Call for action to address gambling harm as report finds Australians lose average of $1,600 a year
Residents of Fairfield, one of the poorest communities in Sydney, lose $3,967 a year on pokies – three times the state average. In Victoria, the communities of Brimbank and Dandenong – both disadvantaged – have led the state in pokies losses per person for at least a decade.
Victoria & Queensland both have a city called Sydney?
☕👓
Fairfield, one of the poorest communities in Sydney
Herp derp
Probably twice or thrice this amount if they include lotto (doesn't look like they did).
and keno, sports tab
and
candy crush
pokemon cards
Plenty of parents allow their kids to play keno.
Gateway.
"These same three communities – Fairfield in Sydney, and Brimbank and Dandenong in Melbourne – stand out for other gambling spending too.”
Quoted from the news.
Residents of Fairfield… above average,,,
Next…
Now they know where the next casino should be. We don't have one anyway down (up?) here in the west.
The others with gambling addictions are state governments. That revenue is hard to let go of.
We buy Tattslotto tickets when values are high but apart from that I don’t funnel money to the gambling industry. Gambling is a tax on people who don’t understand statistics. Frankly pokie machines should be plain packaging like cigarettes. Take out the bells and whistles, just one button and a screen that says win or lose. It should also have a total of the current losses.
Gambling places should also have to pay back money received from proceeds of crimes. They would be a bit better at vetting people if they didn’t get to keep the profits.
Gambling is a tax on people who don’t understand statistics
If you understand statistics so well then you should do the opposite of this:
We buy Tattslotto tickets when values are high
Completely agree with your comment. We certainly don’t expect to win but the outlay is small and if it does come off the payout is huge.
I do the same even though I know for a fact I'm not going to win anything. It's just a dream of what could be if I won.
In certain situations it's +EV so it makes sense to buy a ticket when it's high
We buy Tattslotto tickets when values are high but apart from that I don’t funnel money to the gambling industry. Gambling is a tax on people who don’t understand statistics
hmmm… high values are neither necessary nor sufficient if you're implying a better return.
It's +EV
Gambling is a tax on people who don’t understand statistics.
If they are losing 3k per year they know the odds.
What they are actually doing is buying hope.
Are there any areas that have a net gain?
If so, I'm moving there! I'M GONNA BE RICH!
I like those odds!
what is this I don't even
Any area with a net gain should be impossible. All gambling is set to negative expected value for the customer. Advantage players are very rare, and the only games where they can succeed (Blackjack with hand shuffling and sports betting) are quickly backed off when the house notices a player is good. Games like Texas Holdem Poker where players play against each other and not the house are always negative EV when spread across all players due to rake.
The only situation I've participated in is an RSL club used to occasionally give two for one Keno tickets when you scan your card - that was enough for on average a net gain, but when you look up the odds, it's not by much. I always took a random selection and have a lifetime net gain (excluding a fluke biggish win - don't fall for this one boys and girls).
I don't frequent RSL clubs much so couldn't test with a large sample size.
Are there any areas that have a net gain?
Bet there's not.
Ill never understand people who play pokies but if that is 'how they want to spend their money' that is up to them
however it is also more reason to give welfare/social security money in forms on non-cash payments that restict spending on gambling/alcohol etc
It's exciting, it's a bit like a video game I think. The machines should have a max betting limit, like physically impossible to bet more than $20 per hour. Though I guess no pub would bother with it at all if they didn't earn.
I like pachinko in Japan where you play for the balls and swap the balls for prizes, and even if you only bet a little you still end up with a bucket of balls and you still have fun.
I don’t see ppl having a great time playing pokies.
They look glum.
I've been to Japanese pachinko places and the one thing that struck me was how LOUD they are. Seriously, it's like sitting in a noisy factory. All the players look like pokie players here: staring at the screen, touching the machine every now and then, and they all look like zombies.
The prizes are exchanged for cash around the corner. This gets around Japan's gambling laws of not playing for money, but seriously, every player there is playing to win cash.
It's all well and good to say how people spend money is up to them but when industries use psychology to tempt people who have an affinity to addictions then that's a different matter.
You can say the same for drinking, drugs, sex etc it becomes an addiction for people.
Apart from the machines themselves, clubs use tactics to lure people in so it's deplorable.
