ODAAT Gambling Awareness7 Nov 2025

My Gambling Hijacked My Life | Kate's Gambling Story

I interview Kate S about her gambling harm story.

🤝 How I Quit Gambling: https://youtu.be/ZUx9qIm4sNY

🙌 If you're struggling with finances because of a gambling addiction, see if you qualify for free financial counseling through Gamfin: https://gamfin.org/rob

Kate grew up in Sydney and first encountered poker machines in everyday social venues, not casinos. A few early wins lit the fuse. Years later, after moving to Canberra, a chance visit to a club while pregnant re-triggered everything during a perfect storm of stress. She burned through $30,000 in a month—money meant to start building the family’s first home. In this conversation, Kate describes the mental torture of preoccupation, why it felt impossible to “just stop,” and how shame was weaponized against her. We unpack the design of pokies and slots, losses disguised as wins, and the illusion of control. We also zoom out to Australia’s massive per-capita losses and the social costs, including crime and intergenerational harm. Her turning point came in 2012 after a life-or-death crisis and a conversation with her child that reconnected her to hope and humanity. From there, Kate rebuilt, became a recovery coach, wrote I Bet I Can Change Your Mind, and launched The Hope Project to educate schools, workplaces, and communities about gambling harm as a public-health issue. If you or someone you love is stuck, you are not broken. This happened to you—and help, truth, and recovery are real. Kate's Resources mentioned:

• Kate’s book: I Bet I Can Change Your Mind

• The Hope Project (and book link): thehopeprojectaustralia.com.au

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