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BLINKERS OFF

MATT STEWART, Herald Sun

A WEEK ago a rare anomaly occurred in Australian racing that sparked light-hearted “what are we gonna do now?’’ banter on social media.

The gallops meetings in NSW and Victoria were washed out meaning for the first time in months – probably since Good Friday – there wasn’t a gallops meeting anywhere in the country.

There were jokes about spending time with kids or mowing lawns; counting the hours, perusing the day-ahead guides, before the gates sprung on the Tuesday.

You wonder if there was a hint of desperation in the banter, that some really do struggle with the notion of a day without a punt on anything, let alone on a heavy 10 at Moruya.

The fact there is a groundswell to plug one of only two holes in the constant galloping cycle, Good Friday, suggests there is a growing addiction to the punt that may be festering among a particular demographic.

A young form analyst who has worked with a number of corporate bookmakers said two of his smart tech-savvy mates who had become lured into a lifestyle of constant gambling had become “victims.’’

He said the bombardment of corporate bookmaker advertising and the technological ease of betting on mobile phones had lured them into a daily swirl of punting on anything that kicked, galloped and jumped.

“You sit on a tram or a train and everyone’s got their head buried in their phone,’’ he said.

“A lot of them are (predominantly) young blokes checking scores or watching races.’’

Two decades ago young men with reasonable cash-flow didn’t have the press and punt trigger of mobile phones and a decade ago they were not confronted with relentless advertising of multi-sport betting on a smorgasbord of sports.

One big betting shop has an ad where flashy well-to-do types have their heads buried in their phones or I-Pads in cars and executive meetings clenching their fists as a race is being run or a score is being updated.

It is “sold’’ as the glamorous, fast-moving life of young men who educate themselves on the form and back themselves in; just like the stock market.

It wouldn’t be difficult for the anti-gambling lobby to run the same ads and deliver the opposite message; of 18-35’s whose daily working lives are consumed and curtailed by something that will almost certainly drive them broke.

In the olden days a “punter’’ was someone who worked Monday to Friday and had a quaddie on the weekend.

Now a punter is anyone with a phone, a love of sport and a habit that may well be a short-half head from addiction.

The gambling industry and horse racing are big on anti-gambling messages yet serve up relentless feasts to entice.

Night and day racing, racing on every day bar Christmas Day and Good Friday, gambling on race meetings in England, South Africa, South-East Asia, even Norway for crying out loud, means the next race is always coming.

More racing, more gambling, feeds the industry. It fuels prizemoney and infrastructure.

But it also fuels potential for addiction that simply didn’t exist decades ago.

The TAB says there is no evidence that a certain demographic with phones and trigger fingers is becoming hooked on something that won’t let go.

It says Saturday remains the “spike” for gallops gambling and that traffic subsides on other days, particularly early in the week.

But time will tell, as the smorgasbord gets bigger and the ads and enticements become flashier.

“Responsible gambling’’ ads amid this feast is a bit like bit like plonking a kid in a chocolate shop and telling him chocolate makes him fat.

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