And while we're on the subject of betting, if you like a punt - or even if you don't - you cannot escape betting ads on TV, especially at Grand Final time where Sportsbet was in the front row for the NRL showdown

YVONNE SAMPSON: Absolutely, and it's time to check in with Joel Caine and Sportsbet. — Channel Nine, NRL Grand Final, 2 October, 2016

While at the AFL grand final it was CrownBet wearing the crown

VOICEOVER: 2016 Toyota AFL grand final is made possible by CrownBet, reward yourself — Channel Seven, AFL Grand Final, 1 October, 2016

The AFL grand final day broadcast had 21 betting commercials in all, at an estimated $130,000 a 30-second spot, which adds up to more than $2 million dollars for Channel Seven.

And half of those were for CrownBet, which forks out $10 million a year to sponsor the AFL, and which also got to spruik the odds.

MATTHEW CAMPBELL: The Western Bulldogs are the best backed team to win this year's Grand Final. And the market seems to have settled on the Swans at $1.55, the Dogs at $2.50 ... — Channel Seven, AFL Grand Final, 1 October, 2016

CrownBet also got to run a series of ads, to suggest how glamorous and lucrative a betting life can be.

RICKY PONTING: You don't need to be lucky to drive this! Or have these seats ... CrownBet. Reward yourself. — Channel Seven, AFL Grand Final, 1 October, 2016

And it also sponsored its own little game within a game.

CAMPBELL BROWN: We're standing 10 metres high in the Crownbet 'tower of torp'. The aim of the game is to kick the ball from here, 25 metres into that premiership cup — Channel Seven, AFL Grand Final, 1 October, 2016

Next day, on the NRL's grand final broadcast, the story was much the same with its sponsor Sportsbet.

So, why should we worry? Well, Australians now lose - not win -- $23 billion a year on gambling.

And as anti-pokie campaigner Charles Livingstone tells Media Watch, it's in sports betting that those losses are growing fastest.

It's mind boggling but true: the amount of money Australians lose gambling on sports is increasing by 28 per cent a year. At that rate, it will be on a par with poker machine gambling (the biggest game in town) within 10 years, and well in front in 12. — Dr Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, Dept of Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 7 October, 2016

Betting ads are also growing like crazy.

From $91 million worth in 2011 to $236 million in 2015.

And that's far faster than any other sector of advertising, with sports betting again leading the field.

But as you can see from this recent campaign to limit gambling ads, some argue it comes at a cost.

GIRL: My team is Melbourne Storm. BOY: St Kilda are at 3.50 this weekend. GIRL: Hawks to win by 10 points. BOY: I bet you they won't GIRL: It's pretty much a sure bet BOY: The Bulldogs were at $2.75 BOY: It's just a part of sport VOICEOVER: Gambling advertising is changing the way our kids see sport. Let's help them love the game, not the odds. — Channel Seven, AFL Grand Final, 1 October, 2016

That ad, broadcast by Channel Seven on Grand Final day, was from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.

Whose concerns are shared by Deakin University's Professor of Public Health, Samantha Thomas.

SAMANTHA THOMAS: I think when you have an eight-year-old look you in the eye and rattles off four gambling companies, the names of four gambling companies in a row, we know that we've got a problem. — ABC News Radio, 23 August, 2016

Recruiting children to the punt is what tobacco companies did with cigarettes.

And it's why betting ads are banned during programs that might be watched by kids.

But there's a massive loophole. Because sport and programs like The Footy Show, which appeal to kids, are exempt from the rule and so is TV news.

VOICEOVER: This sports report brought to you by William Hill's new and exclusive Double Down — Channel Nine News, 28 September, 2016

VOICEOVER: Tonight's sports report is brought to you by Sportsbet punters club. The easiest way to punt with your mates — Channel Ten News, 28 September, 2016

And the campaigners say this really has to change.

SAMANTHA THOMAS: We need to do everything that we possibly can to stop young people from being exposed to these very adult products within children's viewing hours. — ABC News Radio, 23 August, 2016

The TV networks accept there might be a problem.

And Seven's CEO Tim Worner even admitted this publicly in July, saying:

I have children myself and I am not blind to the concerns. — Tim Worner, CEO, Seven West Media, Statement on Sports Betting, 14 July 2016

But Seven's boss also maintained that the current rules suffice:

We already have extensive restrictions in place to ensure community standards are met. — Tim Worner, CEO, Seven West Media, Statement on Sports Betting, 14 July 2016

So don't expect the networks to give any ground.

Or to knock back the money they need so badly to stay alive.

But, IF crossbenchers Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie, get their way, the networks may well be forced to.

Because since July, they have been pushing for the loopholes to be closed.

ANDREW WILKIE: The bottom line has always been that it has been inappropriate, quite improper, for broadcasters to be relying on advertising revenue like gambling when children are watching TV. — Andrew Wilkie, Federal MP for Denison, 7 October, 2016

In exchange, Wilkie and Xenophon are proposing to cut TV licence fees worth more than $100 million a year.

But the government and the networks would need to agree. And both appear unmoved, with Seven's Tim Worner saying the licence fees need to go but the ads need to stay.

So what chance do the reformers have?

Not much, according to Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy, who told Media Watch.

If Xenophon and Wilkie are talking about live sports only then a deal might be able to be arranged. But if they want to ban all bookmaker advertising then they don't have a hope in hell. — Steve Allen, CEO, Fusion Strategy, 7 October, 2016

And whether licence fees are cut or not, Allen believes the networks have a point. Because taking the ads off TV, means they shift online, where it's hard or impossible to regulate.

Google, Facebook and YouTube pay hardly any corporate tax in this country, much less face licence fees. So it is not a level playing field, and banning bookmaker ads on TV would make it even less level. — Steve Allen, CEO, Fusion Strategy, 7 October, 2016

And if you can't make it fair, Allen argues, you can't do it all.

Sadly, we suspect he's right.