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Fevola not the only mug addicted to free bookie credit

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

15 Dec 06:00am

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Filed under: Bookmakers, Brendan Fevola, Credit, Gambling

25 comments

It’s every punter’s dream - betting with money they don’t have. But don’t think this fantasy is limited to wealthy bankers, lawyers and high-profile footballers like Brendan Fevola.

You used to have to back a winner before a bookie gave you this. Photo: Anthony Reginato

If you have a job and a place of residence, then congratulations. You, too, can get instant credit with one of Australia’s 40 odd corporate bookies. It’s easier than getting a phone line or gas connected, and it’s nothing short of a national scandal.

There were two disturbing aspects to Sunday’s brilliant exposé by Phil Rothfield and Rebecca Wilson. The first is that we all have to feel sorry for Brendan Fevola now that he’s a “victim” of gambling addiction, rather than just a common and garden variety idiot. The second is that anyone could end up in Fev’s shoes.

This is not an anti-gambling piece, per se. Not only do I enjoy the occasional bet, but I also used to work for bookies and count several of them as my friends.

But the online arm of the gambling industry is spinning wildly out of control at the moment, with only the barest regulation from state and federal governments who are only too keen to remind us, day and night, of the evils of drugs, booze, tobacco - and tax us accordingly.

Where is the political uproar over credit for gambling?

In case the politicians have forgotten, Australians now collectively have almost $50 billion in credit card debt. On average, each card is well over $3,000 in the red. You’d think, in such a climate, that alarm bells would ring over credit in an industry where borrowers do not even have a commodity to show for their debt.

This was actually a piece I was going to write for Alpha magazine before I left that publication in November. Before I left, I rang some corporate bookies who trade online to see how much credit I could get. A few gave me none. Some gave me small amounts like $200. Others gave me $1,000. One actually promised to match the amount of my first deposit.

So if I’d thrown in, say $10,000, then bingo! I’d have had $20,000 to play with.

The bottom line is that there’s virtually an endless stream of credit available to almost anyone. You don’t have to be Brendan Fevola. You just have to be the average sucker.

Bookies, of course, are entitled to run their business in accordance with the law. And the law says they can extend credit to anyone in Australia, if they are licensed in the Northern Territory (which most of them are).

Like a business supplying concrete pipes or carpet, a line of credit is essential for bookmakers to maintain ongoing relationship with large, regular clients whose own cashflow can be variable.

But let’s get serious. Does the same courtesy really need to be extended to first-time punters? This is gambling were talking about here. We’re not talking about people who need the money to get a house finished on time. It is pure recreational speculation.

If the bigwigs and idiots like Fevola - oops, I mean victims like Fevola - want to bet squillions “on the nod”, fine, let them play. But surely, the little guy should be discouraged. A really simple line to draw would be to bar credit betting for any bet under $100. That’d ensure that the guy who likes to bet $20 on his team on the weekend does so with his own money.

Because one thing is certain in all of this. When you owe a bookie even a small amount of money, you chase your losses. Then the $20 becomes $50, the $50 becomes $100, the $100 becomes $500 and so on. Or you take ridiculous betting options which invariably lose, like backing hopeless longshots.

It’s a classic trap, and bookies know it. That’s why they’ll fight tooth and nail to protect their right to offer credit. Not they’ve had to, because no one has ever challenged them on this. But someone should really find the guts to tackle this issue now.

Most commented

25 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Samuel J says:

      06:02am | 15/12/10

      What happened to personal responsibility? It’s not up to the Government to save you from being stupid.

      Reply

    • Old Clive says:

      07:21am | 15/12/10

      Sorry Samuel, personal responsibility is a thing of the past, I can’t remember when it died, I just know that everybody else is to blame for my predicaments, my parents seperated when I was a child, I didn’t get the opportunity to do this or that, the firm is responsible for my safety, the criminals now have more rights than their victims, people die in their houses now because of the bars on their windows, I don’t know when we became stupid,but stupid we are.

    • john says:

      08:12am | 15/12/10

      Samuel, there is an old phrase by P. T. Barnum (1810–1891) “There is a sucker born every minute”.

      IMHO given the content of the story,  he’s old enough to know he would be a victim, therefore he is stupid enough to become sucker!

      21st birthdays are about becoming a responsible adult one would think, isn’t he 29 now?

    • S.L says:

      06:25am | 15/12/10

      Signs outside lottery agencies in my area inform me “No eftpos sales on lottery, lotto and scratchies” I say fair enough! If a bookmaker wants to give a punter credit that’s their problem…........

