Gambling social media influencer boasts of winning $250,000 on pokies

A self-described gambling addict with 653,000 Instagram followers has captured the moment he won $250,000 on a poker machine at ‘s Crown casino.  

David Nicholas, known online by the pseudonym ‘The Captain Davo’, is fond of promoting his lavish lifestyle across his multiple social media platforms.

From glamorous women in bikinis to driving a $400,000 Porsche 911 Carrera GT3, the 25-year-old punter and social media influencer from clearly has a penchant for showing off his wealth and how it funds plenty of partying.

But anti-gambling advocates warn the reality of gambling addiction is far different for thousands of Australians struggling to pay bills because of their habit.

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Being lucky at Melbourne’s Crown casino doesn’t hurt either, with the high-roller last week showing off the moment he won $250,000 on the pokies.

After almost 13 minutes playing the pokies, the former salesman recorded the moment the machine gave him some good news on the screen.

The start of the video showed more than $7,000 in credit but it was not apparent how much money had initially been fed into the slot machine, believed to be a Rising Fortune.

When the jackpot hit, his mate cried out: ‘Are you serious?Dude, are you serious?’

The Queensland government rates the chance of winning the maximum payout on a poker machine as one in 7million. 

That footage has already been viewed more than 94,000 times since it was posted on YouTube on November 25.

This YouTube channel features gaming ads, unsurprisingly, and the number of viewers has kept growing.

On that channel, he called himself Mark Petersfield even though his gambling website is registered under the name of David Nicholas at an address at South Plympton, in Adelaide’s south.

‘Hi there Mark Petersfield here also known as The Captain Davo,’ he said in a brief biography.’I started my gambling career when I was 18 years old. 

‘Since then I have been diagnosed as an addict. Cheers.’

Baptist minister Tim Costello, who is also the spokesman for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, said social media influencers were contributing to higher rates of gambling addiction among the young.

‘The biggest jump is in young people, almost certainly that would be because of social media,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘These sorts of social influencers are really just puppets of the industry.’  

Mr Costello said poker machines were ‘rigged’ to stop a punter from winning often. ‘The machine is actually built for addiction,’ he said.

‘You cannot play them regularly and win. You simply can’t.That’s why we’ve got prisons full of people – ended up addicted and stealing, bankruptcies because people believed that.’

Mr Nicholas declined to address any suggestion he was promoting the interests of the gaming industry.

‘Apologies on the delay.I am not interested in above mentioned story. However, my content comes from a passion of gambling. All the best with your article,’ he told Daily Mail Australia today.

Crown Resorts was last year fined $300,000 by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation for tampering with poker machines.  

In March and 카지노사이트 April 2017, certain buttons were hidden on 17 gaming machines so that only minimum and maximum betting options were available.

Mr Nicholas has amassed more than 13million viewers since he last year set up a YouTube channel. 

The social media influencer also has a website, called The Captain Davo, that sells caps for $35.

The logo looks similar to the winged badges gracing the car bonnets of British Minis and Bentleys. 

His Instagram page features plenty of other images of women wearing much less. 

Then there is his Facebook page with 43,000 followers, which features live stream videos of himself answering questions from fans about gambling.

‘Gambling is risky stuff,’ he said in one chat in October.

‘I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I’ve got the money there to be able to gamble but if you’re trying to replicate that sort of action without the bankroll, you’re going to be in f***ing trouble.’

Underneath the disclaimer to his YouTube highlights video, he said: ‘Please gamble as responsibly as possible.’

Mr Costello said that kind of slogan masked the addictive nature of poker machines.

‘When we say, “Gamble responsibly”, which is really, the industry’s message picked up by state government,’ he said.

‘They’re saying, “Most people are responsible, blame the individual”.

‘No, it’s not the individual, it’s the machine.’ 

For free and confidential help for gambling addiction, phone 1800 858 858