Can I ask a silly question?
How are slots and video poker different to pokies?
I seriously don’t know the difference as I’ve never really stepped into a casino (I spent a week in Vegas and didn’t gamble a cent) and have never really cared for the pokie portion of the pubs I’ve been to.
It’s quite profitable though i hear. Plus once the supporters start using they’ll no longer accept a stray gaze in their direction let alone mediocrity.
And to take this a little further, when someone plays the pokies, the punter is actually playing against an excel spreadsheet program which is written in such a way that the punter is designed to lose!
Actually I would not care too much, as I would find other things to entertain me.
I think that more would be sad than happy though, especially the thousands who lose their jobs.
And I dispute that those with a gambling problem would just stop gambling as @wimmera1 reckons. The research Mrs Fox did for her PhD were subjects mostly in the Ballarat region and this showed that gambling was not just pokies for most and it was also not their only addiction.
For what it is worth, I was one of those back in the 1980’s voting strongly against introducing them into Victoria, but John Cain pushed on.
If I gave the impression that I thought problem gamblers would stop gambling without pokies, I apologise.
I think they would still gamble. Not all of them, probably most of them.
What they would not do is sit in front of a form guide and work out how they’re going to gamble everything in their account.
They wouldn’t come across a surprise fifty bucks and think ‘better put that on the next race.’
As some people say, it is legal. And there’s nothing wrong with having a little flutter at the pokies.
If you’re going to be honest about it though, just before you put your money in you should face Crown Casino, close your eyes, bow your head, and quietly give thanks to the people addicted to pokies.
Because without them, this industry simply wouldn’t exist.
I saw a program on netflix (I think it was) about pokies and how they are designed to make the gambler lose. A programmer who works for a poker machine manufacturer was interviewed and he showed excel spreadsheets with all the odds worked out and how minor adjustments to bonus spins and the like made a huge difference to winning rates.
He made the comment that despite all the pretty pictures and flashing lights, all you’re really playing against was that spreadsheet! Amazing!
The gambling industry does not rely on addicts to stay afloat.
It is the mugs like me who lose a hundred bucks and keep coming back to give more away that keep them operating. The big gamblers are also a solid group for profit, except That some would argue that they are just addicts who can afford the lose.
Crown Extertainment Complex would not exist without gambling.