      Reply

    • George says:

      06:49am | 15/12/10

      You know this country’s ‘morality’ is well and truly on its descent to oblivion when TAB here in NSW flogged the ‘TAB in your backyard with your mates’ and when TAB here in NSW temporarily took over a substantial part of a CBD food court with a betting kiosk for 4 days leading up to this years Melbourne Cup.

      I mean its gambling…and I barely heard a whimper of a protest about it as opposed to the uproar and the amount of ‘hot air’ from soap boxes put up by the hypocrites when KFC started flogging their gift cards.

      Gambling is gambling and based on statistics the problem here in Australia is chronic. Just ask Fev’!

      Reply

    • Tom says:

      07:59am | 15/12/10

      It wasn’t a brilliant exposé, it was dirt digging and muck raking against an AFL player by an NRL editor with a deep seated and irrational hatred of the AFL. You only need to compare the headline of the Daily Telegraph article with those of its sister papers to see his personal petty agenda in play.

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      10:06am | 15/12/10

      I don’t think they have a hatred of AFL, more a hatred of Brendan Fevola.
      Especially Rebecca Wilson.

    • Meispod says:

      08:01am | 15/12/10

      As long as the gambling is heavily taxed, then I am all for a tax on morons.  Speed cameras provide another tax stream from morons, if a person is unable to match a speed sign to a speedometer they need taxing.  The more morons contribute the less tax others will need to pay on hard earned cash.  I also suggest a fat/sugar tax , illicit drugs tax, tattoo tax, bowling whites tax, and an outrageously high tax on Christmas wrapping paper.

      Reply

    • SM says:

      09:18am | 15/12/10

      What nonsense Anthony.  Because an idiot like Fevola gets into problems we should ban credit for those who don’t?

      I worked with a corporate bookie in Darwin for a number of years and for every footballer who’d bet stupid and get into problems (and there were many), we’d have 50 punters who would manage their affairs properly, and settle on Monday’s without incident.

      Deal with those who have the problem, and leave those who don’t alone

      Reply

    • Tripper Smurf says:

      09:31am | 15/12/10

      Gambling is a real issue, and not just from the credit bookies can give.  There are people out there that are hopelessly addicted to it.  Akin to Drug Dependency or Alcholism, a gambling addiction can take many years to overcome.  Indeed made more the harder these days as every hotel and pub has a pokie machine and/or a TAB in it and the cities has a massive casino in their centres.

      Governments wont move to hard against it however, as with the tobacco and the drink, and all their other revenue raising schemes that have been floated here, they are now in a state of dependency on those revenues.

      Reply

    • Double Up Dave says:

      09:45am | 15/12/10

      Gambling on horses and cards have paid off my mortgage, so I say let the man gamble if that’s what they want. Never asked for credit, though, never put into the middle what you can’t afford, my old man always said. That said, gambling is the best fun standing up.

      Reply

    • Saskia says:

      10:20am | 15/12/10

      Welcome to modern Australia.

      To protect idiots we ban everything.

      What a sad pathetic country we have become under nanny Labor.

      Reply

    • Evan Findlay says:

      11:01am | 15/12/10

      Saskia,
      I don’t recall Labor being in federal government when guns were banned!!!!

    • Shifter says:

      01:47pm | 15/12/10

      @Evan - Not all guns are banned. Rocket launchers and fully automatic rifles are. I’m quite fine with restrictions on implements which are solely used to kill other beings and serve no other purpose. No, I will not concede the point that they can be used to dig holes.

      @Saskia - Hell I’m all for idiots gambling their last cent. Nothing like a bit of Darwinism in effect when they starve to death following that. But there is a line to be drawn when idiots play with what they don’t have, which can have a broader effect than just the idiot themselves.

      In effect, the article is asking for a control on credit for the purpose of gambling, a very high risk/reward financial venture. Kinda like backing sub-prime mortgages…

    • James1 says:

      02:02pm | 15/12/10

      Wayne Goss’s Labor government introduced pokies to QLD.  But why let facts get in the way of your opinions?

