The EVILS of Pokies

[HD and Ink]

Hey.

Look I'm no wowser and don't wanna preach but having been an addict, lucky to have my kids still talk to me.

I'm just chucking it out there....pokies are designed and made man to be addictive. So not like everyone admits it or goes hunting help.

Here were my signs and just have a squiz if you have these cause jump on the problem man before its gets way out of control

* Staying at the club or pub for heaps and chucking notes in.
* Spending heaps more than you thought.....regularly
* Lying to everyone where you're going. Like cause that's a shame thing I reckon.
* Feeling shit that you've done your $$$ on those bastard machines.
* Feeling low maybe depressed.
* Winning say 500 and putting it all back in
* Does int maybe interrupt you work life or family life ?
* Borrowing $$ to gamble then not being able to pay your bills.

These are some of the things I went through and man I'll always be an addict but if you're like me, man you gotta take each day as it comes but with each day the urge gets less and great to drive by the club and think how much they didn't get from me today.

Pokies are called the "crack" of gambling.


I dont wanna ban them, just limit the bet size maybe $2 a spin.

These things cause a heap of pain and misery man in society. They have been a issue with folk in RL as well.

Look at these Taj mahal bloody clubs, I'll bet most built on the pokie $$.

So watch out for yourself and your mates.

I know its a downer but I like to make sure people know how bad these things CAN be to SOME.

Cheers

 

[CroydonDog]

I chuck a lobster into one maybe twice a year and enjoy the brief flutter. When my father was alive, we used t do it more often together. Whilst I, and many others can and do bet within our means, many do not. And venues, particularly here in Queensland, only encourage it.

Pokies are one thing that society would absolutely be in a better place without, but at the very least they should be so much more restricted than they currently are. I saw this as someone with many years experience doing insolvency administrations of pubs and clubs (and has read the productive commission and other reports re problem gambling). From memory, something like 90%+ problem gambling used to be directly related to pokies - but i dare say that the ease of sportsbet apps may have shifted that percentage a bit.

OP - I have seen the damage from gambling addiction, and I wish you all the best in your recovery.

 

[kungfuman]

Hey.

Look I'm no wowser and don't wanna preach but having been an addict, lucky to have my kids still talk to me.

I'm just chucking it out there....pokies are designed and made man to be addictive. So not like everyone admits it or goes hunting help.

Here were my signs and just have a squiz if you have these cause jump on the problem man before its gets way out of control

* Staying at the club or pub for heaps and chucking notes in.
* Spending heaps more than you thought.....regularly
* Lying to everyone where you're going. Like cause that's a shame thing I reckon.
* Feeling shit that you've done your $$$ on those bastard machines.
* Feeling low maybe depressed.
* Winning say 500 and putting it all back in
* Does int maybe interrupt you work life or family life ?
* Borrowing $$ to gamble then not being able to pay your bills.

These are some of the things I went through and man I'll always be an addict but if you're like me, man you gotta take each day as it comes but with each day the urge gets less and great to drive by the club and think how much they didn't get from me today.

Pokies are called the "crack" of gambling.


I dont wanna ban them, just limit the bet size maybe $2 a spin.

These things cause a heap of pain and misery man in society. They have been a issue with folk in RL as well.

Look at these Taj mahal bloody clubs, I'll bet most built on the pokie $$.

So watch out for yourself and your mates.

I know its a downer but I like to make sure people know how bad these things CAN be to SOME.

Cheers

Yep the legacy left to NSW by Bob Carr and hes proud of it fucken tosser, people die and lose everything because of these fucking things , i knew a lovely girl got addicted and stole money from work to play, shes now in jail would have been my last guess that she could have ended up like that.

 

[kungfuman]

I chuck a lobster into one maybe twice a year and enjoy the brief flutter. When my father was alive, we used t do it more often together. Whilst I, and many others can and do bet within our means, many do not. And venues, particularly here in Queensland, only encourage it.

