CONNY McLoughlin doesn’t mind being identified as a reformed problem gambler.
She estimates over a 10yearperiod she lost more than $300,000 playing pokies at various machines around the West.
But once she began dipping into a savings fund for a new family home in Bacchus Marsh, she knew she had to get help.
Coincidentally, the State Government last week launched an investigation into punters withdrawing equity from home loan accounts at venue ATMs.
The 50yearold mother of two is today an advocate for problem gamblers and a vocal spokesperson against allowing any new poker machines to be licensed in the West.
She has made presentations to the regional caps review panel, a group that will make a recommendation to the State Government by November.
“When they first introduced them into Victoria in 1992, I don’t think they had any idea of what a problem they were creating,” Ms McLoughlin said.
She said capping would probably not help existing problem gamblers because “they would find a machine no matter what”, but it could help to deter future compulsive punters.
“If there is limited access, new players would probably just walk out,” she said.
“Once you get outside and reality hits you, you realise what you’re doing.”
Ms McLoughlin said she still cannot trust herself around the machines, even three years after she stopped playing.
She recalls needing to go through a gaming venue recently and hearing a jackpot go off.
“It scared the hell out of me,” she said. “Lucky my family were there to help me.”
Her family includes the same two daughters – now adults – who first recognised she had a problem.
“I used to bring them with me and leave them in the foyer,” she said.
“When they turned 18, I even tried to get them interested, but thank God they weren’t.”
The monthly bus trips to New South Wales that started her habit quickly escalated to weekly, then daily gambling sessions once she had easy access. She won $2000 in the early years, something she was never able to do again.
“At first you keep playing because you’re chasing those kind of wins,” she said. “Then you keep playing because you’re chasing the losses.”
