The Wire

Well the nation stopped today – as it does every year on the first Tuesday in November – to watch the Melbourne Cup. Chances are you may have had a bit of flutter yourself, and maybe – like me – you entered a sweep at your workplace or placed a few dollars on that horse that looked the prettiest or had a nicest sounding game. Cause its all just a bit of harmless fun, right? Well, not for some. For people with gambling problem, the whole racing carnival season, culminating in today’s cup, can be a seemingly endless battle against the temptation to “just have a bit of a flutter”. For recovering gamblers, the lead up to Melbourne cup serves as constant reminder of that bit of fun they can’t indulge in and the day itself, well, many have to stop themselves from reading the newspaper or watching TV, to make sure they don’t get tempted to gamble. Today the Wire caught up with Tom, a member of Gamblers Anonymous, who has struggled with gambling most of his adult life. Erica Vowles spoke with Tom before the race to see how he would be spending the day. He told Erica Vowles about what prompted him to join Gamblers Anonymous in the first place.

Gamblers Anonymous
Salvation Army in Australia