Pokies are one thing that society would absolutely be in a better place without, but at the very least they should be so much more restricted than they currently are. I saw this as someone with many years experience doing insolvency administrations of pubs and clubs (and has read the productive commission and other reports re problem gambling). From memory, something like 90%+ problem gambling used to be directly related to pokies - but i dare say that the ease of sportsbet apps may have shifted that percentage a bit.

OP - I have seen the damage from gambling addiction, and I wish you all the best in your recovery.

Its a different addiction for each person i love a punt 5 here 5 there but pokies are shit, its 50 in 5 mins later another 50 should be banned, but wont be too much money involved now.

 

[kungfuman]

Hey.

Look I'm no wowser and don't wanna preach but having been an addict, lucky to have my kids still talk to me.

I'm just chucking it out there....pokies are designed and made man to be addictive. So not like everyone admits it or goes hunting help.

Here were my signs and just have a squiz if you have these cause jump on the problem man before its gets way out of control

* Staying at the club or pub for heaps and chucking notes in.
* Spending heaps more than you thought.....regularly
* Lying to everyone where you're going. Like cause that's a shame thing I reckon.
* Feeling shit that you've done your $$$ on those bastard machines.
* Feeling low maybe depressed.
* Winning say 500 and putting it all back in
* Does int maybe interrupt you work life or family life ?
* Borrowing $$ to gamble then not being able to pay your bills.

These are some of the things I went through and man I'll always be an addict but if you're like me, man you gotta take each day as it comes but with each day the urge gets less and great to drive by the club and think how much they didn't get from me today.

Pokies are called the "crack" of gambling.


I dont wanna ban them, just limit the bet size maybe $2 a spin.

These things cause a heap of pain and misery man in society. They have been a issue with folk in RL as well.

Look at these Taj mahal bloody clubs, I'll bet most built on the pokie $$.

So watch out for yourself and your mates.

I know its a downer but I like to make sure people know how bad these things CAN be to SOME.

Cheers

Good post mate should be brought out in the open more often, and when people neck themselves because of these shit things a big deal should be made of it.

 

[MatstaDogg]

I had a short addiction to them many years ago. A bad habit I found was getting caught up chasing the money I lost. You'd keep feeding the machine in hope of getting it back, thinking it's gonna pay. Then you get a big pay out just to draw you back into playing them. I realised when It was pay day, and I would put half to three quarters of my pay packet through, that I needed to quit. I'm just glad that it was only over a short period and I came to my senses before it did any real damage.

 

[CroydonDog]

I had a short addiction to them many years ago. A bad habit I found was getting caught up chasing the money I lost. You'd keep feeding the machine in hope of getting it back, thinking it's gonna pay. Then you get a big pay out just to draw you back into playing them. I realised when It was pay day, and I would put half to three quarters of my pay packet through, that I needed to quit. I'm just glad that it was only over a short period and I came to my senses before it did any real damage.

Funny enough, some of the biggest pokie players i saw were people that worked in pubs and clubs, and KNEW it was a mug's game!

 

[south of heaven]

Think last time i played one I put 50 in had a few presses went back to 50 took it out it bored the shit out of me .
I dump the odd 50 when lottos big at least if you jag that you won't need to gamble again

 

[HD and Ink]

I had a short addiction to them many years ago. A bad habit I found was getting caught up chasing the money I lost. You'd keep feeding the machine I'm just glad that it was only over a short period and I came to my senses before it did any real damage.

Well done man. Look its like drink, some folk all dont become alcohos. Same with pokies.
Govt dont wanna chat about them cause of the ocean of $$$.

The bloody things dont need to be banned yeah, they just limit the bet size. Man when I was in my addiction I'd be doing the $5 and $10 hits. I wouldn't think about tomorrow always thinking Yep I got this, massive payout due.....dumbass me. And everytime I think back man I hate myself for being a lying, addicted prick. But you gotta move passed that.

 

[south of heaven]

Ps one year on a soccer piss up 3 of us chucked a $20 in each jagged a good feature ended up getting $4500 .
From memory we got 2 grand cash or some shit and a check we spilt the 2 up i was having one more drink the other 2 decided to " win more " well that was gone in under 20 mins and they were at the atm ,I went the fuck home.
They are a **** of a thing.can see how they absolutely fuck people

 

[MatstaDogg]

Funny enough, some of the biggest pokie players i saw were people that worked in pubs and clubs, and KNEW it was a mug's game!

