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Hooked: Inside the murky world of Australia's gambling industry
How did Big Gambling become too big to fail and too powerful to adequately regulate?
Australians lose around $32 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, the most of any country in the world, while the industry rakes in $244 billion through poker machines, lotteries, casinos and the exponential rise in sports betting. In Hooked, Quentin Beresford explores how gambling expanded from a highly restricted recreational activity to a mega industry. He asks, what’s the balance between entertainment and social harm? What does the crisis reveal about the troubling intersection between business and politics? And, finally, how can the gambling industry be reined in?
With a cast of questionable characters, iconic corporate brands, eye-watering greed, political subterfuge and the many state and federal politicians who have sold out to the gambling industry, Hooked exposes the underbelly of gambling in Australia.
‘A gripping account of how the gambling ecosystem grew to be Australia’s version of the NRA.’ – Charles Livingstone
‘An exceptional account of the history and predatory behaviour of the gambling industry...and a powerful acknowledgement of all those people who suffer in the clutches of the executives who run and profit from these companies.’ – Andrew Wilkie
Australians lose around $32 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, the most of any country in the world, while the industry rakes in $244 billion through poker machines, lotteries, casinos and the exponential rise in sports betting. In Hooked, Quentin Beresford explores how gambling expanded from a highly restricted recreational activity to a mega industry. He asks, what’s the balance between entertainment and social harm? What does the crisis reveal about the troubling intersection between business and politics? And, finally, how can the gambling industry be reined in?
With a cast of questionable characters, iconic corporate brands, eye-watering greed, political subterfuge and the many state and federal politicians who have sold out to the gambling industry, Hooked exposes the underbelly of gambling in Australia.
‘A gripping account of how the gambling ecosystem grew to be Australia’s version of the NRA.’ – Charles Livingstone
‘An exceptional account of the history and predatory behaviour of the gambling industry...and a powerful acknowledgement of all those people who suffer in the clutches of the executives who run and profit from these companies.’ – Andrew Wilkie
- GenresNonfiction
475 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 16, 2025
Great analysis of Big Gambling in Australia. How they target gambling addicts and provide money-laundering services to big- time gangsters to make massive piles of money and use some of that money to buy protection from politicians and media magnates. They are a cancer on society which is almost impossible to remove.
December 30, 2025
A disturbing book on the history of gambling in Australia, and the succession of politicians and governments who have perpetuated the scourge on society that is gambling, especially poker machines and online betting. How anyone can ignore the harm it does to society is beyond me. A much needed call for action.
January 5, 2026
[Disclosure: this was written for Tasmanian Times, and will be the last review I’ll be doing for reasons contained within the review]
Hooked is a morbidly addictive read.
Using public record investigative journalism and critical interviews across the gambling, criminal and government sectors, author Quentin Beresford hasn’t just taken us ‘inside the murky world of Australia’s gambling industry’, he’s revealed that our entire democracy is actively and aggressively involved, directly and indirectly, in gambling exploitation and crime.
One shock in Hooked is finding out that our major party politicians are indifferent to human suffering and the injustices of an industry based on deception, exploitation and crime. If you look at what politicians do rather than the pious words they say, it’s stunning to see how far they’ll go to protect gambling and the criminals who use it.
“Gambling is one of the key drivers for preventable harm in Australia. It can cause family breakdowns, neglect of children, physical and mental health problems, financial catastrophe, increased rates of crime and family violence, and, in too many cases, suicide.” Charles Livingstone, Monash University
The social damage caused, and the infiltration and control of our political processes, is just one aspect of the problems of gambling.
There is also the aggressive expansion of pokies into the areas and demographics least able to afford loss, the near-exponential promotion of online “casual” gambling among young men, the campaign to normalise and encourage gambling as ‘fun’ for children, the insertion of gambling as fundamental to sport as part of ‘the viewing experience’, and the astro-turfing ‘grass-roots’ fight back against banning greyhound racing. Above all is the ability of the gambling lobby to own the halls of our parliaments, make politicians back away from banning gambling advertising, and to water down any and all enforcement of already pathetically weak regulations.
