For some people, fixed-odds betting terminals are ferociously addictive, producing big profits for bookies and a rise in problem gambling. What's the solution?
While gaming advertising will be banned before 8.30pm, the ban doesn’t extend to perimeter advertising or on-air mentions of betting odds.
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The gambling lobby's failure to seriously influence the 2016 ACT election should embolden governments around Australia that have a mind to deal with gambling reform.
Former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell struck a deal with ClubsNSW while in opposition.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
There is a coterie of politicians on both sides who are trusted, or at any rate supported by, the pokies lobby.
Former minister Peter Garrett retracted claims about receiving cash in an envelope from a representative of a gambling industry lobby group.
AAP/Marianna Massey
The gambling industry knows how to wield power, and does it with great expertise, backed by significant resources.
Those concerned with the growing harms of online gambling will be disappointed with the terms of reference of a new Australian review.
Reuters/Bobby Yip
At least 75% of those with a gambling problem have it because of poker machines in clubs or pubs. Yet we see little concern from the government about this group.
Slot machines are designed to make losses seem like wins.
REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. This is a real opportunity for voters…
Your odds of winning are greatly improved if you own a casino.
Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and grossed $US37.34 billion…
One way to manage problem gambling would be to limit the supply of poker machines.
EPA
Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts…
An artist’s rendering of Wynn’s proposed $1.6 billion casino on the Mystic River, Everett.
The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,Question_3(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals…
Recent changes to gambling regulation in Queensland will allow for a rapid expansion of the industry.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Queensland government has recently implemented changes to poker machine regulation under the banner of “red tape reduction”. Some of these are relatively minor at first glance; others have more obvious…
The introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines, as has been proposed in Victoria, might not end problem gambling, but it would certainly reduce its harmful effects.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Greens have tabled a bill in the Victorian parliament that would introduce a maximum bet of $1 per spin for the state’s 30,000 poker machines. While the bill is almost certain to fail, the introduction…
Crown Limited, the casino empire majority owned by James Packer, earned $490 million in profit in the last financial year – no wonder he’s laughing.
AAP/Dean Lewins
The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Francis Markham and Martin Young explain why the deregulation of gambling in…
Very little is known about the impact of gambling in regional and remote places in Australia, such as Alice Springs.
Bruce Doran
Although Australia is often portrayed as a nation of gamblers, we still know relatively little about the extent to which gambling affects our society. One blind spot in our knowledge is the impact of gambling…
It’s hardly surprising the Coalition would baulk at costly regulation in the gambling industry.
Flickr/Marionzetta
The future of Australia’s pokies pre-commitment scheme – which enables players to set a limit on how much they’re prepared to lose – is in doubt, with Labor likely to support the Coalition’s move to repeal…
Children are vulnerable consumers and aren’t capable of making rational, informed choices.
AAP/Dan Peled
Have your children watched a footy match recently? Well, if they watched AFL on TV they also consumed about 50.5 separate episodes of sports betting marketing, from TV and stadium ads, to footy jumpers…
Gambling tax reform should be a part of a gambling harm minimisation tax package.
Gambling provides Australian state governments with an average of 7.3% of their own taxes, about $5147 million, according to ABS data for 2010-11. Victoria (10.8%) and New South Wales (8.6%) earn above…
Wilkie: The poker machine reforms are the “best we can get in the current circumstances”.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Tension around pokies reform came to a head on Saturday when Prime Minister Julia Gillard broke her agreement with independent Tasmanian MHR Andrew Wilkie to implement timely reforms to address problem…
Andrew Wilkie must decide whether to walk away from the Gillard government.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As speculation about Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s commitment to gambling reform grows, Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie is weighing up the pros and cons of a compromise deal with the government. Wilkie…
