With the rise of top-quality online casino portals that allow gamers to have a flutter from the comfort of their homes, gambling is becoming an increasingly popular pastime. From traditional parlor games like roulette and poker to movie-themed slot machines, with improved user experience and incredible graphics, as well as enticing casino bonuses intended to encourage potential customers to trial a particular online gaming portal, it is easy to see why more and more people are keen to give gambling a try.
Despite this proliferation of technology, resulting in increasing gamblers going online for their fix, this isn’t the case everywhere. There are still many communities where the traditional pokie machine still holds its own and remains are a prevalent form of entertainment.
Regardless of the type of gambling one pursues, there is no doubt that gambling can be a lot of fun. After all, there isn’t much that comes close to winning big, while doing something that you love can give a person big thrills. However, on the flip side, there are plenty of horror stories related to people becoming overly absorbed and invested in this pastime to the detriment of their mental health, financial situations and even their family’s livelihood.
This is why it is so important to exercise caution when exploring the world of online gambling.
Problem Gambling in New Zealand
While the problems associated with gambling aren’t confined to particular places, some communities, often the most financially vulnerable and isolated, feel the repercussions more than others.
Money spent on gambling, like in New Zealand, where the problem has become prevalent, has been soaring at an alarming rate. According to recent results, there was a 7% year-over-year increase among Waikato residents alone.
New Zealand’s Waikato communities are some of the poorest people in the country and are a prime example of a vulnerable community that has suffered significantly as a result of unrestricted gambling.
The Waikato communities of New Zealand aren’t the only indigenous people to have felt the negative implications associated with gambling. Both Maori and Pasifika groups are also facing similar challenges with regard to keeping gambling under control. It is believed that the presence of poker machines within these communities has had a lot to do with the problem.
Support For The Community Needs To Go Further
The severe nature of gambling within New Zealand’s indigenous communities has been acknowledged, as demonstrated by the development of online tools designed with the gambling problem in mind. However, while this is certainly a step in the right direction, there is a lot more that needs to be done to tackle the situation with a greater sense of urgency.
According to a local news media outlet called Stuff, a total of NZD82 million (USD 54 million) has been squandered on Class 4 Poker Machines in the financial year 2020/21 in Waikato alone. This amounts to 95 per cent of profits registered in the region coming from its poorest communities. In turn, this has significant social, economic and health impacts on residents.
In the wake of these findings, Paula Snowden, the CEO of the Problem Gambling Foundation, called for greater scrutiny into the matter, citing that a daily total of NZD 224,750 (USD 148,770) was lost by people in the region. To reiterate the shocking nature of this point further, this amount works out to just over NZD 300 (USD 198) for everyone over 18 daily.
With reference to pokies, the amount spent by local residents is going up exponentially, too, with recent statistics indicating that Waikato residents were increasing their spending in this area by 7 per cent year-over-year. This trend is replicated at the national level, too – with the amount spent on pokies increasing as week as associated gambling losses.
Snowden further highlighted the serious nature of New Zealand’s gambling problem by stating the current nationwide losses to gambling yearly totaled almost NZD 1 billion (USD 660 million), which is the highest they have been in the past five years. Beyond the Waikato region of New Zealand, other severely impacted places included the Thames-Coromandel District, which lost NZD 11.8 million (USD 7.8 million) on poker machines in 2020/2021. This demonstrates there is an underlying issue with problem gambling in regions throughout New Zealand.
New Solutions To Tackle Gambling Problems On The Cards
In the Thames-Coromandel District, locals have begun to take action to tackle the underlying gambling issues in their community by trying to find ways of phasing out the 248 pokies that are available across 20 venues in the area. However, this is likely to prove difficult.
Although the district authorities are turning down new license applications, this doesn’t stop pokie machine owners from placing an application with the local council to relocate the machines, effectively shifting the problem or exacerbating it further by going after new customers.
From a different angle, the Problem Gambling Foundation, Deakin University, the University of Auckland and the Salvation Army have joined forces to create a selection of online tools to assist consumers in reducing their gambling activities in a fast and efficient manner. A custom-built website along with a set of campaigns will be launched and targeted at those at-risk and vulnerable groups.
The website will feature several interactive modules that allow consumers to not simply exclude games but rather engage with various insightful seminars and activities that allow them to gauge a better understanding of the ways that gambling is negatively impacting their lives and has the potential to derail the lives of those they hold dear too.
Although we are yet to see the tangible impact of this initiative, it does demonstrate an acknowledgement of the serious nature of gambling problems and represents the first step towards tackling it at the community level.