You can say the same for drinking, drugs, sex etc it becomes an addiction for people.
Apart from the machines themselves, clubs use tactics to lure people in so it's deplorable.
look im not defending the gambling industry i think all gambling ads should be banned but people have 'free' will to spend their money how they like
i play the lotto now and then - now i completely know the odds of winning are almost impossible but i find it fun to jump on realestate.com.au and carsales.come.au to imagine if i won 100m what i could buy - it is a bit of a therapy or a release from the fact im probably going to be a wage slave for the rest of my life for $20-30 i can dream for a few days.
people who play pokies probably do get some 'enjoyment' out of the machines - it isnt 'for me' but if that makes them happy i got no issue as long as they are spending their own hard earned i am 100% against people spending social security money which is meant to help them pay food and bills into pokies though - i have heard a lot of people who 'play pokies' do it because 'they are lonely' it is somewhere to go with people and allows them to destress it is why you often see a lot of older people on the machines i guess (that is what the gamblers help therapist at my work has told me)
everyone has a vice im not judging those who gamble, drink, have unsafe sex, take drugs, smoke, get to much cosmetic surgery etc as long as they are not 'hurting' anyone and they 'accept' reponsiblity for the risks using their own money/health/life they can do as they like
It's is essentially a scam though, which takes advantage of people with low IQ. Sad really, and pretty evil.
Maybe there should be a limit on how much a player can lose per year based on a percentage of their previous year taxable income.
Let it be the casinos problem. If they take more than this limit it must be returned to the player. Problem gambling will be eliminated overnight.
I have a punt or 2 myself. Everything in moderation is fine.
It's all the underhanded stuff that the gambling industry does to addicts, things which all governments overlook because they want tax revenue. General society needs to be aware of what gamblers face so we don't just blame addicts.
It's not hard to track down the many investigations over many decades into immoral practices that clubs get up to from keeping a record of punters names, habits, favourite drinks etc to just questionable things like lucky door prizes.
https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2023/why-pokies-are-addic… - just the tip of the iceberg.
These tricks may not work on everyone but the people that get hooked in are in for a bad life unless they get help. There needs to be a crack down on these sort of practices backed up by heavy penalties.
this could be changed to say, the average Aussie losses $30 a week to gambling, makes it look not so bad, i would love to see what percentage of Aussies gamble, i would think that a small minority are making the bulk of gambling.
80% of Australian men gamble, and 70% of women. Almost 50% of men gamble every week.
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/gambling
How many of those are problem gamblers? Even if it's in single percentage digits we're talking about more than a million people.
you think $30 a week doesn't look bad? that really is the mindset that gets many of these people in such huge debt. $30 a week is huge and the reality is that is the average which includes everyone that doesn't gamble. So many of these people it is more like $50 or $100 or more a week.
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/more…
Fairfield (and it's surrounding suburbs) have approximately one pokie machine for every 55 residents living there.
analysis of the latest ABS Census data and data from Liquor and Gaming NSW further reveals:
Despite only containing 54 per cent of Sydney’s population, Western Sydney endures 63 per cent of electronic gaming machine losses.
There was an increase of 169 electronic gaming machines in Western Sydney in the previous 12 month reporting period, compounding the already high levels of electronic gaming machine saturation in the region.
The disproportionate number of “mega-clubs” in Western Sydney is a significant contributor to this saturation.
The frontlines of the gambling related harm epidemic align with locations that experience high levels of socio-economic disadvantage.
Many of these clubs also encourage you to gamble (i.e. the more you play, the more you are rewarded, usually in the form of virtual currency that can be spent on highly discounted food / drink at the bistros).
Average Aussie Loses $1600 to Gambling Per Year
This means few lose $50K plus on Gambling and that balances it out lol
These are rookie numbers lol
sir, this is a Casino.
I'm finally above average in something!
I play the occasional lotto and never win. I see it as a donation to the hospital system, despite the government selling off SA Lotteries 🤦♀️
Always props to the WA government for restricting pokies to the casino
Crazy to think they're the only government to do so
Not every state can sell its dirt to China
Yet other states enjoy the extra GST 😉
Albo's Australia
Yeah, worst decision SA ever made was pokies outside the casino.
