Max was hopelessly addicted to the pokies, but surprisingly, it wasn't about chasing money at all

News.com.au

2 days ago

There weren't a lot of people queueing up to use an ATM inside Brisbane's old Treasury Casino at 1am on a Wednesday night in the '90s.
But for Max* it was the highlight of each week – the exact time when his pension payment landed into his bank account.
'It didn't take long to lose that money. I would scavenge for money and cigarettes until morning,' the reformed compulsive gambler told news.com.au.
When the sun rose Max would stumble into a nearby supermarket and use what little was left of his savings on a gift card to budget food and cigarettes for the rest of the week.
It was a crippling addiction that stole roughly 25 years of Max's life until extensive therapy and a church community helped him forge a new life.
And Max isn't alone.
Gambling has cut a very big hole in Australia's wallet. A $31.5 billion hole each year, to be exact.
There's no other way to say it: we are the world's worst gamblers.
Aussies lose more per capita than any other nation each year ($1527 per adult), with poker machines accounting for more than half of those losses.
Pokies are deceptive. Underneath the playful exterior is a complex web of fine-tuned, dopamine-optimised mechanics designed to encourage the casual gamer to fall in love.
And we are in love. As a nation, we feed a million dollars through them every single hour.
'Pokie palaces' are everywhere
In NSW, there are thousands of venues that contain poker machines. Some contain hundreds alone.
Bankstown Sports Club currently wears the unenviable crown, having the most of any venue in the state with a whopping 745. Rooty Hill comes in second place with 710 machines.
Each machine costs over a quarter-million to license, but big venues in some of the most problematic LGAs know they'll make back their cash pretty quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that some are able to build giant entertainment complexes on the back of their pokies revenue.
NSW's latest gaming machine data for the quarter ending February 2025 paints a grim picture of how deeply pokies are embedded in local economies.
The western Sydney LGA of Fairfield led the state once again, raking in a staggering $118.4 million in net profit from just 18 venues and 3,301 machines in just three months.
Canterbury-Bankstown pulled in $109.4 million from 28 venues. Rounding out the top five were Cumberland ($71.7m), Central Coast ($61m), and Blacktown ($49.5m).
But while big metropolitan LGAs dominate total profits, the real story lies in profit per capita – a measure of how much is lost relative to population size.
The worst-hit LGAs are small regional border areas.
Murray River recorded a shocking $1,408 lost per resident, followed by Federation ($927 per resident) and Berrigan ($626 per resident). Even the sparsely populated Balranald–Carrathool–Central Darling region saw an average of $623 lost per person.
In the regional LGA of Murray River, there's one pokie machine for every 13 residents.
The data shows that Sydney's western suburbs drive the state's biggest profits, but regional NSW shoulders the heaviest individual burden.
'Once you're in front of the machine, you get a dopamine hit,' Martin Thomas, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, told news.com.au.
'They have what they call 'losses disguised as wins', so if you bet a dollar and you lose 50 cents of that, it'll light up and say, 'Well done, you've won 50 cents,' even though you've done half your dough already.
'All of that just feeds into the fact we're not doing enough to protect people. It is an industry that is clearly predatory, and it profits from the people that can least afford the losses they're having.
'It's not the suburbs of Vaucluse and Bellevue Hill where the losses are greatest, it's in those battling suburbs out in Western Sydney.
'I think it is outrageous that we're not getting angry about it, because it is clearly preying on people.'
Walking into any one of these 'pokie palaces' is a visceral experience.
The sheer volume makes it clear the machines aren't an innocent sideshow for guests having a casual slap, but the main event that keeps everything rolling.
And many of those 'casual gamers' are getting turned into reliable cash cows each and every day.
Problem gamblers often justify their habit as 'their choice to do what they want with their money', but the butterfly effect of addiction has become increasingly well-documented by independent bodies.
'Research shows that for every person that gambles, up to seven people are impacted,' Thomas continued.
'We had one woman that talked about when she was growing up, her mother had a poker machine problem. She never knew when she came home whether they'd have a washing machine or a TV, because she'd have to sell off household goods to survive.
'And then one day she came home and the house was locked and repossessed, and her mother was in a care home, and she didn't know where to find her.'
Is it even about the money?
But as research into poker machine addiction continues, it is becoming increasingly clear that for several problem gamblers, it's not even about the windfall.
For many, the anticipation of winning is all they need.
The entire process turns into a ritual, something that they know they've enjoyed in the past. It's something they know will make them feel good, at least in the short term.
Oftentimes, when somebody is deep into a pleasurable habit, even peripheral stimuli that are loosely associated to that pleasure become comforting.
It could be the dull stench of beer soaked into the pub carpet. It could be the same old chipped-tooth smile of the receptionist as you stroll through the RSL doors at 9am.
Maybe it's the smell of cigarettes wafting from the smokers' lounge or the drawling chatter coming from two hi-vis battlers parked up on metal stools.
Whatever it is, it all comes down to one very important, and unbelievably powerful factor: familiarity.
Max* spoke on this phenomenon when speaking to news.com.au.
'I had a favourite machine,' he said.
'There were about eight of the same machine in the casino so I could always play one of them. Triggers that would lead me back to the pub or casino were boredom and being depressed. I have learned from the Community Group I go to that I probably have a hypotensive personality.'
He says at his deepest point of addiction, nothing in the 'real world' could excite hin.
'I found life dull and boring in between gambling binges, but when I played the pokies I felt excited and alive. I also used the pokies to self-medicate depression. I didn't realise that I was using gambling as an escapism from depression, this is something I have only become aware of since I have been in recovery.'
For Max, money and possessions didn't matter so much. Not as much as the rush.
'I gambled to be in action,' he said.
'I knew if I could have a good win then I could gamble for a longer period. I am not very interested in material possessions. I have never owned much at all. That's all a big win on the pokies represented to me: more time playing the machines and Blackjack.'
How he dug himself out
Max relapsed a few times after recognising it was time to make a change.
He said the key to his sustained recovery was connecting deeply with supportive communities who specialise in reforming problem behaviour.
He joined a local church group and Grow, a mental wellness organisation with a 12-step recovery program.
'I laughed until I was crying. I hadn't laughed like that since I was a teenager, 30 years before. I love Grow. It has helped me profoundly,' he said.
While some may swear by a weaning-off process of elimination, Max stresses the importance of total abstinence in breaking free of gambling addiction.
'Once we have a first bet, a strong craving develops that leads us to continue gambling at all costs,' he said.
Now over a decade free from gambling, Max is doing what he can to help others in his situation escape.
'Seek help from a 12-step fellowship or call the government helpline run by Relationships Australia,' he said.
'That is the single most effective thing someone with a gambling problem can do.'