Nathan Hindmarsh reveals $200,000 poker machine addiction

[Eels Dude]

Haven't seen this posted anywhere yet

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nathan-hindmarsh-reveals-200000-poker-machine-addiction-in-soon-to-be-released-autobiography-old-school/story-e6frexnr-1226430244489

PARRAMATTA captain Nathan Hindmarsh has made the stunning admission he blew more than $200,000 because of a poker machine addiction.

The Eels warhorse details the depths of a serious gambling problem in his soon-to-be-released autobiography Old School with exclusive extracts published in tomorrow's edition of The Daily Telegraph (and on League Central).

“I would have maxed out my credit card at least two hundred times, with a limit of $1,000 a day,” the 32-year-old writes.

"All up, I blew a couple of hundred thousand dollars. That’s right: I had thrown away $200,000 by the time I was in my early twenties.

“It was such a waster. I think about all the things I could have done with that money: I could have owned the house I’m sitting in now, or I could have put a lot more towards a house or an investment property. It was a hard lesson learned. I would have liked not to have done it but I couldn’t stop myself.”

Hindmarsh, who will retire at the end of this season, reveals he would blow up to $2000 a day at the height of his addiction, which he battled over a six-year period during his early 20s.

He said he dabbles in the poker machines now and then - but has advice for players and fans alike if they feel gambling is taking a grip on them.

“Without getting too Oprah, there are a lot of blokes who can do it socially and walk away but if you feel you can’t control it, you are better off talking to someone,” he said. “That’s the point of this being in the book: getting help. I was lucky that I saw someone early enough to really help me out.

“Plenty of players gamble, they do it and walk away. I keep an eye on some people, just to make sure that everything is going okay. I’m aware of how I used to be when I was younger, going out to pubs and clubs.”

More in tomorrow's The Daily Telegraph and on League Central.

I'd love to read a book by Hindy. Would give a great inside into what's been happening behind the scenes at the club over the past 15 years.

 

[The Colonel]

Going to the bookshop in the morning to pre-order.

 

[Parramatta1947]

And this is why the NRL shouldn't be embracing and promoting betting agencies. He may not have have been betting with them but the NRL shouldn't be promoting gambling like it does.

 

[DeanPay98]

I'm shocked, but glad it got dealt with. Hindmarsh is a really good person by all accounts.

 

[eloquentEEL]

I hope it wasn't the gambling debts in the back of his mind, and the need to pay them off, that acted as the motivation to keep getting up and going again and again and again.

 

[Fire]

Red or black Hindy?

 

[Gronk]

Wow. Confirms that everyone can be effected by the addiction of gambling. Ban them FFS.

 

[strider]

can't wait to read the book .... i never read books - but this one i will make an exception

 

[kmav23]

thats why we need pokies reform...

ironically some of his earning comes from pokies via eels club...

the machines destroy lives...

 

[Parra R 4 Me]

Hindy isn't the first and won't be the last sports person to get addiction of some sort. Glad to see him get help before it totally destroyed his life. If I remember right Sterlo was in trouble due to gambling when he was young before getting help, and Langer was the same, before Bennett got him help before it destroyed him. I don't have the answer's, don't think anyone does, but I"m sure there are plenty out there hiding behind a mask.....l can't wait to get the book.

 

[Utey]

Langer was notorious for it, still is.

 

[mickdo]

Wow. Confirms that everyone can be effected by the addiction of gambling. Ban them FFS.

Nah, just gradually tax the f*** out of it like cigarettes and bring in the $1 max bet. People can still get their jollies but can't be hurt as much.

 

[DeanPay98]

I dont get what people see in pokie machines or any form of gambling. I like my money and I understand the basics of probability, so I just don't get gambling at all.

 

[mickdo]

I dont get what people see in pokie machines or any form of gambling

Neither do the addicts. That's the problem.

 

[Mr Spock!]

Didn't Sandow have a problem when he was with the Bunnies. How's that going?

Do clubs provide financial advisers for young players who suddenly end up with a shitload of cash?

 

[bartman]

Pokies are shit.

I personally fully support the pokie reforms and do not support the scare campaign mounted by Clubs NSW

 

[Redback71]

I did not think Hindy was that stupid

 

[mickdo]

I did not think Hindy was that stupid

It's got nothing to do with intelligence. It's an addiction.

 

[Skeletor]

And this is why the NRL shouldn't be embracing and promoting betting agencies. He may not have have been betting with them but the NRL shouldn't be promoting gambling like it does.

There is a huge difference between the type of gambling the NRL (as an organisation, not the clubs themselves) promotes and Pokies. The NRL generally promotes TAB-style sports gambling. Sports gambling is generally considered nowhere near as addictive (and there can be a skill factor to it), Pokies are machines which have a built in house edge, and some suggest that playing them puts players into something of a trance.

 

[Tyler Durden]

I did not think Hindy was that stupid

he's not, we are.
this is just some plan by the publisher where they make some outrageous claim in the book (that usually cannot be substantiated), it comes out in the media a few days before the launch, and we all go...oooooh, I must buy that book and read all about it.