How endemic is gambling in your culture ?

[Shannow]

ANZAC Day down here in Oz (and next door), ANZAC being Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, a public holiday with marches and remembrance services, and lots of drinking, and the only day in the year where the game "two up" is legal.

Two up is a coin toss game with punters betting on the outcome...no biggie, I've no idea why it's not legal 24/7...well I DO actually it's as impossible to regulate and tax as a game of poker in your loungeroom.

Briefly watched the ANZAC day Aussie Rules, as it was always a family tradition to watch that particular game, as these was some strong family rivalry between the two teams that always play that game. But was also noticing all of the gambling ads. Download our App, get $100 free bets, and you can bet on the outcome of the game now...oh, and win a trip to the UK to watch the horse racing.

I remember as a kid, my retired Grandmother saving her 20c coins for the annual blue hair bus trip to New South Wales (state I now live in), as NSW had poker machines, that weren't legal in her state...busses and busses of retirees heading to NSW to play the pokies.

At the time, I think this state had 1/3 of the total machines in the world. Has been legalised in the majority of the states now, and Australia has 20% of the world's total now...the state my Grandmother lived in has little "pokies" rooms at some of the city train stations.

But growing up, I remember the family sailing very close to losing the house, when the monthly house payment went to the TAB (totaliser agency, where you could bet on horses and greyhounds), and the "sure thing" that was supposed to double the payment lost.

It's likely that $10k in credit card debt, 20+% interest rates, and $10.38 in savings were what lead my Dad to end it all in 2013.

And that was all without the ability to just pour virtual money into your phone.

I'm not a gambling prude...we buy lottery products in the big jackpots, scratchies to slip in workmate's birthday cards.

But looking at Oz, and the availability to play 24/7, PLUS have it jammed down our kid's throats, it's clearly getting out of control.

So what's the story where you live ?

 

[Shannow]

 

[Ducked]

Where I live they routinely drive quite fast around blind corners on the wrong side of mountain roads.

I THINK gambling for money is formally illegal, or at least there aren't any licensed casino's, dog tracks, or horse races.

I suspect this means they'd be rather too much into it, but it might just mean that organized crime doesn't want to share.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
It's likely that $10k in credit card debt, 20+% interest rates, and $10.38 in savings were what lead my Dad to end it all in 2013.


Sorry to hear about your loss. You and your family have my best wishes.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
ANZAC Day down here in Oz (and next door), ANZAC being Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, a public holiday with marches and remembrance services, and lots of drinking, and the only day in the year where the game "two up" is legal.

Two up is a coin toss game with punters betting on the outcome...no biggie, I've no idea why it's not legal 24/7...well I DO actually it's as impossible to regulate and tax as a game of poker in your loungeroom.


Two-Up as it's played in the military, has no house advantage (so nothing to tax), in fact there is no house. The Spinner keeps the game going, but all the action is on side bets between two people. There is no cut to a third party. If one person lost $10 then the other person gains $10, and all the money stays in the community.

Being the military and you always look after your mates, the winner then buys the drinks, gets the taxi and picks up the dinner bill. All they really win, is being the great guy for the night, as they spend their winnings on the people they won the money from.

The game of Two-Up was only made legal a few years ago, and only on ANZAC Day. I preferred it when it was illegal, as I would have loved to see the police raid the army base. I would have paid money to see that fight.

 

[Silk]

For most of this country's time it was Rugby, Racing and Beer. The only legal gambling was on the horses at the TAB. By the end of the 20th Century things were changing, you could bet on more than horses at the TAB, there were pokies in the pubs, and even gambling casinos. I had an uncle who was obsessed with horse racing, always a radio in his ear listening to races...although he never went to the races much. Possibly did well, whenever he got a flash car he said a horse paid for it, but don't know about his losses. Rumour has it my grandfather lost his money to the horses, but he always blaimed the government.

I've never gambled, never interested. I did go to the Trots a couple of times with my mother in my teens, and we had a flutter...but it was about the horses for her, growing up with them as a farmgirl. Not happy with pokies in pubs, I'd rather they spent that money getting drunk, not standing like a zombie feeding coins into a machine.

They don't advertise gambling on TV here.

