07-07-2025
Australia's poker machine influencers ‘fuelling gambling addiction'
A social media trend has been accused of glamorising gambling on poker machines by Australia's top body for doctors, as it calls on politicians to restrict the viral content.
Videos and live streams have cropped up across the country's social media showing influencers inserting hundreds of dollars into slot machines, known as poker machines, or pokies, in Australia.
Some so-called 'pokies influencers' promise to pour money into the machines until their accounts gain a certain number of followers.
At least one video appears to show a small child gambling on an iPad with comments reading 'good time to start' and 'teach 'em young'.
Danielle McMullen, the president of the Australian Medical Association, said the 'shocking' content clearly targets young people and seeks 'to glamorise what is a dangerous habit'.
'These videos show that our regulations around gambling just aren't keeping up with the 21st century,' she added. 'They are essentially ads for gambling and our governments need to take a long hard look about how we get on top of this content.'
The videos uploaded to Instagram with hashtags like 'pokieswin' show users winning huge jackpots without documenting their losses.
One influencer, Jon Redman, offers to put a A$1,000 (£478) on red on a casino roulette machine for every 10,000 new followers.
The trend comes after a report published last month suggested that despite declining participation in gambling, electronic gaming machines have led to an 'intensification effect since 2014, where higher gambling spend is concentrated among fewer players'.
Those who were at higher risk of gambling harm were deemed to be most vulnerable, and could be exposed to tangible costs including bankruptcy.
The report by the Victorian government found the social cost of gambling in the state doubled from A$7 billion in 2014-15 to A$14 billion in 2022-23.
Commenting on the latest trend on Instagram, Meta, the company that owns the social media platform, said it would 'remove any content that does not comply with our standards as soon as we become aware' of it.
'Both the advertiser and creator must obtain written permission to promote real money gambling and must comply with all applicable Australian laws and regulations,' a Meta spokesperson told The Guardian newspaper.
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The uploads, despite allegedly promoting gambling, do not seem to have been published in partnership with any gambling company or venue so can not be strictly defined as advertising.
Last month, Australian influencers faced fines for inadvertently promoting an offshore bookmaker licensed and regulated from a remote island off the east coast of Africa.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has threatened influencers with fines up to A$59,400 for 'promoting or publicising illegal online gambling services'.
Videos posted by multiple influencers linked to Leon Australia's website, which provides online sports betting, and shared financial incentives for users to create accounts.
Jon Redman was approached for comment.