It gets worse. It’s well known that our State and Federal governments are addicted to revenue from gambling, but less well understood that governments are so complicit in the industry that they’re indifferent to a majority of voters who want ads totally banned - especially to children. Government know we want greyhound racing to end, and want more enforcement of gambling, and for government to separate itself from gambling interests and instead prioritise community, but Hooked indicates nothing is going to change.
We’re not a few pieces of legislation away from ‘achieving a healthy balance between people’s rights to have a flutter and mitigating harms’ because the gambling industry controls our legislature and will not allow any reduction in profits or its expansion.
Gambling advertising in and around sports, and sport sponsorship itself, is a key debate, but their advertising saturates our entire media in a way most of us can’t comprehend. The extent of what gambling companies do to lure gamblers, and how far they’ll go to keep those with pathological gambling issues hooked to their ‘product’, should be legislated crimes. The extent of what gambling companies do to attract and serve money launderers from around the world should be legislated crimes. Current regulations, in the rare event that any agency even thinks about enforcing them, are weak, and the rare legal finding against the companies have no lasting impact.
The expanding digital slot machines and casualised online betting is being pushed across the spectrum of media, from tiny outlets such as this one, engaged in SEO farming to pay the bills with links to online casinos, to the barrage across social media and traditional media. In other words, what you as an individual see on the platforms you use daily, is dwarfed by the advertising tsunami across all media.
We, as a culture, are being marinaded in gambling as ‘a terrific and growing part of our economy’, while our governments ignore the links to criminal activities and the devastating impacts on our communities.
Tasmania faces the looming battle to ban greyhound racing as our Parliament returns to work in 2026. The gambling industry and associated media and political interests have been strategising a multi-pronged PR assault to weaken opposition, gaslight the public, and threaten politicians with electoral defeat should the ban proceed.
The powerful gambling industry impacts and costs us all, in every form it takes, and we are, again, soon to see what will look like a grassroots campaign rise from the pubs, clubs, tracks and communities to fight off ‘the threat to local jobs and community organisations’. Big money will back it all, retreating to the shadows as their local proxies – ordinary people working for the industry – are put forward as the ‘true face’ of “gaming”, and as the people who will be hurt most if the ban succeeds.
And, if history is any guide, the gambling industry will win, and reforms, yet again, will evaporate with a few legislative amendments to assure the public that any harms are mitigated. Dogs will continue to be overbred, caged, and quietly killed when they can no longer race.
The gambling industry is based on deception and dishonesty, and will spend millions on the best possible lies to ensure their continued control of us and our economy.
“Big Gambling seems to have become an industry too big to fail, and too powerful to adequately regulate…[yet] the social damage, the infiltration of criminal elements and the corruption of the political process Big Gambling has caused is too high a price for the people of Australia to pay.”
Hooked is a morbidly addictive read.
Using public record investigative journalism and critical interviews across the gambling, criminal and government sectors, author Quentin Beresford hasn’t just taken us ‘inside the murky world of Australia’s gambling industry’, he’s revealed that our entire democracy is actively and aggressively involved, directly and indirectly, in gambling exploitation and crime.
One shock in Hooked is finding out that our major party politicians are indifferent to human suffering and the injustices of an industry based on deception, exploitation and crime. If you look at what politicians do rather than the pious words they say, it’s stunning to see how far they’ll go to protect gambling and the criminals who use it.
“Gambling is one of the key drivers for preventable harm in Australia. It can cause family breakdowns, neglect of children, physical and mental health problems, financial catastrophe, increased rates of crime and family violence, and, in too many cases, suicide.” Charles Livingstone, Monash University
The social damage caused, and the infiltration and control of our political processes, is just one aspect of the problems of gambling.
There is also the aggressive expansion of pokies into the areas and demographics least able to afford loss, the near-exponential promotion of online “casual” gambling among young men, the campaign to normalise and encourage gambling as ‘fun’ for children, the insertion of gambling as fundamental to sport as part of ‘the viewing experience’, and the astro-turfing ‘grass-roots’ fight back against banning greyhound racing. Above all is the ability of the gambling lobby to own the halls of our parliaments, make politicians back away from banning gambling advertising, and to water down any and all enforcement of already pathetically weak regulations.