 

[Shannow]

SR5 great points on two-up that were entirely lost on me...of course it can't be taxed if there's no house take to tax.

Silk, yep the old days...5yo trapseing around the greyhound track at 9PM after "ducking out to get Chinese" at 5PM.

We've got greyhounds here in town, we go every couple of years for lunch (pies and chips), let the kids pick the winningest looking dog and throw away $20.

They (the kids) see it as good entertainment, and certainly wouldn't wager their "hard earned" pocket money on a race...lunch at a pub is $75, so it's square on that odd occasion.

 

[Rick in PA]

Ah, just a short ramble.

When I was a kid, gambling was pretty much just Las Vegas and the state of Nevada. The states didn't permit lotteries or casinos, gambling was "sinful".

Then somebody realized lotteries could make money for the states and somehow it became less "sinful". After a while, all the states offered lotteries. Now lottery tickets are commonplace, the big win, instant tickets and everything in between. A tax on the poor.

Casinos. The casino industry lobbied hard to open casinos in the state of New Jersey, specifically Atlantic City. They promised an influx of customers and money to the city, local businesses would prosper. Everything was going to be wonderful. The casinos made out well and soon casinos sprung up in other areas. What happened in Atlantic City was that the casinos would bus people in, corral them into the casinos, strip them of their cash, and send them back home. The "tourists" never got to Atlantic City proper, and the local businesses languished. Atlantic City was trashed, and as I understand it, the city is now decimated. So much for promises. The casinos that sprung up around the country drew the "customers" away from Atlantic City casinos, and now those Atlantic City casinos languish.

My father had a nascent gambling problem, but once he realized it, he stayed away from gambling, so our family was good. I never saw much point to throwing my money away. On rare occasion I have been to a casino, set my limit and stuck with it. Occasionally (rarely), when the lottery has an exceptionally big prize there will be an office pool to buy tickets. I'll toss in the required bucks, just to be part of the group, and of course I wouldn't want to be left behind... Everybody dreams for a while, and then the money's gone.

In my small circle, there's not much gambling that I'm aware of.

 

[SeaJay]

Not much with my circle of friends and family.

But....., within walking distance of my home is an electronic casino that is huge with packed crowds seemingly every day and night. So it is big. These electronic casinos are multiplying.

 

[spasm3]

I don't have a problem with it, but i have zero desire to gamble. Been to vegas several times. I have never spent even $1 on gambling. I have never bought a lottery ticket.

Closest i came to gambling was buying some stock in RFMD.

 

[B320i]

Thankfully not something my family is 'afflicted' with, although the parents still regularly buy lottery tickets. Sorry to hear about your loss, Shannow.

Its a bit difficult to reconcile, at the end of the day. You "ban" gambling or advertisements and you take away people's freedoms. Its like for alcohol, fast-food, cars, pharmaceutical products (have even heard VIAGRA ads mid-afternoon before around Valentine's Day - FFS!) and even tobacco once upon a time. All falls under the slippery slope.

At the same time, encouraging people to drink or gamble during bit sporting events is almost inducing people to develop bad habits, as are the fast food ads during sports. I don't mind the ads, just that they're exceedingly pushy during prime-time viewing.

Having lived in a small town, have seen how big drinking and drugs are. Its rather concerning. Can remember Friday nights at the Supermarket, when I was rostered... More cash transactions (more cashout), very simple dinner purchases, increased tobacco purchases and more people walking around outside with their slabs of grog.

Think I digressed there, but it all these issues boil down to personal choice and choosing your consequences.

 

[Shannow]

I agree with personal choice and slippery slopes...Dad's choices were his own, and I'm reconciled with even the last one now (would like to drag him around in my new truck, 'cause that's the bit I miss).

Not an advocate of banning anything really, just a bit taken aback at download this ap, get $100 free bets, and gamble on this game of footy right now...when the only day that you can legally play 2-up is ANZAC day (and footy was footy, wasn't betting on it bar a friendly wager, or a tipping comp).

reminded me of the drug ads when we were in the States...


NSW owned the state lottery, and privatised it for 3 years worth of profit (that could conceivably have been used for damage reduction)...the buyer then rolled NSW Lotto, and Tattslotto into one draw, and sells them as separate products but collects the entire revenue for one jackpot.

