I can’t believe I’m even having to do this, but:
Pokies are different to other forms of gambling. If I bet on a horse race, every hour of every day, I might, theoretically, come out in front, or even win big. It’s unlikely obviously, but I could back the winner ever single race, theoretically.
Pokies are different. If I play a pokie machine for a long time, it is a mathematical certainty that I will lose. Not a moderate possibility, not a high possibility, a certainty. That’s how the machines are designed. The spins aren’t random. They are a result of complex algorithms which ensure that the house always, always, wins.
Now obviously, to someone who’s in full command of their faculties, that sounds like a pretty sh/t deal. That’s why the majority of people don’t play pokies, because they understand if they do it is a certainty that they will lose.
But - the pokies have got one last trick up their sleeve. They are highly addictive. The flashing, the lights, the sounds, all of these are set up deliberately to trigger dopamine release from the brain, to give the user a pleasure rush when they play them. A pleasure rush that is highly addictive, just like the one that users have when they use cocaine, for instance.
So armed with this, most pokie venues set up in low socio economic areas, to take advantage of people who maybe aren’t the smartest in the world, and then get them addicted. That is literally the entire business model.
If you don’t see how this means the peddlers of pokies have a a lower level of morality than the peddlers of other common vices (even though they are somewhat destructive too) then I’m sorry but I can’t help you.