Hooked

Inside the murky world of Australia's gambling industry

Quentin Beresford

$39.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

New South Books
01 November 2025

Illness & addiction: social aspects; Licensing, gaming & club law; Australian Society

Australians lose around $25 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, the most of any country in the world, while the industry rakes in $187 billion through poker machines, casinos and the exponential rise in sports betting.

With a cast of questionable characters, iconic corporate brands, eye-watering greed, political subterfuge and the many state and federal politicians who have sold out to the gambling industry, in Hooked Quentin Beresford exposes the underbelly of gambling in Australia.

Beresford explores how gambling expanded from a highly restricted recreational activity to a mega industry. And asks, has Big Gambling become too big to fail and too powerful to adequately regulate? What does the crisis reveal about the murky intersection between business and politics? And, finally, how can the gambling industry be reined in?

'A gripping account of how the gambling ecosystem grew to be Australia's version of the NRA'

Charles Livingstone

'An exceptional account of the history and predatory behaviour of the gambling industry...and a powerful acknowledgement of all those people who suffer in the clutches of the executives who run and profit from these companies.'

Andrew Wilkie

By: Quentin Beresford
Imprint: New South Books
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781761170256
ISBN 10: 1761170252
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 01 November 2025
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Quentin Beresford is the author of The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd, Adani and the War over Coal, Wounded Country and Rogue Corporations, as well as Rob Riley, a renowned biography of the Aboriginal activist. Previous NewSouth books: The Rise and Fall of Gunns Ltd Adani and the War over Coal Wounded Country Rogue Corporations