3 ms·

It's true of gambling in general. A case study is the state of New South Wales in Australia: the state with the most poker (slot) machines per capita [1], in t

by femto 4y ago

It's true of gambling in general. A case study is the state of New South Wales in Australia: the state with the most poker (slot) machines per capita [1], in the country with he most poker machines per capita [2] (excluding gambling specific destinations such as Macau and Monaco). One poker machine in NSW for every 82 people, with an average loss of AU$1000 per adult per year. The losses (called profit for the hotels and clubs) are heavily skewed toward lower income local government areas [3]: a loss of about $AU2500 per adult per year. Considering that not everyone gambles the losses are even bigger for those who do gamble. Granted an unknown amount of these losses are "business costs" for money launderers [4], but the damage to the community is still there from the associated crime. [1] https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-australias-addiction-to-poker-machines-78353 https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-australias-addic... [2] https://www.australianethical.com.au/blog/australia-needs-to-kick-its-pokies-addiction/ https://www.australianethical.com.au/blog/australia-needs-to... [3] https://chetre.org/2020/10/barriers-enablers-policy-gambling-harm-nsw/ https://chetre.org/2020/10/barriers-enablers-policy-gambling... [4] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-10/nsw-crime-commission-inquiry-into-pokies-money-laundering/100977954 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-10/nsw-crime-commission-...

josephg 4y ago
The "You Can't Ask That" episode on gambling in Australia was a massive eye-opener for me. They interview a bunch of people who are lifetime gambling addicts. Its shocking how badly its ruined their lives. I have no idea how many people who gamble regularly have a problem with it; but I'd support banning gambling entirely. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/video/LE1617H010S00 https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/vi... (Does iView work outside Australia?)
- speakfreely 4y ago
  > but I'd support banning gambling entirely If this was possible, that would be great. But you cannot eliminate a service where there is sufficient demand. You can only drive them underground, which frequently cause worse externalities for society than the original things being banned (drugs, prohibition-era alcohol ban, prostitution).
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  For my brother's bachelor party, I went to a casino for basically the first time. We were there from quite early in the afternoon and it's absurd the clientele that can be considered "regulars". As my brother darkly called it: "You have to be careful, otherwise you will lose your trailer". Meanwhile at least one old man spent several hours assuring us of his "system" to "beat the odds" while he lost hundreds of dollars, never once showing even the slightest understanding of what "the house always wins" means. Indeed, the rules for play for the card games were artificially more complicated than they could be, in my opinion this was done in order to more confuse players and make them think they found a "hole" in the rules to "beat the system" Too many people, especially here, espouse the "but gambling is entertainment" line. I don't buy it. I've spent thousands on video games, and sitting in front of a slot machine built by "Konami", a literal video game publisher, and it was abysmal from an entertainment aspect. Nobody would pay to play these games if there wasn't some internal pretending that "I can beat the system"
Tozen 4y ago
Very good points.

by femto 4y ago

josephg 4y ago

The "You Can't Ask That" episode on gambling in Australia was a massive eye-opener for me. They interview a bunch of people who are lifetime gambling addicts. Its shocking how badly its ruined their lives. I have no idea how many people who gamble regularly have a problem with it; but I'd support banning gambling entirely. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/video/LE1617H010S00 https://iview.abc.net.au/show/you-can-t-ask-that/series/2/vi... (Does iView work outside Australia?)

speakfreely 4y ago
> but I'd support banning gambling entirely If this was possible, that would be great. But you cannot eliminate a service where there is sufficient demand. You can only drive them underground, which frequently cause worse externalities for society than the original things being banned (drugs, prohibition-era alcohol ban, prostitution).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
mrguyorama 4y ago
For my brother's bachelor party, I went to a casino for basically the first time. We were there from quite early in the afternoon and it's absurd the clientele that can be considered "regulars". As my brother darkly called it: "You have to be careful, otherwise you will lose your trailer". Meanwhile at least one old man spent several hours assuring us of his "system" to "beat the odds" while he lost hundreds of dollars, never once showing even the slightest understanding of what "the house always wins" means. Indeed, the rules for play for the card games were artificially more complicated than they could be, in my opinion this was done in order to more confuse players and make them think they found a "hole" in the rules to "beat the system" Too many people, especially here, espouse the "but gambling is entertainment" line. I don't buy it. I've spent thousands on video games, and sitting in front of a slot machine built by "Konami", a literal video game publisher, and it was abysmal from an entertainment aspect. Nobody would pay to play these games if there wasn't some internal pretending that "I can beat the system"

Tozen 4y ago

Very good points.