Community benefit from poker machines?

Well in poker you’re not playing against the house; you just have to win enough from the other players to beat the rake.

SP racing and sports betting are a bit of a different matter because you are playing against the house, but if (and it’s a big “if”) your ability to pick winners over the long term is significantly better than the house you can still win. And in Tote betting yes you just have to slightly outrun the pack.

It’s a very different matter from mathematically unbeatable games like the pokies, roulette and modern casino blackjack.

And yet the house always wins…

Still, I’ll concede that even within framed odds you don’t need to outrun the lion, just the less “skilled” others around you.

I dispute “like any gambling”. Most forms of gambling sure; but there are some (racing, sport, poker) where a skilled player is not doomed to lose their stake.

Pokies, like any gambling, amount to a tax on stupidity and weakness. The benefit of the tax goes (to some extent) to useful purposes and (to some extent) to aggrandisement and politics).

If we are a decent society, we should find ways to provide for the useful (access to sport, mutuality) that don’t involve vulnerable people destroying their lives and the lives of those around them.

Radio National Backgroun Briefing this morning was very good on the subject of gambling. I’m sure it can be podded.

Gin Palaces?

Do they dance the Charleston at these places?

On the other hand if we’re taxing the stupid would we prefer the tax to flow back to the rest of us or solely to the pockets of the neo-oligarchs who run these gin palaces?

No-one is forcing people to play pokies. So like copping a speeding fine, it’s a voluntary ‘tax’ on the stupid.

As long as those pokies players keep on voluntarily subsidising my beer and food prices at my local club…

The ACT Government profits the most through the gaming tax it collects. The ACT Government gives the impression that it cares about problem gambling but the facts are less then 30% of calls through Lifeline are answered (due to lack of funding – volunteers). The Labor Club contributes $500,000+ per year to the Labor party, i guess the Government are happy………..

If they can get away with it, they invest the money in their own club. And who wouldn’t?

Maybe it’s time for much more stringent pokie laws. Can you imagine what Australia would be like with pokies only in casinos for example? Granted, a lot of registered clubs would quickly go down, but I think the quality and concentration of pubs and more interesting nightspots in Canberra would change drastically.

Doubt it’ll ever happen though – I guess the government spends only a fraction of pokie tax revenue on “Do you have a problem with gambling” and social workers compared to what it receives. In addition to clubs all over the place being open till the early hours of the morning (which is an excellent thing).

sure we are – just ask the local ALP – they do very well out of poker machines.