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<\/p>\nWhen Anna Bardsley was in her 40s, she used to catch up with her girlfriends at the pub a few times a year, which would include “a flutter” in the poker machine room.<\/p>\n
“Nobody ever spent any more than $20 and we laughed a lot. It was seemingly harmless,” says the now 77-year-old from Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples.<\/p>\n
“I had no idea at the time that I was engaging with a very dangerous product.”<\/p>\n
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Anna Bardsley says she had no idea a “flutter” on the poker machines could end up being something harmful in her life. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)<\/p>\n
But when Anna began dealing with grief and relationship stress almost a decade later, she found herself looking for an outlet.<\/p>\n
“One cold, wet night, I found myself driving past one of those places, the lights literally beckoned from the side of the road. It was the beginning of the end.”<\/p>\n
Anna says she lost 10 years of her life to poker machines, and only since overcoming her addiction has she realised how quickly the pastime became harmful.<\/p>\n
A ‘slippery slope’<\/p>\n
Women are becoming increasingly targeted by the gambling industry, according to Samantha Thomas, a researcher and professor of public health at Deakin University in Victoria.<\/p>\n
“Initially, what we thought was that this industry was targeting young men, but what we have seen recently is the industry is starting to expand its market to young women,” she told ABC Radio National’s Life Matters.<\/p>\n
If you or anyone you know needs help, contact:<\/p>\n
“We are seeing these new feminised marketing strategies, mainly through TikTok and Instagram reels, [and] they’re increasingly starting to use influencers and creators.<\/p>\n
“These promotions are starting to hook them in through novelty bets, so things like betting on the outcome of [reality TV show Married at First Sight] MAFS, or what colour dress is Rihanna going to wear when she sings the first song at the Super Bowl.”<\/p>\n
Professor Thomas says it is a predatory industry that uses “a range of different strategies to hook people in to normalise [gambling]”.<\/p>\n
“As one woman in our research said, ‘you start thinking it’s a little bit of fun and then it becomes a slippery slope’.”<\/p>\n
Is gambling OK on any level?<\/p>\n
In Australia, gambling is legal for people who are over the age of 18, provided it’s done through a regulated gambling venue or service.<\/p>\n
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Experts say the more gambling harm is spoken about, the less stigmatised it becomes. (Four Corners: Jerry Rickard)<\/p>\n
“Whether it’s appropriate or not really is an individual decision”, according to Sally Gainsbury, professor in psychology and the director of the Gambling Research and Policy Unit at the University of Sydney\/Gadigal lands.<\/p>\n
She says for some people who gamble, “they do so without any negative consequences”.<\/p>\n
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