It gets worse. It’s well known that our State and Federal governments are addicted to revenue from gambling, but less well understood that governments are so complicit in the industry that they’re indifferent to a majority of voters who want ads totally banned - especially to children. Government know we want greyhound racing to end, and want more enforcement of gambling, and for government to separate itself from gambling interests and instead prioritise community, but Hooked indicates nothing is going to change.
We’re not a few pieces of legislation away from ‘achieving a healthy balance between people’s rights to have a flutter and mitigating harms’ because the gambling industry controls our legislature and will not allow any reduction in profits or its expansion.
Gambling advertising in and around sports, and sport sponsorship itself, is a key debate, but their advertising saturates our entire media in a way most of us can’t comprehend. The extent of what gambling companies do to lure gamblers, and how far they’ll go to keep those with pathological gambling issues hooked to their ‘product’, should be legislated crimes. The extent of what gambling companies do to attract and serve money launderers from around the world should be legislated crimes. Current regulations, in the rare event that any agency even thinks about enforcing them, are weak, and the rare legal finding against the companies have no lasting impact.
The expanding digital slot machines and casualised online betting is being pushed across the spectrum of media, from tiny outlets such as this one, engaged in SEO farming to pay the bills with links to online casinos, to the barrage across social media and traditional media. In other words, what you as an individual see on the platforms you use daily, is dwarfed by the advertising tsunami across all media.
We, as a culture, are being marinaded in gambling as ‘a terrific and growing part of our economy’, while our governments ignore the links to criminal activities and the devastating impacts on our communities.
Tasmania faces the looming battle to ban greyhound racing as our Parliament returns to work in 2026. The gambling industry and associated media and political interests have been strategising a multi-pronged PR assault to weaken opposition, gaslight the public, and threaten politicians with electoral defeat should the ban proceed.
The powerful gambling industry impacts and costs us all, in every form it takes, and we are, again, soon to see what will look like a grassroots campaign rise from the pubs, clubs, tracks and communities to fight off ‘the threat to local jobs and community organisations’. Big money will back it all, retreating to the shadows as their local proxies – ordinary people working for the industry – are put forward as the ‘true face’ of “gaming”, and as the people who will be hurt most if the ban succeeds.
And, if history is any guide, the gambling industry will win, and reforms, yet again, will evaporate with a few legislative amendments to assure the public that any harms are mitigated. Dogs will continue to be overbred, caged, and quietly killed when they can no longer race.
The gambling industry is based on deception and dishonesty, and will spend millions on the best possible lies to ensure their continued control of us and our economy.
“Big Gambling seems to have become an industry too big to fail, and too powerful to adequately regulate…[yet] the social damage, the infiltration of criminal elements and the corruption of the political process Big Gambling has caused is too high a price for the people of Australia to pay.”
August 13, 2026
I picked this work up just before the latest political storm hit federal politics a week or so back. I say latest, as it has happened before, and if the current trending likelihood of inaction on the prevalence of gambling advertising occurs, it will come again.
However this is about the work, not the current political situation here in Australia.
So, to the work.
Gambling is as entrenched more in our society than perhaps in many, many other places around the world. It is often quoted that per capita, Australians loose more to gambling each year that anywhere else in the world. Little wonder then that with the deregulation of poker machines and casino's we have undergone over the last 30 yrs, and the expediential growth of on-line gambling, that a work such as this has rich fodder to base itself on. Unfortunately, that is where I think this works lets itself down somewhat, in that it limits, or bases, larger sections of the telling upon single quoted sources - "a professional gambler I spoke with", "a report to government" , etc etc.
That said, it covers a reasonable timespan from the establishment of the first casino in 1973 to the publish date of 2026 (i dont know why its showing Kindle edition above..... anyway), and so too the challenges, corruption, legal and illegal goings on in an "industry" that is fraught for causing genuine and life changing (and ending) harm and whilst also enabling various criminal actions.
In the interests of self disclosure, I have several open gambling App accounts, I sometimes play the lottery and until COVID was a Racing Club member. So I punt. Now occasionally, but not as much as in the past. So I'm not anti-gambling as a blanket statement.
However, in my opinion this is a work that every Australian should consider reading. It lays out the reality of a world that many cannot see as we are so far down "the rabbit burrow" or "the frog boiling in the pot". Gambling advertising, sponsorship and invasive nature has become so prevalent, so normalized, that it is so ingrained, so "normal" that I believe it cannot be, is not, healthy for too many of the minority with harmful habits, the young, the venerable...... Or for it's "hold" over governments with threats of tax loss, economic loss and job loss.