 

[supton]

As much as I think the lottery is a tax on the poor (especially scratch-offs!) I have to wonder if it's "good enough" to keep the masses from going to illicit gambling places where they are yet more unlikely to win and to wind up arrears. I mean, when booze was illegal people still pursued it. At least under the guise of a sin tax it is kept free of wood alcohol and shady middlemen.

 

[Chris142]

I live 1/2 way between los angelas and los vegas...We dont even think of using the fwy on friday nights or sunday night. Packed with people goint or coming from vegas.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

First of all, condolences to Shannow on his loss and I have to say it hit home for me...my sister was an addict of sorts, not to gambling but I guess I'd say to shopping. Seemed like she tried to fill voids in her rather lonely life by buying things...she inherited a debt free home and a tidy sum of cash, but her compulsive shopping problem was such that she ended up losing the house. She had a rough few years and finally moved into her own apartment, but then passed away suddenly. I found stacks of unused diabetes medication as well as cookies, ice cream, full sugar soda, and lots of other sweet goodies when I went to clean her place out. I had the feeling that she just had enough of struggling and decided to enjoy her treats on her way out...believe she was more or less blind at the end.
It was immensely frustrating to try to help her out...I'd give her some money for necessities, and she'd use it to buy meaningless stuff and then head to the food pantry for her dinner. Seemed like she cared more about knick knacks than eating.

Other than lotto, seems like the bulk of gambling around here is at the big "Indian" casinos down in Connecticut. My wife loves slots and we went to Mohegan Sun for a few days last year...I gotta tell you, that is one shiny, new, sad place. Lots of retirees shuffling around between machines (some dragging oxygen tanks), lots of smoke, not many smiles. Slots just don't do it for me, and I quickly realized that my self-imposed $100/day gambling budget was going to last about 10 minutes playing the real table games. I spent my time playing video poker and blackjack, at least it took me most of a day to blow my $100. My wife was disappointed in the slots because they mostly were mindless button pushing...she said the ones she found in the Caribbean usually had little side games of skill that would pop up fairly often.
The lottery is ubiquitous, I used to spend maybe $50 a week when the pots got big but haven't participated in a few years. Seems like the scratch tickets are where the real money is and I always see folks who clearly don't have money to spare buying them by the boatload in convenience stores and furiously rubbing away at the little tables that are often provided...I only got interested if we were talking about winning maybe $100million, then I could daydream about where I would buy houses (Park City? Vail? Maybe the Alps?) and which relatives would get how much in surprise checks. I've said it before, lotto is largely a shadow tax on those who can least afford it...

 

[larryinnewyork]

We have several casinos arouind Western N.Y.
When I'm out for a walk, I'll walk thru one and watch everybody.
I don't patranize them and never bought a Lottery ticket.

To normalize this behavior, our Society has certain names it uses:
Gambling is called .......... Gaming
Spraying Graffiti is called . Tagging
Food stamps are called ...... Entitlement Programs

 

[JHZR2]

Gambling is an ages old tradition. Here, gambling is a way for Indian tribes to make money, and more recently, for states to make revenue.

 

[Mr Nice]

I'm financially doing very well and have a lot saved for retirement.... I do buy a lottery ticket when I get gasoline twice a month with the 0.00000001 % chance of winning.

I would definitely have all the sports cars I dream about (M3, GTR, Z06, 911 GT3, Viper, etc...).

 

[SZR48207]

I'm Korean so a lot of the older folks in my family still believe in luck and good fortune, so they all enjoy gambling. To their credit, they do seem to win an awful lot at the slot machines so maybe they DO have good fortune.

 

[PimTac]

Shannow, condolences on your loss. By telling that story maybe it will spark someone or a family in that same position to intervene and prevent a repeat. Thanks for telling that difficult story.

I am continually amazed how the Asian societies handle gambling. It is out of control. The numbers of those who lose everything based on the possibility of winning the big amount never cease to amaze me.

Aussie Rules Football. Now that is a great game. I got turned onto that several years ago watching Australia television on the cable. It is far tougher than the American NFL. No helmets, no pads. No time outs. I encourage others here to check it out.