CQUniversity gambling researcher speaks about pokie machine spending

A gambling researcher has shed light on why more money is being sunk into pokie machines during a cost-of-living crisis amid some alarming research findings about the harm caused to problem gamblers.

A gambling researcher has shed light on why more money is being sunk into pokie machines during a cost-of-living crisis amid some alarming research findings about the harm caused to problem gamblers.

CQUniversity Head of the Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory Professor Matthew Rockloff provided insight into people’s behaviour after recent figures showed Queenslanders lost more money than ever on the pokies, with $326m flushed away in just 31 days.

The state government collected $1.9bn in gambling taxes from $56bn in bets made that financial year.

Prof Rockloff said while there was more money being collected in gambling revenue during the cost-of-living crisis, it wasn’t because more people were gambling – it was actually because those who were gambling were gambling more.

“When there are cost-of-living pressures there’s an ironic affect where people will gamble in order to fix their financial situation,” he said.

Prof Rockloff, who hails from the United States, said he wasn’t anti-gambling and freely admitted “being up $1000” himself after gambling in Las Vegas.

He said the research from the past 10 years showed a lot of people who suffered harm from gambling did not necessarily fit the diagnosis criteria for having a gambling disorder.

Prof Rockloff, who has been conducting research into gambling in Australia with CQU for the past 23 years, said only one per cent of adult Australians had a severe gambling disorder.

He said research had identified more than 80 ‘unique harms’ that result from people gambling, including criminal activity, financial and relationship issues.

Prof Rockloff said the research showed those with severe gambling problems might resort to illegal means to finance their gambling, with the most common being embezzlement from their employer or stealing or borrowing funds from friends and family.

He said the harm from gambling included arguments with loved ones about how much money was spent on gambling and missing rent payments.

“The surprising result is the harm is happening to people who don’t have severe gambling problems,” Prof Rockloff said.

He said those that do have gambling problems tend to gamble late at night or in the early hours of the morning.

Prof Rockloff said it was hard to detect a problem gambler, but some indicators included being secretive about finances and hostile towards people when asked about finances, along with missing payments on bills.

“When talking about pokie machines, the average losses can be anywhere, if playing at maximum intensity (largest bet size on each spin), which most people don’t, you would lose on average between $1400 and $1600 an hour,” he said.

“You could lose more.

“Most people just can’t afford that kind of expenditure.

“So if you have someone who is always at the pokies, you can be sure that they are spending an enormous amount of money.

“That’s certainly one red flag for whether they have gambling problems or not.”

He said if people believe someone in their lives had a gambling problem, they should protect their money and not try to ‘bail’ gamblers out or get into a co-dependent relationship because it will not help either person.

Prof Rockloff said that could actually have the opposite effect and encourage them to gamble more and put each person’s financial healths at risk.

He said it was like the proverb ‘you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink’, when it comes to getting help for problem gamblers – they have to want to change themselves.

Prof Rockloff said some of the research he had been involved with looked at the sights and sounds machines make when someone is winning on pokie machines.

He said it had been found people were encouraged to gamble more, and lose more, when they saw or heard others winning.

Prof Rockloff said apps mimicking those sights and sounds available on phones and other devices, called ‘social casino games’, were causing concerns among researchers looking at the correlations between teenagers using those apps and whether that influences them into becoming problem gamblers in adulthood.

He said while the research was not yet conclusive, there was suggestive correlative evidence that was causing the concern.

Prof Rockloff said while people cannot get money out of those games, there were rare cases where people were losing huge amounts of money.

The apps give users a set amount of free virtual money.

Once that runs out, users can either wait a set amount of time for a refill or purchase more virtual money to continue playing.

The issue has been raised with the Federal Government with CQU findings referred to in an online report, stating up to 40 per cent of adolescents in 2022 reported gambling on digital games.

The report also pointed to research that showed Australians spent $115.8 million in the first six months of 2022 on social casino games, making it the fourth largest market in the world.

Prof Rockloff said another concern was that those app “fell outside regulation” because they are not deemed as gambling under Australian law.

He said the concern for children was what it meant for them as adults.

“It may set them up for a normalisation of using gambling products as an adult,” Prof Rockloff said.

He said if he were asked to make recommendations regarding gambling in Australia, one would be to ban advertising for gambling products, particularly sports betting “which is really exploding”.

“I don’t think there’s a really good case for having sports betting advertisement,” Prof Rockloff said.

He said it was a suggestion that had already been made by government commissions and it would reduce harm from gambling.

Prof Rockloff said there was a promising development for pokie machine problem gamblers with new technology program being launched firstly in Tasmania where all poker machine players were be required to have to preload money cards that have set loss limits for a set period of time.

Originally published as CQUniversity gambling researcher speaks about pokie machine spending