Billions of people love to gamble. For some, it’s the thrill of the chase – the possibility of winning. For others, it’s entertainment or a way to escape the day-to-day grind.
If you asked them, they’d tell you they’re not doing anything wrong. That gambling is no different or no more a waste of money than going to a movie, concert or nice dinner out.
So how about someone who developed the operating systems that slot machines use to run? All you’ll need to provide is five minutes of your time, and you’ll learn a lot from Greg Dunlap about a slot machine and why slots aren’t rigged, but are instead very well designed systems to make money for casinos. Are video poker machines rigged? Video poker games in main gaming jurisdictions are definitely not rigged. Inside video poker machines software is a random number generator or what we know as RNG. This basically keeps the simulated deck of cards used in the casino game constantly shuffled.
So Rockstar is ripping off the community, I had about 5 games of blackjack last night have the dealers card switch to a winning hand after they were already revealed on the table, I've had 3 slot machines stop announce my prize then roll once more and I get nothing. This game needs to be fixed. At this point I feel that Rockstar is using the casino as an attempt to CULL the modded money. Video Gambling Machine Rigging There are a number of scenarios where users of video slot, poker and other casino and bar gambling machines can be rigged to the owning company's benefit. So Rockstar is ripping off the community, I had about 5 games of blackjack last night have the dealers card switch to a winning hand after they were already revealed on the table, I've had 3 slot machines stop announce my prize then roll once more and I get nothing. This game needs to be fixed. At this point I feel that Rockstar is using the casino as an attempt to CULL the modded money.
But then there are people who disagree. That, for one reason or another, think there’s something wrong with gambling.
We thought it’d be interesting to explore the other side of the coin. So, the following are 6 arguments we’ve seen people make against gambling.
1. Religion
This is the biggest argument on our list. Do a Google search for ‘arguments against gambling’ and you’ll see what I mean.
There are different reasons why religious people are against gambling. But they all stem from different verses you’ll find in the Bible.
For example:
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.
Hebrews 13:5
You shouldn’t try to gain material things when all your basic needs are met.
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.
Proverbs 28:19
God wants you to work (for what you have). Gambling is a way to make money without working, which is fueled by greed, selfishness and laziness.
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD hateth.
Psalm 10:3
And yet another passage that condemns greed and overabundance.
The bottom line – the Bible teaches you to be selfless and not to covet (materialistic) things. And that you can save both time and money by not gambling – which you can use instead to better yourself and those around you.
But is gambling truly a sin? That depends on who you ask, how they interpret the Bible’s lessons, and whether or not they follow everything the Bible teaches.
Not surprising, some say gambling is a sin. No two ways about it; no ifs, ands or butts.
But then there are others who believe only compulsive gambling is a sin; it’s sinful to be addicted to gambling. But it’s not a sin to gamble in moderation.
“Bible-believing Christians would consider compulsive gambling a sin. That is, gambling is sinful for those who are addicted to it. Compulsive gamblers sin by wasting time. Gambling is for them such an addiction, that most or all of their spare time is spent gambling in one form or another and weekends and vacations which should be spent with family are taken up with trips to cities that have casinos. The more focus on gambling an addicted person becomes the less time he spends with his family and the less productive he becomes in his job.” (Excerpt from nolotto.faithweb.com)
2. Gambling Leads to Addiction
Another argument against gambling is that it leads to developing a gambling addiction. Statistics show that 80 percent of American adults gamble annually. What’s scary about that is they also show that every 3-5 gamblers (out of 100) struggle with a gambling problem.
Are Casino Games Rigged
Even scarier yet, statistics shows that as many as 750,000 young adults (14-21) have a gambling addiction. The risk of developing an addiction more than doubles for young adults, with people between the ages of 20 and 30 having the highest risk.
Gambling addiction – like most addictions – is destructive. It tears families apart and often leads to suicide, substance abuse, bankruptcy, crime and more.
3. It’s a Waste of Money
Here’s what Dave Ramsey (a financial expert) says about gambling in a casino:
“I don’t really have a moral problem with it, but I don’t understand the concept. Call me crazy, but I do not get a thrill from losing money I’ve worked hard to earn. That’s not my idea of entertainment.”
