camelboy wrote:
buzzaaaah wrote:
There are big issues with pokies , esp with low income people.
But if Carlton sells their pokies, will that all go away??
I think discussing more limitations is a reasonable argument.
Selling them will just mean a commercial operator moves in, who has no responsibility to the community at all.
I dislike pokies and hate that Carlton is profiting from them.
It's easy to say self control is the answer, and I get that to a point. However, pokies are designed to win. They are designed to prey on the vulnerable. That is how they work.
I would much rather our club made no money from pokies.
But while Mathieson is around pulling strings, visible or otherwise, I can't see it changing.
Addressing the post above in particular, should I not recycle, or try to use my car less just because someone else doesn't recycle or give a crap about the use/overuse of resources?
Would you rather our club was a leader, or prefer that it sponges income from easy prey?
Pokies are designed to pay out 97.5% of the money that goes in to them (in Tassie anyway). Every day when the money is collected they are opened up and the screen readout tells the govt official that accompanies the security man and the trolleys exactly how much was bet and how much was paid out. If a machine is outside the allowable parameters, it is recalibrated before it is closed.
In theory, you have a 97.5% probability of breaking even on any given machine. The issue is that people don't want to break even, they want the big payout, which is designed into the overall 97.5% programming. You can be lucky or not.
I don't think they are easy prey. There is a tiny percentage of people who can't stop. The casinos know who they are. The staff know them on a first name basis. They could be stopped from spending hours a day in casinos with the stroke of a pen. The probem is legislating against free will.
People will bet more than 1billion on the cup on Tuesday. Ponder that.