When visiting Australia one thing that will hit you in the face is that they have electronic gambling machines at every step. What effect does this have on people’s savings? Well, the majority of them are not able to save a single penny, because they lose around 24 billion Australian dollars annually. Australia has registered the greatest losses in the world when it comes to gambling.
Here there are numerous forms of gambling, people have access to pokies, casinos and multiple types of electronic gambling machines. The losses reported in Australia are the greatest in the world because they have these machines installed everywhere, not only inside casinos, like other states of the world have. Every hotel, restaurant, and pub has an area dedicated to gambling. What the majority of Australian citizens do not know is that the biggest brands in their country are also the greatest pokies operators. One example is Woolworths – the most well-known supermarket chain of Australia, which also happens to be specialized in installing gambling machines around the country.
The main question people have in mind is Why does the state approve of pokies being installed everywhere? The answer is simple. A great part of the state’s revenue comes from gambling. If you check the studies you will notice that people are simply obsessed with gambling in Australia, and the less wealthy regions are the ones that spend the most on this pastime activity. Why does this happen? Because casinos have worked on their methods of reaching customers and maximising their income. They invest in exquisite venues, many of them offer free drinks and food to their clients and all of them hire only model-looking people as staff.
To see how big this phenomenon is, there are regions where people make reservations for certain machines in casinos because they consider that they win only if they use a particular one. This shows only one thing, for Australians, gambling is one of the activities they practice the most. Australians state that when they leave home, to go shopping for example, they do not intend to gamble, but they are attracted by the way the casinos and pokies areas are organized.
To show people what is really going on, Andrew Wilkie, an Australian politician, decided to publish documents that show how companies such as Woolworths manage to have so many gamblers. They collect information on their clients and they know when they are likely to spend more, what their favourite activities are, and even if they are married or not. In a state where there are tough regulations for cigarettes and guns, some might wonder why politicians do not confront this issue. There are voices that state that politicians are simply afraid to get involved into a public war with the gambling companies. Others consider that Australians have a blind spot for this activity, like Americans have for guns. Also, some believe that if gambling machines were heavily regulated, this would lead to great job losses, and this is one of the main reasons they prefer to not get involved in the process. What’s the truth? Only time will tell.
Nevertheless, to avoid such troubles, we recommend you to use online casinos, read reviews and forums carefully, as well as to look for trusted and reliable casino operators.