He goes on to say he thinks people who say they gamble for fun or recreation are delusional – that they believe they’ll actually beat the house and win – that they’re an exception to the rule.
And what about the lucky few who actually win? Well, Dave says:
“You may see a news story once in a while about someone winning big money in a casino, but that rarely happens. Think, too, about how much money those people had flushed down the toilet previously while gambling. There’s a really good chance they didn’t really ‘win’ anything. In most cases, they probably just recouped a small portion of their previous, substantial losses.”
Mark Ford (serial entrepreneur, author, real estate investor) shares similar, yet different sentiments to Dave Ramsey. Ford says he doesn’t gamble because it’s too much like work; he gets no pleasure from it; and because it’s so clear to him he’d lose money.
He goes on to say you could spend the same amount of effort into nearly any other endeavor and you’re likely to walk away richer, not poorer, as a result.
“Concentration. Focus. Calculations. Long hours. It all seems like work to me. The only difference is that in Las Vegas the odds are stacked against you.
In any other field of endeavor, you could take the same people and put them to work doing virtually these same things concentrating, figuring, calculating, and executing and you’d have almost certainly a viable business.
Not in Las Vegas. Over the long haul, gambling makes you poorer. Spend the same time and effort in almost any other endeavor, and you’re likely to get richer.
So why is it that so many people like to gamble and don’t like to work?”
4. Millennials Want Control
Another argument stems from stats that show millennials (people born from 1980-2000) gamble far less than previous generations. An interesting fact is how Las Vegas and The Strip visitation is increasingly being driven by millennials, yet gaming accounts for less than 37% of the revenue generated on the Las Vegas Strip.
The Motley Fool gives several reasons (guesses) why:
- Millennials find (current) slot machines boring.
- They want to be engaged and empowered – they want some control over the outcome.
- They prefer night clubs to casino gambling.
- They’re more interesting in online gaming, poker and daily fantasy sports.
- They want skill based games.
- They demand fairness.
- They want to be more social.
- They want experiences.
The common denominator here is that millennials want more control over their outcome. They want games where skill can overcome luck – and that’s just not possible when every casino game favors the house.
And why do all casino games favor the house?
5. Casino Games are Rigged
Did you know that every casino game favors the house? It might be by as little as half a percent (.5%), but the point is, casino games are rigged against you. This is called the house edge.
“My advice is don’t waste your time and money on that stuff. One way or another, the house always wins. That’s how they’re able to build those giant, billion-dollar places called casinos”. – Dave Ramsey
In the same article referenced above (#4), the Motley Fool says that millennials wanting more skill-based games (control) isn’t the (only) problem.
In Las Vegas specifically, the house edge – or the hold percentage – has increased over the last few decades. In other words, the games were already rigged against you – but now they’re even more unfair. You can find better value gambling somewhere other than Las Vegas (at local casinos, for example).
“…the underlying assumption is that if millennials weren’t spending their money partying in Las Vegas, they would be spending it gambling in Las Vegas (either that, or millennials apparently should be gambling more to match what they’re spending on bottle service)”.
“This is 100% wrong – the reality is that if millennials weren’t spending their money partying in Las Vegas, they wouldn’t be coming to Las Vegas at all”. – The Motley Fool
The Motley Fool goes on to say that, while gambling has matured, so has the audience. Millennials have grown up using the internet – they have access to (gambling) information that past generations didn’t have access to.
“(Millennials) are more knowledgeable and generally less stupid about gambling than any generation to come before us. We are far less likely to believe, for example, that the Martingale system is valid”. – The Motley Fool
The bottom line – the internet has made us wiser about gambling. Most people now realize that casino games are (legally) rigged against us. Between this and the worsening house edge, people choose to gamble far less, if at all (evident by the decreasing gaming numbers in Las Vegas).
6. Underage Gambling
Another problem people have with gambling is the affects gambling has on kids and young adults.
This is a very real concern. Earlier (#2) we shared a stat that says nearly 750,000 young adults have developed a gaming addiction, and that they’re nearly twice as likely to do compared to adults aged 30+.
Most casinos say you need to be 18 or 21 (depending on if they serve alcohol) to gamble.
Never mind the stats that show that even adults 18-30 are twice as likely to develop a gambling addiction. What about those who are younger than 18/21, but manage to obtain a fake ID?