    • michael j says:

      03:38pm | 15/12/10

      Gambling is not on my book of things to do,i know some people get hooked on things like horses and the like but even though i have been to the races a few times times it was mostly for the tucker,betting on races doesn’t intrest me,,
      poker machines have proberly destroyed more family lives
      then any wars we have been in for the last 50 years
      i beleive they should be banded,we got on alright without
      them before,,i know it is a hopeless point to try to save people
      from themselves,but with the amount of money ,the goverment
      makes and the way the goverment promote’s gambling its starting to become obscene,,
      @shifter
      Rocket launchers and fully automatic rifies have never been
      legal in australia although some professinal shooters can get a special permit for a semi-auto weapon it is very rare
      and although most other rifles or handguns can be obtained
      it is not as easey as some may think,,
      but seeing you like the morphine and sickio dvd games
      you proberly wouldn’t have have any problem obtaining
      any off these things,,and stop crying i got you that pepsi
      you wanted,,nasty old mum,, merry xmas to all,,ho ho ha,,

    • Shifter says:

      06:08pm | 15/12/10

      Hey Mike J!

      So what you’re saying is that you also believe that the government should regulate the bookmaking industry subject to the National Consumer Credit protection Act in the same way all other credit providers must adhere to when providing credit to consumers?

      (Cheers Mark)

      Well, I agree!

      However I think I’ll stick to obtaining my rocket launchers and fully automatic rifles from the murder simulators I enjoy to pass the time. It helps suppress those Suicidal Tendencies, which as the ‘lyric’-al content of previous post of mine you refer to, it suggests that I might need to be Instutionalized.

      Keep up the good work.

    • Pachos says:

      11:52am | 15/12/10

      Couldn’t agree more with the tone of this article. It’s bad enough that many people will gamble every cent they have in their pocket. It’s disastrous that they can also gamble with money they don’t actually have. This, along with gambling advertising, needs to be banned or at the very least heavily regulated. And it’s not about being a police state - laws are put in place to protect people. Yes, even to protect them from their own stupidity.

      Reply

    • Wazza says:

      12:08pm | 15/12/10

      Keep it up I say. I reckon the majority of credit gamblers and racing turnover in general is funded by fat businessmen and sports stars. I am happy to take their money! How often do you see big bets of $10K in the news that fail to come off? This money is not from your average joe down at Petersham RSL.  If you have half a brain and some idea about maths and probability, you are set for life by backing longshots and other multiples.

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      12:26pm | 15/12/10

      An interesting piece. Many here have made comments about being responsible for your actions and I agree. If people are prepared to throw away their money punting, that is their choice and they are entitled to do it, but should they be able to get credit to do so?

      If they are, why is the bookmaking industry not subject to the National Consumer Credit protection Act in the same way all other credit providers must adhere to when providing credit to consumers. If the bookmaking industry followed the regulations in the act then I believe there would be a significant reduction in the number of individuals racking up large gambling debts. I cannot see why the bookmaking industry should be exempt from this. They are providing credit to consumers and as such should adhere to the credit laws.

      Many problem gamblers would no doubt still lose plenty of cash at the detriment of their families but at least they would not be racking up debt on top of their losses.

      Reply

    • steve says:

      12:30pm | 15/12/10

      common OR garden variety, idiot.

      Reply

    • Scarneck says:

      01:08pm | 15/12/10

      “you chase your losses”...truest gambling words ever spoken. Bad business debts are similar “using good money to chase bad money” you just don’t do it. I’ve learned my lesson in both. As for Fevola…same as me, an idiot.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      01:40pm | 15/12/10

      I owed some money to a bookie a few years a go in Sydaney.
      Not a lot, but I couldn’t settle on the Monday ; it took a few mondays to square, but I did.
      When I think back to this episode, no-one was at fault because there was no fault. I placed a bet on a rider, from credit, hoping to clear the debt and go home with a profit, but it did not work out.
      Tough. There was no regret or shame or a need to cheat another to redeem any of my impulsiveness. Just bad luck, and I’ll try again after the debt is settled. That’s life. (Plus I had to ring the S/H car-yard and tell’him I ‘ll take that model after I win lotto, instead.)
      People get into debt from the races cause they wanna try their luck, and come home a winner.
      I can understand the authorities wanting to ban drivers hooning home drunk after a big meet, but you can’t protect everyone from themselves.

      Reply

    • Merv Iles says:

      04:31pm | 15/12/10

      one can only bet on Labor at elections with any certainty

      Reply

    • michelle dennis says:

      04:40pm | 15/12/10

      one lecturer offered me credit but I got distinction on a remark.
      At the 2011 NSW State Election, Labor is getting 21.5 seats start against Liberals.Would you take bookies credit on that offering??

      Reply
 
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