Australia: How to kill the poker high

Scott Eagar

The Sydney Morning Herald

The government is taking the wrong approach to ending this nation’s debilitating addiction to the “pokies,” said Scott Eagar. Australians spend more on gambling than they do on gasoline or alcohol. Countless thousands of us, young and old, from all walks of life, are “secretly but painfully addicted to the cash cow that is the dreaded poker machine.” I used to be one of them. And so I know why players keep plunking dollars into these slot machines, losing over and over again yet still keeping on.

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It’s not for the jackpot. It’s for what we call “the feature,” the symbol that awards you free games. The high of getting the feature impelled me to play for hours, losing hundreds of dollars to win maybe $20. “Ask any pokie player, and they’ve lived out that scenario over and over again.” That’s why the government’s proposals—limiting the bets to $1, or slowing down the spins, or reducing the jackpots—won’t work.

“The feature is to a poker machine what caffeine is to coffee. But instead of removing the caffeine, the politicians are debating how much milk to add, or whether the coffee should be served in a mug or a cup.” Do you really want to help us addicts? Then remove “what makes pokies addictive in the first place.”