Australian’s penchant for pokies has taken us from the lucky country to the unluckiest country in the world, with alarming gambling statistics that put us so far ahead of the rest of the world it would make your head spin.
Australia’s Gambling Addiction Stats
The most recent Australian Gambling Statistics place the average spend at nearly double the US (and close to triple the rest of the world) – see the image below or for further information and more supporting facts about the state of gambling in Australia and the associated issues pokie addiction has on this country – or visit RSLPokies.com and see first hand how bad it really is around here.
Visit RSLPokies.com for further evidence and supporting data surrounding Australia’s Gambling epidemic and the growing problems associated with Pokies
Gambling Isn’t So Bad – It’s The Pokies You Have To Be Wary of!
The problems associated with gambling in Australia are 100% attributed to the pokies – and sadly this is only perpetuated by a Government that is blinded by the 20 Billion plus they make every year in associated tax revenue (source and supporting data) – and just in case you think I’m just saying this because I don’t like offline pokies you are dead wrong! The image below shows how alarming the pokie problem is – and if you follow the above link to the source and supporting data you will see (sadly) why these figures are not going to improve anytime soon.
Laura’s Story
Laura began gambling on slot machines, or pokies as they are known in Australia, when she was 20 years old. Within a few months she was hooked. “I loved it but it didn’t love me back,” says Laura, not her real name, a wobble of emotion in her voice. She is now 25.
At her peak she was losing about A$5,000 ($3,650; £2,350) a month. “It would be basically all the money I had until my last dollar was gone.”
Laura had a decent job but she would pour all of her salary into the pokies and then borrow from friends and relatives to gamble more. “I lost my relationship. I lost my job. I went to pretty desperate measures to fund my gambling.”
Laura is Far From Alone…
Laura is far from alone. Australians are officially the world’s biggest gamblers, with each adult losing on average more than A$1,380 a year.
That is double the amount lost by Americans and almost three times as much as the British.
“Australians lose more per head than any other country in the world,” says Dr Sally Gainsbury from the Centre for Gambling Research at Southern Cross University.
“Australia definitely has a gambling problem,” she says.
“One percent of adults have a serious gambling problem which is actually a clinical disorder. Four percent of adults have moderate gambling problems and eight percent a low range of gambling problems.”
That means it is estimated there are a staggering half a million Australians at risk from problem gambling.
Original Source and further reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-33647401
The Hypnotism of Pokies
By far the biggest problem is pokies and/orslot machines, of which there are more than 200,000 across Australia. (This accounts for over 20% of the worlds gaming machines FYI)
“Pokies are the biggest revenue generator,” says Dr Gainsbury. “Around two-thirds of all gambling losses are through the pokies and in Australia that amounts to around A$9.8bn a year.”
It is incredibly easy to gamble in Australia. There are pokies in just about every pub or bar.
Many pubs contain betting shops, where punters are able to gamble and drink at the same time, and there’s nearly always a handily placed cash machine near by, often even in the pub itself.
“My partner used to say it was like I was hypnotised,” says Laura.
“I was chasing the adrenalin of having a big win. There was just something about the lights and the sounds of the pokie machines. I would just crave it.”
Laura, now a university student who hasn’t gambled for more than a year since joining Gamblers Anonymous, says she knew the odds were against her but she just couldn’t stop herself.
Matthew ‘Lied to their faces’ and Lost Everything
Matthew shares his own story and how the struggle was real…
“I knew exactly what time I got paid and I lost all that money before I even left the office,” says Matthew, again not his real name, a 35-year-old IT worker.
Matthew became hooked on amateur online trading sites, speculating on shares and currencies.
He first noticed he had a problem not because of the losses but because of the amount of time he was wasting at work researching the markets.
But soon he says he was losing more money than many people make in a year; tens of thousands of dollars.
“I lost a relationship, my fiancee. The relationship I had with my mum went down the drain,” Matthew says.
“The thing that got most people was that I lied to their faces about where I was and about my money situation.”
The Social Cost of Gambling
Most compulsive gamblers have similar stories to tell.
“In terms of social costs, it is estimated that problem gambling costs A$4.7bn each year,” says Dr Gainsbury.
“Gambling is something that affects not just the individual but the people around them. We’re talking family breakdown, unemployment, work disruption and then things you can’t even put a price on like suicide.”
With such a heavy social cost you would think the government would be keen to do something about it. You would be wrong.
“Gambling taxes are one of the single largest sources of income for the state and territory governments,” says Dr Gainsbury.
“It’s estimated that in 2014-15 they’ll get almost A$5.9bn from gambling [in taxes]. This is over 10% of total tax revenue for some of the states.”
And if anything, gambling is growing in Australia.