Ka-Ching: pokies documentary reveals what makes the machines so addictive

Australia has about 400,000 problem gamblers, most addicted to pokies. The industry pushes a ‘gamble responsibly’ message, but the truth is the design of the machines, rather than personal responsibility, is the core problem

For a time in the late 90s, a group of Sydney businessmen were the toast of Las Vegas.

They worked for the North Ryde poker machine manufacturer Aristocrat. “And they really were like the aristocrats of these gaming conferences,” says Natasha Schull, a professor in anthropology at MIT. “They were treated like kings.”

The company had pioneered a new kind of poker machine. It encouraged people to bet smaller amounts. It paid out more often. The design broke all the rules – and made Aristocrat billions.

Today, the model the company introduced in 1987 – the video multi-line multiplier – is the most popular in the United States, where it is still called an “Australian-format machine”.

Fixing the spotlight on machines such as Aristocrat’s is the next frontier for anti-pokies campaigners in Australia – beginning with Ka-Ching, an ABC documentary that screens on Tuesday at 9.30pm.

Building a better mousetrap

In the 1930s, not long after the first rudimentary slot machines began appearing in the United States, the behavioural psychologist BF Skinner was conducting experiments with rats. He would put them inside specially designed boxes with a tube and button. The rats soon discerned the pattern: each time they pressed the button, a pellet of food would drop.

Then Skinner changed the rules. Sometimes pressing the button would deliver food; others times it wouldn’t. The animal had no way of knowing when. It would stand at the button entranced – sometimes neglecting to eat or drink – pressing it over, and over again …

Read the full Guardian article here where there are full hyperlinks

JAMES BOYCE EARLIER on Tasmanian Times …

*Pic: From ‘Team Mulawa’ here: “Greg Farrell Jr, “Mr. Mulawa”: Greg is by nature very hands-on – activity done translates into learning and understanding – and he still applies this essential quality to the horses with ambitious zeal and earnest dedication. Greg is a natural horseman – his innate affection for and confident ease with horses is readily apparent in his daily interaction with the horses at every level. Although Greg’s primary vocational responsibility has always been Managing Director of Federal Group (the highly successful and widely respected Australian owned family business and the world’s second oldest hotel group), he always finds quality time for the horses. He remains integrally involved with all the handling and training of the Mulawa Arabians, from early breaking through the professional turn out of top level show ring performers in hand. (Pictured with ADVENT) “

• Tasmania’s Farrell family moves up in Australia’s rich list, includes link to earlier James Boyce …

YESTERDAY on Tasmanian Times …

• All bets are off if deal’s lost: Greg Farrell puts heat on Libs … will they buckle … ?