The word ‘luck’ features heavily in Australian vernacular, we’re a nation of people who take  chances and push our luck - it’s in our DNA.

Which ultimately leads to a large number of us being down on our luck - and relying on our luck to change.

Thus begins the insidious addiction that cleverly sustains itself by promising victims their fortune will change, if not with the next punt, perhaps the one after ... just stay loyal.

Like any addiction, the first step to beating it is admitting it and that’s an issue, according to federal government figures that show most gamblers take between and five and 10 years to acknowledge they have the mother of all problems.

By then, they’ve lost everything, but can’t put  their finger on how, even though it was the same finger that pressed enter on the mobile phone account, the iPad, the poker machine button.

Enter charities like the Salvation Army, volunteers of which get a firsthand look at the way gambling breaks down resolve, and why wouldn’t it?

It’s advertised on prime-time television - how many times has Samuel L Jackson told us of the joys of being able to bet 24 hours a day, Tom Waterhouse shows us the glamour of being a winner, channel nine broadcasts odds during every NRL match it telecasts and Lucky the Cat says we can all be a millionaire.

Gambling is now competitive big business, with betting agencies offering incentives unheard of five years ago and throwing billions of dollars at advertising. You have to feel for the Salvos and similar charities that pick up the pieces. Their volunteers see the heartbreak, the broken homes, the depression, the neglected children.

The Salvos’ Major Greg Saunders says its time for the community to step up, pointing out if someone is losing money (usually people who can least afford to), someone else is gaining it. But when those reaping the advantage are big business it’s difficult to see things changing anytime soon.