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OAKLAND PARK, Fla (Gambling911.com) - Former rugby league player turned TikTok influencer Luke Bateman told Australia's parliamentary inquiry his spiralling addiction to gambling cost him about $1m. And operators didn't help much, per Bateman's account.
He has alleged gambling company promoters supplied him with cocaine and alcohol, telling parliamentary inquiry the betting industry exercised no duty of care.
Bateman further claimed to have attended a private Gold Coast event hosted by a gambling company at which senior figures took illicit drugs with clients.
He called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government to go further in its plans to limit gambling advertising, saying vulnerable people needed tougher protections.
“There were times where I would be flown interstate and taken to race days, put in marquees with alcohol and food provided all day, things like that. “Before getting there, your VIP manager would [say], ‘Hey, mate, what drugs do you want? Do you want a couple bags for this weekend?’”
Bateman was earning $400,000 a year but had no money, with his losses leading to debts of more than $250,000. Bateman has not publicly outed any gambling company by name.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
