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Risky business: Your bloke and gambling

Photography Getty Images

Bet my bottom dollar that the biggest gambler you know is male.

Sure, women gamblers are on the rise (more on that later) but when it comes to risky and ridiculous bet-placing behaviour, men are still furlongs ahead. I mean, would a woman ever spend a year licking 64 Anglican cathedrals to honour her side of a wager, like a male British prankster did?

Then there was the 20-year-old Tunisian man who, last December, died shortly after betting his friends he could eat 28 raw eggs. And let’s not forget those who dabble with far, far higher sums: corporate career punters like the lavishly salaried folk who all pitched a stake towards JP Morgan’s $6.2 billion trading loss earlier this year by pledging eye-watering amounts of other people’s money on ventures that proved as thin as the pinstripes on their Ralph Lauren suits. All blokes.

And despite the perception that pokie rooms are filled with grannies sucked in by the free sambos and cakes, it’s actually 18- to 24-year-olds who spend the most time on slot machines, according to the Federal Government Problem Gambling resource.

Within a similar age bracket (18- to 30-year-olds), most studies show there are up to twice as many male problem gamblers as female, says psychologist Dr Sally Gainsbury from the Centre for Gambling Education and Research. “That’s related to their tendency to be impulsive, relatively reckless, dismissive of the consequences of their behaviour.”

So what to make of it all?

Take a gamble

As a man whose close mate seriously considered putting some hard-earned on that Mayan calendar/Armageddon hogwash coming true – I don’t know where he intended to spend his winnings – I can attest my gender does have a loose grip on the notion of cause and effect.

“Younger men also tend to have less financial responsibilities, and like to show bravado in their social circles,” says Gainsbury. Add to that the media enticements to place spontaneous bets on sporting events, emblazoned on pub TV screens and pored over each weekend by bars full of young men, disposable incomes burning a hole in their pockets, and it begins to become apparent why, when it comes to problem gambling, the deck is stacked against us blokes.

Dr Alexander Blaszczynski, a professor at the school of psychology, University of Sydney, points to an evolutionary basis for men, particularly when younger, being prone to a wager or 10.

“There’s definitely a genetic element to males being greater risk-takers (ie, hunters) whereas women tend to be more risk-averse,” he says. “There’s a genetic basis to impulsivity and risk-taking and sensation-seeking in general – it’s about testosterone and biological adaptive values.”

Then there’s the factor of men’s innate competitiveness, backed by the high number of sports stars who’ve experienced gambling problems – among them Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, English soccer player Wayne Rooney and former rugby league star Owen Craigie, who frittered away $1.5 million on horses, greyhounds, pokies and card games before becoming a gambling counsellor for Mission Australia.

But Blaszczynski points out, gamblers who tend to get themselves into more significant trouble are the ones who can least afford it: “The unemployed, lower socio-economic status people and so on.”

This is perhaps linked to a cultural pressure for men to provide – feminism may have eroded this significantly, but only for the last few decades, and social mores take generations to flicker and die altogether. “Now,” I hear women cry in unison, “how can paying a voluntary ‘stupidity tax’ be a way of ‘providing’?”

And here we get to what I think is the nub of it: we men simply have a greater propensity for self-delusion. We have a gut feeling we can win, even though we know, rationally, the odds are waaay not in our favour.

We’re deluded

Besides the pokie room, men’s capacity for self-delusion is at its most evident in the political arena, not least with the issue of gambling itself. Apologies to my gender, but only men could convince themselves that gambling regulation is a bad idea because it would be an “un-Australian infringement of liberty” rather than because it would erode tax revenues.

Us blokes are also more receptive to anecdotal exceptions – that whole “My uncle smoked until he was 158” syndrome – and nodding inanely, then blithely embracing them as the norm.

What self-respecting woman would read Kevin Cook’s book Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything and remain blissfully blinkered to the fact that, for every Thompson (the inexplicably successful cards, golf and pool hustler) there are thousands of other less “lucky” people watching their offsprings’ inheritance dribble into the state coffers?

This all said, women aren’t immune to the lure of a big cash win.

“About half of all people seeking help for gambling addiction today are women,” says Gainsbury. Though this is partly due to the fact that men react to the phrase “seek help” like a leech to salt, and we have to remember that problem gambling statistics are often based on those who’ve checked themselves in.

Nevertheless, women aren’t impervious to the lure of the wager – so keep in mind an enduring truth if you feel the urge to take a regular flutter: the only smart way to double your money is to fold it in half and stick it back in your purse.

Has he or she got a problem?

“The national definition for ‘problem gambling’ is ‘difficulty limiting time or money spent on gambling, which results in significant harm either to the gambler, their family or the wider community’,” says CQUniversity’s Associate Professor Matthew Rockloff, an expert in problem gambling behaviour.

Clues someone may have been swept up in the luck of the draw, according to the Federal Government’s Problem Gambling resource: they’ve become secretive and defensive about money; they have mood swings; they’re withdrawn; they’re boozing more; they arrive home late regularly.

What to do? First, consider counselling for yourself, so you don’t have to cope on your own. Learn more about problem gambling, from a resource like Problem Gambling.

Let the person know you’ve noticed they might have a problem and try to engage them in a rational conversation, says Rockloff. “Don’t expect results in the first instance,” he says – baby steps. “Also keep close tabs on your money and bank accounts.” For free financial counselling call 1800 007 007; and for info, visit Gambling Helpline.


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Scott is a London-based writer who narrowly resisted the temptation to place his modest savings on a woman becoming pope, in the name of “research”.