Personal stories

Patrick McCarthy

Running and his determination to be a better dad and worker helped Patrick move on from gambling.

Terry

Gambling was meant to be a shortcut to retirement, but in reality, it was a roadblock. Once Terry woke up to the truth, he quit.

Stuart

Stuart battled against drugs and gambling for years and finally quit after walking out a counselling session.

Carol

Carol found support in her son’s love, and her counsellor to overcome a pokies habit.

Rob Daniel

After years when his gambling habit ran out of control, Rob’s openness to treatment and support helped him turn his life around.

Michaela

Michaela Settle knew deep down that her then-husband was gambling, but denial was her ‘survival instinct’.

Drew

Drew Rooke, author of the book One last spin: the power and peril of the pokies, discussed the lure of electronic gaming machines with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation during Gambling Harm Awareness Week.

Joey Li

They saved a deposit to build a new house but had to use that money to pay off debts.

Kevin Chan

I felt stressed when I was away from gaming. It was my coping mechanism and my lifestyle.

Nathan Buckley

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley talks lockdown, gambling harm and the vital role of teamwork – on and off the field.

Daniel

Comedian Daniel Connell lost around $100,000 to sports and race betting over six years before a gamble of a different kind changed his life.

Mario

Mario Bird found gambling at 16 and says it was a match made in heaven. Now, after a hard-won recovery, he wants young men, in particular, to know what it can do to your life.

Sunenna

Sunenna moved from Fiji to Australia to be with the ‘man of her dreams’. But after four months of marriage, her life started to unravel. Sharing her story to let others know they’re not alone has also helped her move on from her sorrow.

Peter

After years of addiction, Peter is an expert on the havoc gambling can wreak, including on relationships, health and career. He’s now on a committee advising the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation on how to reduce gambling harm.

Paul

Paul Fung graduated from being a young child observing gambling to a man who gave up his education, career and family relationships to gamble. Losing everything finally encouraged him to seek help and share his story as part of his recovery.

Nabil

Arabic counsellor Hoda Nahal helps people from Arabic-speaking backgrounds who are affected by gambling harm, as well as educates communities about the risks of gambling and the help services available.

Chandana

When my partner and I moved to Australia with our baby daughter, I saw it as a haven and a place for a fresh start. Little did I know the power of the gambling culture in our new home.

Anna

Gambling on the pokies was a solution that quickly became a problem for Anna Bardsley. A member of the Foundation’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee, Anna says storytelling plays a big part in her recovery from addiction.

Mat

Mat Crompton’s love for sport turned into an online sports betting compulsion that isolated him from friends and family and consumed his early 20s. His way out was to ask why: why was he gambling and what could life be like if he gave it up.

Ann

After nearly 30 years of a destructive pokies addiction, Ann has drawn the line, with support from her family and a group of ‘lovely, caring’ people to whom she’s bared her soul, but never met.

Brendan

Brendan Ivermee grew up surrounded by gambling and went on to develop his own destructive and secret gambling problem. Now, three years after being freed from prison, he’s on a mission to help others start over.

Ken

Teenage gambling seems a new problem. But Ken Wolfe got caught in a nightmare of debt and destruction 50 years ago. It lasted for decades. Now he’s reaching out to young blokes heading the same way.

Tony

Self-confessed fantasy football obsessive Tony Wilson laments the gamblification of his favourite pastime, and asks what effect it will have on all the kids with dream teams.

Shayne

Having freed himself from his own gambling nightmare, Lived Experience Advisory Committee member Shayne Rodgers is using the life-changing lessons he learnt to help others.

Bill

Having bet on horses since he was 17, Bill says winning streaks always end the same way: losing big. But his final winning streak ended when he was also stricken with grief. Today, helping others, he feels better than ever about himself.

Carolyn

Carolyn Crawford went to prison for stealing from her employer to support her pokies addiction, and now shares her story to encourage others to seek help for gambling harm earlier rather than later.

Bayu

A friend’s compassion helped a young man gain control of his gambling addiction and find new purpose supporting young refugees and migrants to achieve their dreams.

Fred

Fred Rubinstein, a member of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee, says it took stealing from his mum and her threat to call the police to force him to accept help for a gambling addiction.

Tyrone

Tyrone Mitchell grew up with gambling around him, and now it’s all his friends want to do at the pub. He wants his community and his mates to realise what they’re losing and to break the habit.

Lynda

Lynda Genser’s pokies habit led to a criminal charge, but she quit with the support of her family and is now making a difference as a member of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee.

Korina

Winning an $800 jackpot at the pokies triggered 10 difficult years for Maori woman Korina Waitai. After a wake-up call from her son, she turned her life around – with help from her counsellor and her friends

Jake

I started gambling when I was about 12. It started as a hobby, but began to consume my life. I'd often lose more than I could afford and I was always thinking about betting when I wasn't betting.