{"id":1112963,"date":"2026-07-26T21:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1112963\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T21:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:00:02","slug":"250k-down-luke-bateman-reveals-how-he-survived-a-shameful-gambling-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1112963\/","title":{"rendered":"$250K down, Luke Bateman reveals how he survived a ‘shameful’ gambling addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

During his darkest chapter, things would go missing from Luke Bateman’s apartment.<\/p>\n

“My partner would come home from work and be like, ‘Where’s this?'” the former NRL player-turned-fantasy writer tells Australian Story.<\/p>\n

“I would’ve taken it to Cash Converters and sold it for cash so I could go and gamble.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman says in the elite sporting environment gambling was “like breathing”. (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)<\/p>\n

It was 2019, and Bateman was at the height of a debilitating gambling addiction so severe he couldn’t afford to feed himself. He was a professional NRL player with the Canberra Raiders at the time, earning $400,000 a year.<\/p>\n

“I was so broke \u2026 I couldn’t pay for anything. I couldn’t buy groceries,” Bateman says.<\/p>\n

“My gambling slowly progressed [until] it consumed my life. Every single thing I did revolved around that gambling app on my phone.”<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman pictured in a 2016 game against Melbourne Storm, a year after making his NRL debut. (Getty Images: Brett Hemmings)<\/p>\n

Bateman says he felt in control of his habit until his gambling saw him lose tens of thousands of dollars in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n

“I had $70,000 or $80,000 in my bank account, and in the space of a month, I had nothing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hitting rock bottom with his addiction and mental health, and then finding his way back again, has compelled Bateman to speak out about the federal government’s gambling changes<\/a>, which aim to limit gambling advertising.<\/p>\n

He says they would not have helped him through his hardest moments.<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman removed himself from temptation when he went bush. (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)<\/p>\n

“I was in so much debt \u2026 I was earning $400,000 a year, and I couldn’t afford a lollipop,” Bateman admits.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think they [the proposed laws] will move the needle at all when it comes to gambling harm, ” he says. “I’d love to call it the bare minimum, but I don’t think they got even there.”<\/p>\n

The legislation, which would cap the number of gambling ads broadcast per hour and ban advertising during live matches, was introduced into parliament earlier this month<\/a> and is being scrutinised in a Senate inquiry.<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman speaks at a panel in parliament house about the role sport, alcohol and gambling play in gender-based violence. (Supplied: Michael Conlin, FARE)<\/p>\n

Bateman says the proposed changes do not “even come close” to reflecting community concerns on gambling, with researchers finding that the majority of Australians believe gambling is too easily accessible.<\/p>\n

“I would love to see all gambling advertising phased out, and for all incentives that gambling companies can offer a customer [to continue betting] to be banned,” Bateman says.<\/p>\n

Australia has the highest per capita gambling losses in the world, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bateman’s passion for the issue could be enough to see him run for parliament one day. He tells Australian Story that a run at politics is “definitely a possibility”.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think parliamentarians are doing anywhere near enough in terms of protecting \u2026 young people from the harms that gambling companies and gambling itself causes.”<\/p>\n

Loading…’Rugby league like a religion’<\/p>\n

Bateman grew up in the small town of Miles, about 400 kilometres west of Brisbane. He showed exceptional athletic ability from a young age, playing his first game of rugby league when he was four.<\/p>\n

“He was probably one of the better players in under-7s at four years old,” his stepfather Don Hills says.<\/p>\n

“I remember his PE teacher saying to me, ‘We’ll be reading about this kid in later life. He’s destined for big things,'” mum Leanne Bateman recalls.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman (bottom right) with his older brother Sam, twin sister Sarah, mother Leanne and stepfather Don. (Supplied: Leanne Bateman)<\/p>\n

By the time he was 12, Bateman had represented Queensland in rugby league, touch football and swimming.<\/p>\n

It was around the same time that Bateman was scouted by NRL clubs at the state rugby league carnival.<\/p>\n

\"Boys<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman was recruited by the Canberra Raiders when he was 12. (Supplied: Leanne Bateman)<\/p>\n

“We were approached by a couple of different scouts for different NRL teams. One was the Canberra Raiders,” Leanne says.<\/p>\n

When the Raiders signed 12-year-old Bateman, it was a big deal, not only for his family, but the whole community.<\/p>\n

“Growing up in the country, rugby league is like a religion out there,” brother Sam Bateman says.<\/p>\n

“It would’ve been like extremely exciting for him, but also probably a lot of pressure for him as well.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman pictured with Don, Sarah, Leanne and Sam after his first Canberra Raiders game in 2015. (Supplied: Luke Bateman)<\/p>\n

Watch Luke Bateman’s Australian Story “Turning the Page” Monday 8:00pm (AEST) on ABC TV and ABC iview.<\/p>\n

$80K gone: Luke’s ‘shameful’ gambling habit<\/p>\n

Despite having an early aptitude for all things sport-related, Bateman says he was a “soft and gentle kid” who found solace in fantasy books.<\/p>\n

“I think what really drew me to those specific books was the sense of wonder \u2026 my world on the farm is so small, but my world in books is so big.”<\/p>\n

But Bateman kept his love of reading hidden.<\/p>\n

“It was not something that men did. I never saw any of my male role models, my male heroes, reading books.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman had a love for reading from a young age. (Supplied: Leanne Bateman)<\/p>\n

So Bateman leant into sport instead.<\/p>\n

“Growing up, I saw one dream as possible, and that was the NRL dream.<\/p>\n

“I think all the other parts of myself really took a back seat to the athlete and the sporting part of me, because they weren’t things that received praise,” he says.<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman says his book collection charts every phase of his life. (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)<\/p>\n

The beginning of his NRL career was an exciting time for Bateman, now 31.<\/p>\n

“I was really just happy to be a part of the team,” he says.<\/p>\n

But a feeling of doubt slowly crept in, and Bateman’s 2015 NRL debut at the age of 20 brought up some unexpected feelings.<\/p>\n

“I’d worked my entire life to get to this moment \u2026 then I played the game, and I remember thinking, ‘Huh, that was really underwhelming.’<\/p>\n

“I thought that was a thing that would complete me. And then I came off the field, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m still exactly the same.'”<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Luke Bateman runs the ball in a match between the Raiders and Dragons in Canberra in 2017. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan)<\/p>\n

Bateman was enjoying the benefits of being a cashed-up, young sports star. But his gambling addiction, and the mental health impacts that went alongside it, were getting worse.<\/p>\n

After losing nearly $80,000 in one month, Bateman rang his mother and asked her to take control of his bank accounts.<\/p>\n

“Luke’s gambling got really bad. He had no money. He would literally be borrowing off family and friends. He would regularly ask me to take control of his money and take it back again,” she says.<\/p>\n

“They were very dark, hard times.”<\/p>\n

\"Luke<\/p>\n

Now back home in Brisbane, Luke Bateman takes time out for himself at the gym. (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)<\/p>\n

Bateman’s mental health deteriorated, and he contemplated suicide.<\/p>\n

“I was just so filled with shame, and I couldn’t share it,” Bateman says. “I was just in so much pain. I saw no way out.”<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:<\/p>\n