","tag-ladbrokes","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-multi","tag-odds","tag-perth-news","tag-pointsbet","tag-south-west-news","tag-sports-bet","tag-sports-betting","tag-tab","tag-wagering","tag-who-gambles-the-most","tag-young-men-gmabling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}