As for selling dirt, all states do it, WA are just better and management and have higher expectations on their paybacks
Does gambling include "investing" in cryptocurrency?
god i hope not otherwise i am a problem gambler…
Wouldnt this bump up the losses to about $50k in average
Just became $70k - "market" volatility
Crypto bros Moto " buy high sell low"
Australia is the king of BS industry. Last election in NSW, Dom Perrottet wants to introduce cashless pokies and phasing it out together. This was a bold move for a liberal as they are normally pro-business. Chris Minns, representing Labor whose constituents are effected by most, opposed it. Why? Because there's jobs involved and political donations.
In Australia, any industry, no matter how stupid it is, as long as it produce some jobs, you can pretty much guarantee that our unambitious politicians will protect it. Gambling, housing investment, international students, these are all BS industries that you don't see advance industrialised countries have them.
The Gambling lobby Australia is known as our NRA. They've got all thier fingers where they need to be to keep operating despite the impact they have on communities. Now I'm not anti freedom or anything, I believe adults should have some level of agency in the choices they make, the issue is the regulatory framework which gambling companies operate is the problem. If your an adult and enjoy the punt then good luck to you know where to find these places, its the aggressive marketing and exposure to minors which the need to regulate, we do that with pr0n, cigarettes, adult relaxation services. They should also be very strong on the presence of gambling mechanics in video games like FIFA.
as for the national average losses….it would be interesting to know what the distribution of losses is I would say its the 95-5 rule 95% of the total losses are by 5% of the pool as a stab in the dark.
Yeah the average for this sort of stuff is isn't a very useful stat. I wouldn't be surprised if the median was 0
sounds about right… now i'm off to the VIP lounge
do ya reckon you could sneak a couple of them ham cheese tomato half sandwhich out for me?
As I always say: Always chase your losses.
And keep a winning streak running…
The golden rule. Would be rude not to.
It's sad, but Fairfield and surrounds have the best RSL food deals… subsidised by the gamblers.
Take a bunch of not very smart people and trick them out of what little money they have.
It's kind of evil.
It's the LNP electoral fundraising model.
Kind of evil?
I would say corporate greed is kind of evil.
The gambling industry has taken its corporate greed and distilled it down to a very pure form of evil.
Not a fan of gambling, pokies etc - BUT at what point do we say, people are responsible for their own actions. i.e you want to go and pop all your $$$ don't the pokies, is your choice.
Maybe Fairfield has a higher percentage of money launderers. The reported losses are just a cost of their business model.
I wonder what the losses per year are for fuel ripoffs, by state sanctioned cartels, using broad daylight price gouging. Gouging that no other industry gets away with.
Are you talking about OPEC? (Organization for Petroleum Exploitation Cartel).
Nope I'm talking about the local cartels of the big petrol retailer groups who control prices onshore here, and fluctuate prices to suit THEIR agenda ( bottom line) You know, the ones that support the white elephant concept of Fuelwatch?
(Imagine a site that tells you where you can ripped off the least, by flinging a mantra at you like, 'shop around'.)
Basically the govt is up to their guts in this.They have never sought a solution with any integrity. No matter what prices OPEC set, where the AUD sits or any other drier, locally these parasites set prices to exploit consumers beyond any other businesses reach. Easter, Christmas and school holidays or any time where more people do more miles the price miraculously screams north. Price cycling is a rort,period
Note the points here where the toothless retirement village of the ACCC justifies the staus quo>
https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/petrol-and-fuel/what-affec…
"Pricing decisions by wholesalers and retailers, and levels of competition in different locations influence fuel prices."
(in other words they do what they want,justified or not.)
They may as well be the PR arm of the petrol companies. As useful as Fuelwatch.Same gig
Let's make it tax deductable!
Thank you Captain Obvious? Actually its not as bad as I thought
mate went through his 280k inheritance in 9yrs gambling.
hes about to hit the jackpot. surely he cant stop now?
It’s not really a Fair field then if they are losing more than other areas
Yes but who cares about losses. How much did they win?
Friend manages a news agency in SA, has people in all day every day playing keno constantly, they sometimes win but it's ever big enough to cover the losses over the years, some bring dice to get their numbers and such.
It's really pathetic seeing the same people for the last 5+ years just standing around in a news agency gambling and of course they are assholes about it too.
Nillionaire on 05/09/2024 - 04:24 Comment score below threshold.