A Melbourne man gambled $895,733 through online betting platforms in the four years between his 18th birthday and his death by suicide in 2021, an inquest has heard. Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie is examining the circumstances of Kyle Hudson's death, focusing on whether betting companies adequately assessed the risk of gambling-related harm.
The inquest heard that Hudson, a construction management student from Werribee, opened a Sportsbet account on his 18th birthday in 2017. His girlfriend of seven years, Ashley Baker, described him as a 'genuine good bloke' but said gambling was the only thing they argued about. She recalled that after his first significant loss of $2,000, he told her he wanted to die.
Hudson tried to limit his gambling, eventually giving Baker control of his finances and Sportsbet password after losing $20,000 in savings in December 2020. In the days before his death, he asked Baker for money, and she sent him about $5,500 before ending the relationship. On his computer, Baker found evidence he had bet thousands in his final 24 hours and 'had blown all his savings'.
The inquest heard that Hudson placed 999 bets in his first six months with Sportsbet, averaging 4.6 bets per day. He triggered behavioural alerts 37 times, mostly for betting over $3,000 in a week while aged under 22. Sportsbet responded with generic 'safer gambling' emails, and his account was suspended five times but reactivated after he said he was 'betting within his limits'.
Sarah Rizzo, Sportsbet's director of customer operations, told the court that Hudson never met the company's highest risk threshold. The coroner questioned whether Hudson appeared to be 'a reasonably sophisticated gambler who was doing reasonably well and appeared to be in control'. Rizzo agreed with hindsight, but noted the company's processes at the time.