Yep, got a few friends that work in the industry and they play a fair bit.

 

[south of heaven]

Well done man. Look its like drink, some folk all dont become alcohos. Same with pokies.
Govt dont wanna chat about them cause of the ocean of $$$.

The bloody things dont need to be banned yeah, they just limit the bet size. Man when I was in my addiction I'd be doing the $5 and $10 hits. I wouldn't think about tomorrow always thinking Yep I got this, massive payout due.....dumbass me. And everytime I think back man I hate myself for being a lying, addicted prick. But you gotta move passed that.

They fucking killed pubs ,no machines in WA when I was over there working a few years back it was great going out people were social lol.

 

[MatstaDogg]

Well done man. Look its like drink, some folk all dont become alcohos. Same with pokies.
Govt dont wanna chat about them cause of the ocean of $$$.

The bloody things dont need to be banned yeah, they just limit the bet size. Man when I was in my addiction I'd be doing the $5 and $10 hits. I wouldn't think about tomorrow always thinking Yep I got this, massive payout due.....dumbass me. And everytime I think back man I hate myself for being a lying, addicted prick. But you gotta move passed that.

Love a beer or 10 lol. I proclaim that the poker machines are the devil. Also, I find them pretty boring these days. Don't know how people sit their for hours on end. I won't lie, when I'm out with the boys we might all chuck in $20 together every now and then. If we lose it, well it's only $20 and if we win, we split it and go have a few more beers.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Love a beer or 10 lol. I proclaim that the poker machines are the devil. Also, I find them pretty boring these days. Don't know how people sit their for hours on end. I won't lie, when I'm out with the boys we might all chuck in $20 together every now and then. If we lose it, well it's only $20 and if we win, we split it and go have a few more beers.

You could probably buy some "medicine" with that $20...just saying

 

[MatstaDogg]

You could probably buy some "medicine" with that $20...just saying

If I smoked the green cabbage i probably would.

 

[DinkumDog]

Kudos @HD and Ink for posting your story.

Some steps have been taken to control problem gambling with the lottery apps - where you must set a weekly betting limit. You can lower that limit any time but if you increase it you can’t use the increased amount for 7 days, which maybe takes care of some of those impulse bets.

I agree that pokies are a free for all and have little impulse control - they accept cash, ATM’s are next to the pokies and staff even bringing drinks so you don’t have to get up.

Hell, I even know a sound designer who makes the sounds the machines play for both wins and losses - all designed to play into psychology.

Will it change? Probably not given pubs and clubs rely on the revenue these days beyond bar takings and other activities.

Some self imposed limits can surely make some improvement though for those who struggle.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Yep. It's all marketing. Pokies are designed to get you to keep playing with the quick endorphin hits that override your logic. They have a saying in mathematics. Any mathematician who gambles obviously isn't a very good mathematician. The odds are stacked against you especially when it comes to pokies.

Side note though. I rarely gamble but the last 6 nights the Mrs and I went out, I put $20 in the pokies. Mainly 'cause I was bored while waiting for the Mrs to lose her $20. 1 night I lost the $20 then I walked away. The other 5 nights I put in $20 and pulled out around $200, then walked away.

I know the probabilities behind it so I know that me winning more than I bet those 5 nights is extremely rare, and I also know that I am generally going to lose so I restrict myself from putting in more than $20.

 

[Horse]

Always remember to chase those losses gentlemen, they can’t run forever.

 

[DinkumDog]

Always remember to chase those losses gentlemen, they can’t run forever.

What odds are you giving me? .

 

[wigum]

They're evil as fuck, literally have psychologists on their teams to help maximimise the dopamine addiction levels possible in the software. Too bad they provide the government with too much easy money therefore they have all the power in the world. Pretty sure we average losing more money per person to these things than any other country in the world