Want an example? What about poker pro Phil Ivey – you can’t read a bio about him without it being mentioned he used a fake ID to play poker in Atlantic City in his early days.
This problem isn’t limited to brick/mortar casinos, either. Poker pro Tom Dwan started playing online at 17. He’s not the only one, either. It’s easier for kids/teenagers to gamble online since many casinos (especially offshore) don’t check your ID until you’re ready to make your first cash out.
Next to addiction and religious reasons, underage gambling is the strongest argument people make against gambling. The prevention of underage gambling is a cornerstone of all state (online) gambling laws, as well as a big criticism of others.
Conclusion
These are the biggest and most common arguments against gambling today.
It’s not hard to poke holes or make strong cases against any of these points. But that shouldn’t be our focus.
Instead, I think it’s a much better idea to understand why people are against it. For one, it’s easier to empathize with others – to see where they’re coming from.
But it can also help us improve the gambling industry – to talk about it and figure out what we can do to make the industry safer and more enjoyable for those who choose to participate. That, I think, is the best action of all.
See the destruction caused by Australia's Pokie Plague...
See the destruction caused by Australia's Pokie Plague
A sneaky trick is robbing Australia of its wealth.Source:istock
IT’S the mechanism that’s hoovering up our money, and now it’s under the spotlight as the screws turn on an industry accused of destroying Australia.
People whose lives have been ruined by pokies say they have been reeled in by “outrageous” features of these electronic gaming machines — and one is particularly shocking.
A landmark case against Australia’s “powerful” and “exploitative” gambling industry, which has been compared to guns in the US, began on Tuesday and will run for two weeks. News.com.au looked at its most alarming claims for part three of our special series on our pokies obsession (read part one and part two here).
REELED IN: THE FIFTH DIMENSION
The case against Crown Melbourne and Aristocrat Technologies in the Federal Court centres on one particular machine, Dolphin Treasure, which Monash University public health lecturer Charles Livingstone bought and took apart to see how the “game” worked. This is what he claims to have discovered:
• The machines have five “reels” covered in symbols. While the reels look identical on screen, the fifth reel is actually significantly bigger, with 44 symbols instead of just 30, meaning that getting a row of identical symbols is far harder than you think. “No matter how many ‘jackpot’ symbols you get on the first four reels, the big fifth reel keeps the odds stacked in favour of the house,” says Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer Jacob Varghese.
• The symbols are not evenly distributed between the reels — so the first, second and third reel could have seven kings and the fourth reel only two. Consequently, even though you might regularly see a line of kings the first three positions, getting a king in the fourth spot would be close to impossible.
“It’s like playing a game of cards without knowing that the deck has four aces of spades, three queen of hearts and 7 tens of diamonds. It’s rigged,” says Mr Varghese. “And the effect on players is that they see these symbols coming up constantly, but they don’t know that their real odds are determined by the reel with the lowest number of the given symbol.”
If you did this in a game of cards, it would be illegal, say supporters of the case.
Former addict Shonica Guy claims the game is rigged and is taking the powerful industry through the courts. Picture: AAP Image/Joe CastroSource:AAP
‘IT IS WRONG, AND IT HAS TO STOP’
Not only are the reels “deceptive and misleading”, there are a number of other features built into the machines that cause untold harm, claims lead applicant and former addict Shonica Guy.
One of these is “losses disguised as wins” — an idea her lawyer Jennifer Kanis calls “outrageous”.
• Here’s how it works: The gambler can spend as much as $10 on one line, or spin. Say they do that. Then they press the button and get a few matching symbols on the screen. Lights flash, music blares and they are told they have won $4. In fact, they have lost $6.
It’s a simple trick, but the sounds and visuals have been found to activate pleasure centres in our brains. We feel good. “The idea of losses disguised as wins is outrageous,” said Ms Kanis. “A win should be a win.
“These features act to draw a player in and make them feel they have a better chance of winning than they do. The machines cause addiction.”
• The final part of the case looks at warnings: By law, pokies have to state the risk taken by players. States and territories set a minimum “return to player” of between 85 and 90 per cent.
Dolphin Treasure states that it returns 87.83 per cent. However, this “return to player” is just an average on any given spin, Ms Guy points out. A return of 87.83 per cent means you lose an average of 12.17 per cent each spin. If you play multiple games — as the machines encourage — you most likely will be left with nothing.
