Andrew Wilkie and Nick Xenophon needn’t worry: the pokie barns will soon be deserted because the customers will be at home gambling on their computers or online TVs or iPads or smartphones.
Gambling is one of the industries being disrupted and/or ruined by the internet, joining a long list: photographs, encyclopedias, books, newspapers, film, music, retailing, postage etc.
So, unfortunately, by the time squirming politicians get around to doing something about problem gambling in 2016, the problem will have been solved for them. Those whom Messrs Wilkie and Xenophon, ably supported by the Productivity Commission, are trying to protect will have quietly gone home to hand over their money to foreign bookies and thieves in private.
The Productivity Commission’s detailed report into Australia’s gambling industries in June 2010 was a shocking indictment of a nasty, predatory industry and, by implication, the lazy politicians and bureaucrats who use it to tax the poor and vulnerable.
It said gamblers lost an average of $1500 each in 2008-09 (it’s no doubt a fair bit more now), that 600,000 people play the pokies at least weekly and that 15 per cent of them lose 40 per cent of the money because they’re addicted to it. In a passionate departure from its usual focus on business and market efficiency, the PC recommended some sort of pre-commitment regime as well as an upper limit of $1 per bet to help the addicts control their problem.
As a direct result of that, the independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, went into the negotiations in August of 2010 following the election of a hung parliament demanding implementation of both the PC’s recommendations in return for his vote in parliament. The eventual Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, agreed to do pre-commitment but not $1 bets.
Now, following ferocious lobbying from those who harvest the gamblers’ losses – including state governments – she is squirming. Pre-commitment will now be studied, not just introduced. Wilkie hasn’t got what he asked for, but is the delay sufficient for him to bring down a government? Probably not, so he’s in a difficult spot. Xenophon, meanwhile, has switched to demanding $1 bet limits, but he’s in the Senate and doesn’t have a casting vote.
Meanwhile, Southern Cross University’s Dr Sally Gainsbury yesterday produced research showing that the use of internet gambling has accelerated in the past two years – that is, since the Productivity Commission collected data for its 2010 study.
Gainsbury and a group of other researchers surveyed 6680 people, of which 2270 – a third – were internet gamblers. Of them, 450, or 20 per cent, called themselves ‘problem gamblers’. Their losses averaged $825 a month.
Nick Xenophon, among others, is now calling for the government to “do something” about online gambling, but what? Online poker and casino games could be banned in Australia, but players have access to any number of sites based overseas.
In any case, online wagering is allowed and as a result, sport betting in general is exploding and disrupting the traditional off-line operators and totes.
This morning Wikipedia is still blacked out in protest against the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ and the ‘Protect Intellectual Property Act’ (known as SOPA and PIPA), which the editors of Wikipedia say represent an unacceptable intrusion into the freedom of the internet.
That legislation is an attempt by a group of 42 US legislators to prevent some of the internet’s disruptive powers. President Obama has never supported it, and yesterday, in the face of Wikipedia’s blackout, three of the bills’ sponsors made their excuses and backed out.
China’s Communist Party does pretty well at controlling the internet. When I was there last year, I could not get access to YouTube, Twitter or Facebook as soon as I crossed the border. There were ways around the blocks through virtual private networks, and social media sites are popping up within China, but the Commies are showing you can control it.
But I’d say it won’t be controlled in the west, and that the internet walls will eventually come down in China, thus adding the Chinese Communist Party to the list of industries being disrupted by the internet.
That means online gambling won’t be controlled, and the clubs, companies, politicians and other vultures that harvest the cash of those who currently have to show up at venues to lose money, will lose their prey – not to Andrew Wilkie and Nick Xenophon, but to rather more shady characters in Nigeria and Russia.
It’s actually pretty complicated getting money to internet gambling sites, as Australian banks themselves blacklist them (for example, your Australian Visa card won’t buy you in at the biggest online poker site). There are ways around this, of course, and while I won’t describe them here, suffice it to say they are a bit beyond your average pokie palace habitué. That is the whole point of pokies, and the reason why those who profit from them are so precious about them – they are just so easy. No waiting for the next race, or the next hand, or the next spin of the wheel – you just chuck your pay in and press the flashing button until it’s all gone.
I too doubt the pokie barns will be deserted in the very near future. The average age of the pressers seems to be around 60.
Very interesting article. Thinking about it, it seems entirely feasible that online gambling will soon become a huge ‘black’ industry comparable to the drug trade and even more profitable – no need to move physical contraband across borders. And once their customers start to desert them, just see how the clubs and pubs will bleat their concern over how problem gamblers are being expoited by online gambling and how unfair it is that online gaming operators don’t pay tax, demanding that governments step in and control the growing online gaming industry.
I wonder if requiring banks and other financial instituations to blacklist the sites would work? Probably not, but it might slow things down.
Steveo,
here in NSW, the original criteria for having pokies only in Clubs was based on assumption that the average Joe would not be a member of a club. He was too poor or socially unacceptable. To take the curse off that assumption and to give the perception of “equality”, a percentage of the Clubs profits were mandated to go to local grass roots sports clubs and teams and other worthy causes. For a while, this worked well.
Then politicians bought pubs, tycoons bought pubs and pubs got pokies; without the constraint of any social responsibility on the profits like a club. Clubs bitched about this and their social responsibility eased to the situation where now, they really don’t give a rats about the community.
A large Leagues Club on the outskirts of Sydney, (of which I have been a member for 30 years), is a perfect example. Up until 5 years ago, they would provide buses to go out to aged care facilities, Nursing Homes and to the homes of members who were too old and frail to get public transport, and bring them to the Club, ostensibly for Bingo. While at the Club, they would play bingo, but they would also get a cooked meal, tea and coffee and the “prizes” were meat trays and fruit and vegie trays. Just about everybody that needed a prize won one. State and Federal Governments could not afford this type of largesse and the Senior Citizens Centres could not handle the volumes the Club did 5 days a week.
Today, when the most vulnerable in the community need it most, the Club has abandoned them. No money for Junior grass roots Rugby league, and no “bingo” for the Aged. They do have an antisocial warchest for people unprepared to accept that they have corporate responsibilities rather than social responsibilities.
This is a much bigger problem than just gambling and poker machines.
There are so many online and TAB options. I was at the local last night and one young guy was bragging ne just bet $50 on a cricket match in progress cause its was 2.1 / 1 that they would win with x balls remaining. Thats a $50 spin.
For the record he won, in the last over and walked away with a big smile to live another day.
Then you have Zygna, the online poker site for iphone, ipad etc, and you pay by credit card there.
The pokies are a poor option bet these days versus the other skill options