Gambling Reform Advocate, Father and Partner
Hobart
Joined June 2021
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Mark Kempster retweeted
"You're worse than Hitler."
I had the honor this week of being invited to speak to Vanderbilt football and basketball players. When asked if anyone had been harassed by angry bettors, at least half the hands went up.
One player said he'd received that insane message after losing a game.
It's a plague in college sports. The purported fix is banning people from betting who are caught harassing athletes.
But I'm really skeptical of how that can be enforced. It's unreasonable, or at least unrealistic, to expect athletes to report everyone sending them hate mail and threats.
Mark Kempster retweeted
The industrial-scale financial destruction of young men, now being marketed as community building.
Mark Kempster retweeted
These apps should be banned, not promoted. In addition to the ramifications of gambling addiction, they allow “trading” on policies, drug trials, and natural disasters that affect our real lives. Also, the only way for these partnerships to be successful is for fans to lose. Boo.
Mark Kempster retweeted
This is beyond disgraceful. Gambling is a cancer. Prediction markets even worse; they will cause more athletes to cheat, more to be threatened if they make or miss foul shots or play for fewer minutes. Less confidence in integrity of the game. Shame on the NBA and Adam Silver.
The NBA has reached deals with Kalshi and Polymarket to make them the league's preferred prediction markets partners. The companies can now use NBA IP on their platforms, while the NBA gets right of approval on markets that they offer. That and more:
nytimes.com/athletic/7723134…
Mark Kempster retweeted
Northwestern coach David Braun slams the sports betting industry:
“It’s scary stuff. It’s predatory.”
Mark Kempster retweeted
Professional sports bettor Mike Manning says he got a firsthand look at how a sports gambling betting platform treats winners differently from losers. He told CBS News’ Jim Axelrod that Caesars Sportsbook showered him with VIP perks when he was losing, then slashed his betting limits and cut off the perks after he started winning.
His account adds to allegations that sports betting platforms limit the amount skilled gamblers are able to wager.
In a statement, Caesars Sportsbook said, “We don't comment on the specifics of individual customer accounts. Caesars Sportsbook is an entertainment product and we consider a variety of factors including account activity, integrity protocols, and consistency with our terms and conditions, when establishing wagering limits and determining VIP rewards and benefits. No decision is made solely on a customer's win-loss record.”
Mark Kempster retweeted
Dear @TasmanianLabor MPs (especially the good hearted women) please listen to just the first couple of minutes of this evidence. Know what it is that you are publicly ‘ defending’?
The first part of a powerful statement from the wonderful Elle Trahair @save_greyhounds at the inquiry into banning greyhound racing in South Australia hearing this morning.
Many important points covered, relevant to all states. Please do listen.
I have been told recent race footage of greyhounds injured on South Australia tracks was shown at the hearing and there were people in the room visibly distressed. Important that everyone sees the truth.
The live stream kept dropping out so missed a lot after this. Will post another section below and some parts of the RSPCA evidence. The transcript will eventually be available here:
committees.parliament.sa.gov…
#bangreyhoundracing
Mark Kempster retweeted
I mean, just an all-time TV segment. Making Chuck do Who He Play For multiple times in a row with the same players is a brilliant idea and I was legit crying laughing by the end, my god.
Mark Kempster retweeted
Today a coroner in Victoria published the verdict of Kyle Hudson’s suicide acknowledging that “gambling was the direct paramount and causative factor underlying his decision to take his own life”.
Operators who were interested parties: Sportsbet Pty Ltd (Flutter)
Ladbrokes, Neds, Bookmaker (Entain)
Hillside Pty Ltd (Bet365)
Kyle was 22 years old and opened his SB betting account on his 18th birthday.
85% of his betting activity was through Flutter’s Sportsbet app.
The thorough 101 page verdict includes facts around deposits and loses which are “significant when considered relative to his income”.
Details about Kyle’s multiple attempts to moderate his gambling which were not recognised by Sportsbet as a warning sign which the coroner states, “should have been”
Details about the Safer Gambling triggers which the coroner concluded, “undermine any confidence one may have in the soundness of the design program, the setting of parameters or its application to customers such as Kyle”.
Kyle died in 2021
The coroner made recommendations for federal government changes
And also stated that Hudson’s case “should be a clear signal that we cannot leave monitoring and intervention solely in the hands of the betting companies”.
theguardian.com/australia-ne…
Mark Kempster retweeted
A 22-year-old man's #gambling addiction led to him taking his own life in 2021, a coroner in Victoria, Australia has ruled. After opening a Sportsbet account on his 18th birthday, Kyle Hudson wagered AU$895,000 with various #betting companies
abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/p… @ABCaustralia
Mark Kempster retweeted
The Victorian coroner has slammed Sportsbet's claim that a 22-year-old who took his own life after gambling nearly $900,000 over four years didn't have a gambling problem.
crikey.com.au/2026/10/21/one…
Mark Kempster retweeted
Kalshi wants to sponsor Breaking Points..."Not only no, but f*** no. We do not want your blood money." @esaagar
Mark Kempster retweeted
Victorian coroner slams Sportsbet after young gambler Kyle Hudson's death
abc.net.au/news/2026-10-20/p…
"men matter"? Well yes of course they do but the racing/gambling industry destroys a lot of men and this is an incredibly sexist "industry" with a pretty dark history. And do all men matter or just the rough thuggish types? And is there a "women matter" racing weekend? What about a greyhounds matter weekend?
racingqueensland.com.au/indu…
If you need more proof @sportsbetcomau and the entire gambling industry are nothing more than predatory, parasitic scum, then here it is.
How the fuck could they argue that this poor young man didnt have a gambling addiction, just to absolve themselves from predatory behaviour.
Mark Kempster retweeted
Polymarket and its athlete endorsers are under fire for a market on whether any of the seven male defendants accused of raping a Cornell student will get a felony sex crime charge.
There was $451K in volume, with traders placing a 28% chance on the market resolving to “yes."
Mark Kempster retweeted
Tell me again how ON should be a party of government, and that they are decent people.
Grubs.
Mark Kempster retweeted
Absolutely. It’s not a ‘sport.’ It’s the cruel mistreatment of animals, many of them butchered when they have no further use.
Mark Kempster retweeted
After a decorated 24-year run at ESPN, Nicole Noren resigned in protest.
She couldn’t go along with the network’s all-out embrace of gambling.
For the first time publicly, in @CJR, Noren shares the deeply personal reasons behind her decision.
cjr.org/the-interview/nicole…
