Explore the latest developments concerning Luke Bateman earned.
Luke Bateman earned $400K a year and gambled away every cent
During his darkest chapter, things would go missing from Luke Bateman's apartment.
"My partner would come home from work and be like, 'Where's this?'" the former NRL player-turned-fantasy writer tells Australian Story.
"I would've taken it to Cash Converters and sold it for cash so I could go and gamble."
Luke Bateman says in the elite sporting environment gambling was "like breathing". (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)
It was 2019, and Bateman was at the height of a debilitating gambling addiction so severe he couldn't afford to feed himself. He was a professional NRL player with the Canberra Raiders at the time, earning $400,000 a year.
Luke Bateman turns a new page on AUSTRALIAN STORY
From losing everything to finding an unexpected second act through writing and BookTok, tonight’s episode sees Bateman reflect on the setbacks and fresh purpose that helped him turn the page.
Growing up in Western Queensland, Luke Bateman had just one dream: to play in the NRL. But a crippling gambling addiction cost him everything.
Luke showed exceptional sporting talent from a young age and by the time he was 12 years old, he’d been signed by the Canberra Raiders.
But a team bonding session at the local casino when he was 18 marked the start of a devastating gambling addiction that saw him lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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VIDEO: The cost of gambling
Luke Bateman tells Australian Story books saved him at his lowest ebb when he left the NRL with a $250,000 gambling debt. (Australian Story: Tom Hancock)
NRL player-turned-fantasy writer Luke Bateman on how books saved him from a devastating gambling addiction and why he’s on a mission to protect others from self-destruction.
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