“These machines took over my life for 14 years, and I do not want that to happen to another family,” said Ms Guy. “People deserve to know what is going on with the design of these machines, which deliberately give people false hope that they have a chance of winning to keep them playing.
“It is wrong, and it has to stop.”
Dolphin Treasure poker machine is under the microscope for features described as ‘deceptive’ and ‘feeding addiction’.Source:News Limited
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA LIKE ‘GUNS IN AMERICA’
Are Gambling Machines Rigged
Anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello claims the industry is the most powerful in Australia, criticising state governments for being enslaved to its donations and revenue. “The gambling industry in Australia is equivalent to guns in America,” he told reporters. “They are the equivalent of the National Rifle Association in Australia. That’s why we have the greatest number of problem gamblers bar no country in the world, because of the power of this industry.
“Australia is facing a gambling crisis and the sooner we can get more attention on the unfair drivers behind this and clean up the industry, the better.”
He said pokies were “dangerously addictive” and the trial gave “hope to everyone campaigning to wind back Australia’s tragic record of being the biggest gamblers in the world.”
His colleague at the Alliance of Gambling Reform, Allison Keogh, said the trial “should have happened years ago to mitigate the enormous harm which is imposed on communities year after year by a rich, powerful and well-connected industry.”
Ms Guy’s lawyer Ron Merkel QC told the court the case was “about looking at the design features of the machines and the way they are presented and the way they exploit vulnerable people.”
A public inquiry in 2010 found there were 115,000 severe “problem gamblers” in Australia, with a further 280,000 categorised as at “moderate risk” — but campaigners believe the figures may be far higher. News.com.au has been contacted by scores of people confessing to a problem with pokies since the start of this series on Tuesday. It would appear almost everyone knows someone affected by gambling.
‘GAMBLERS’ HIGH’ CRITICAL TO POKIES SUCCESS
Aristocrat patents are available to read. Read them & get educated to never touch the pokies again. 🎰🎰🎰🎰🔥🔥🔥🔥https://t.co/HB4CR7A5dNpic.twitter.com/pg16goELqc
— Zer0%_RTP🎰💳🔥 (@andygosling2) September 13, 2017Ms Guy is fighting for a ban on the supply and operation of the Dolphin Treasure machine or anything similar, which could have far-reaching consequences for the pokies industry.
Crown’s lawyer Neil Young QC said the machines were tested and approved by Victoria’s independent statutory authority regulating the gambling industry — there is one for every state. Mr Young said Crown was “entirely reliant” on the approval and had no access to the machine software, nor was it in a position to change its configuration.
Poker machines have to comply with the Australia/New Zealand Gaming Machine National Standard, which include “responsible gambling measures”.
Gaming Technologies Association CEO Ross Ferrar told news.com.au there is clear legislation (usually state-determined), regulation and national standards on pokies. “The national standard says you can’t give a player a false expectation of odds, you’ve got to accurately represent them, and ensure the result is not misleading, illusory or deceptive so players can make an informed choice.”
He said there was help available for problem gamblers including statewide self-exclusion in NSW — in other states, you must visit every venue separately to get yourself banned. Mr Ferrar believes “problem gambling is on the decline” in Australia thanks to measures introduced over the years, including:
• showing the amount won/lost in dollars as well as points
• having a clock on the screen
• slowing the game down by not allowing players to interrupt the spin.
Crown and Aristocrat strongly deny the allegations against them. A spokeswoman for Crown — which houses 38 of the machines — said it was “vigorously defending the claim” but could not comment further with the matter before the court.
Aristocrat added that it “emphatically rejects any suggestion that its games are designed to encourage problem gambling, or in any way fail to comply with all relevant regulations and laws.”
If the case succeeds, the ramifications could be huge, forcing Crown and Aristocrat to remove or redesign Dolphin Treasure and opening the door for further action against the industry.
The trial continues.
If you or someone you know has a problem with gambling, contact Gamblers Anonymous for help.
Leave a comment below, share your story with emma.reynolds@news.com.au or tweet @emmareyn. News.com.au’s series on Australia’s pokies obsession continues tomorrow.