End of road for gambler

End of road for gambler

A crooked travel agent convinced his business partner they could win the Blues Super 14 team contract while stealing thousands of dollars to feed a gambling addiction.

Dennis Price charged $28,000 to colleague Reg Caldow's credit card for what he claimed was a pre-season Blues trip to South Africa in 2007.

Caldow, 66, from Wellington, said: "He has caused my family intolerable stress. I set him up in business and he stole from me.

Police said Price had gambled up to $600,000 at the TAB....


Price was close friends with New Zealand's most well-known punter, Graham "Steel Balls" Bruton.

But for Bruton, too, the luck ran out. When he fled to Singapore in 2002, unable to pay a $20,000 credit bet he made with a Christchurch TAB, Price spoke out on his behalf.

After a crushing run of losses, Bruton told him high-stakes gambling had become "like a heroin addiction that I couldn't handle" - but Price said his friend was strong enough to bounce back.