Australians are, per capita, the biggest gamblers in the world, losing around 25 billion dollars a year to pokies, online and sports betting and lotteries.
But the way in which people pay to gamble is about to change significantly.
From tomorrow there will be an Australia wide ban on using credit cards – or crypto currency – to make deposits to gambling websites, including online casinos.
Credit card deposits make up about 30 percent of all deposits to betting sites, but researchers say the risks for problem gamblers are much higher than from other deposits such as via direct debit.
GUEST:
Associate Professor Dr Charles Livingstone gambling researcher Monash University