So, read it. Think. Make up your own mind. Perhaps this will educate, perhaps it will add to your knowledge or perhaps it will impact your understanding. Which or whatever, I think it's worth your time, consideration and contemplation.
However this is about the work, not the current political situation here in Australia.
So, to the work.
Gambling is as entrenched more in our society than perhaps in many, many other places around the world. It is often quoted that per capita, Australians loose more to gambling each year that anywhere else in the world. Little wonder then that with the deregulation of poker machines and casino's we have undergone over the last 30 yrs, and the expediential growth of on-line gambling, that a work such as this has rich fodder to base itself on. Unfortunately, that is where I think this works lets itself down somewhat, in that it limits, or bases, larger sections of the telling upon single quoted sources - "a professional gambler I spoke with", "a report to government" , etc etc.
That said, it covers a reasonable timespan from the establishment of the first casino in 1973 to the publish date of 2026 (i dont know why its showing Kindle edition above..... anyway), and so too the challenges, corruption, legal and illegal goings on in an "industry" that is fraught for causing genuine and life changing (and ending) harm and whilst also enabling various criminal actions.
In the interests of self disclosure, I have several open gambling App accounts, I sometimes play the lottery and until COVID was a Racing Club member. So I punt. Now occasionally, but not as much as in the past. So I'm not anti-gambling as a blanket statement.
However, in my opinion this is a work that every Australian should consider reading. It lays out the reality of a world that many cannot see as we are so far down "the rabbit burrow" or "the frog boiling in the pot". Gambling advertising, sponsorship and invasive nature has become so prevalent, so normalized, that it is so ingrained, so "normal" that I believe it cannot be, is not, healthy for too many of the minority with harmful habits, the young, the venerable...... Or for it's "hold" over governments with threats of tax loss, economic loss and job loss.
So, read it. Think. Make up your own mind. Perhaps this will educate, perhaps it will add to your knowledge or perhaps it will impact your understanding. Which or whatever, I think it's worth your time, consideration and contemplation.
February 26, 2026
An amazing read to make you think: About our responsibility as a community to protect vulnerable people from predatory corporate behaviour. About individual responsibility for our choices. Also about responsibilities of government to balance health of the population with freedom of choice, while being lobbied and receiving donations.
It's a complex picture indeed and this book will help you understand more of this messy situation.
It's a complex picture indeed and this book will help you understand more of this messy situation.
May 5, 2026
Every American sees the pervasive gambling industry cornering the country as laws loosen. We should look to Australia to understand why turning back now is essential.
Great work of historical nonfiction. I always wonder how so much detail can be aggregated on niche subjects. Excellent work by Beresford.
Great work of historical nonfiction. I always wonder how so much detail can be aggregated on niche subjects. Excellent work by Beresford.
July 29, 2026
MORE AUSSIES NEED TO READ THIS. Appallingly low rating numbers in terms of read on goodreads. This is an amazing book every Australian must read. Opened my eyes on so many levels on the social degradation that has come with a corrupt gambling industry that has been permitted to flourish unabated. 5 stars.
Also taught me how barbaric greyhound racing is. BAN GREYHOUND RACING NOW.
Also taught me how barbaric greyhound racing is. BAN GREYHOUND RACING NOW.
January 2, 2026
A great book about the power of the gambling industry, the social harms they are inflicting for profit, and the politicians who allow it.
June 2, 2026
Found this book very well researched and well argued, with insight into the numerous harms caused by various forms of gambling and the lack of government regulation.
July 11, 2026
Enlightening and terrifying in equal measure.
July 24, 2026
Absolutely mind blowing about the corruption on so many levels
August 3, 2026
Very informative, but reads like a textbook. Could have been written to be more engaging.
August 2, 2026
A good overview of the history and nature of the gambling industry in Australia, but the author's politics and analysis are a bit lacking. Not just that this a disagreement, it means the book dedicates a lot of time talking about the personal upbringing and personalities of politicians and criminals involved rather than the economic structures that perpetuate the system.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews