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The real winners of the gambling
The real winners of the gambling

A report calls for reforms


Author: Padre John Flynn, L. C | Source: Zenit.org



The real winners of the gambling 
 
The real winners of the gambling 
A report calls for reforms 

 
ROMA, Sunday, 11 July 2010 (ZENIT.org).-A a lucky person has just won 50 million dollars to the lottery in Canada, but while some win there remains concern about the social impact of the game. 
 
An example is a prolonged debate in the Massachusetts Senate State on a proposal to allow three casinos in the state. Supporters of the law argue that casinos will create jobs and prevent residents from moving to other states to spend their money, the Boston Globe reported on June 23. 
 
Critics, however, are concerned about problematic players and other side effects such as crime and drug abuse. After seven days of debating on the proposal, the President of the Senate, Therese Murray, said that no further delays were allowed, the Boston Herald reported on June 30. 
 
The vote took place on the night of July 1 and the Senate passed the three casinos, reporting the next day the Boston Globe. What remains now is to reconcile the version of the Senate bill with that of the house of representatives which has passed its casino legislation in April. 
 
Although players are deceived by the temptation of easy money, an article published before the Canadian lottery prize drew readers' attention to the unlikely winning options. 
 
On June 4, the Lotto Max Lottery prize reached 50 million dollars after there was no winner. Again nobody won, but the Canadians spent 60 million dollars in lottery tickets, the National Post said on June 24. 
 
A week before the lucky winner took the prize; they spent another 124 million dollars more on lottery tickets in other vain attempts to win. 
 
The article explained that the holder of a lottery ticket has an opportunity between 620,000 to win a second prize, and one between 28 million to win the jackpot. 
 
The mathematicians quoted in the article said that they were more likely to be struck by lightning three times throughout life than to win the prize, or to take 25 times in a row when throwing a coin. 
 
The real winners 
The only and true winners of the game are the governments and those who manage the business. About governments, the Wall Street Journal commented in an article on May 11 that the recession has forced state governments-faced with record deficits-to turn to income-generating vices.
 
In Ohio, after years of opposition to the game, the door was opened with a casino that will replace a car plant. For its part, Oakland, in California, has begun to collect taxes on medical marijuana and other states are considering whether to legalize the sale of grass. 
 
Others have softened the laws that restrict the sale of alcohol on Sundays. According to the Journal, nearly a dozen states have recently debated or approved to remove the game restrictions. 
 
Then there are the clubs and the casinos. An article published on March 10 in the newspaper Sydney Morning Herald described the situation in Australia. 
 
The clubs of the most populous state in New South Wales have admitted that nearly 800 million dollars of their annual income, about 40% of their income from poker machines, could come from problematic players, the article said. 
 
The concern for the effects of the game led to a study by the Australian Productivity Commission, which was made public by the federal government on June 23. 
 
Australians have always been fans of the game but, as the report explained, the liberalization of laws in the 1990s led to a rapid increase in gambling opportunities. 
 
The total expenditure (losses) recorded in Australia reached a little more than 19 billion dollars in 2008-09, i.e. an average of 1,500 dollars for each adult who played. 
 
According to the report, for a population of just over 21 million people nationwide, 5,700 hotels and clubs provide opportunities to play. Similarly, there are 4,500 terminals, where people can bet on racing and sports. There are also 4,700 lottery establishments and 13 casinos. 
 
The changes that followed the relaxation of the law resulted in the percentage of the gaming machine and casino expenditures rising from 40% in 1986-87 to 75% in 2006-07. There were 198,300 game machines (EGM) in Australia 2009, with 97,065 of them in New South Wales.
 
Source of income 
The importance of the game as a source of income is evident from the data published in the report. Hotels receive 28% of their gambling income, clubs 61%, and casinos 78%. 
 
Annual income for each EGM was about 59,700 dollars in 2008-09. The annual losses for each player of these machines were an average of 3,700 dollars in New South Wales, 3,100 in Victoria and 1,800 in Queensland. 
 
The increase in the game has meant an unexpected income for the governments and time they trust him as a great source of income. The state revenues for gambling taxes were 5 billion dollars in 2008-09-10% of all state tax revenues. The state of Victoria has the highest dependence on these taxes, with 13%. 
 
When it comes to the problems caused by the game, the report maintained that most people use it as a pleasant relaxation and that many forms of play do not pose great risks. 
 
However, there is a considerable concern for the people who play regularly on the poker machines. The game machines add up to 62% of the entire spending at stake. According to the report, about 600,000 adults play at least once a week. Data varies, but polls show that about 15% of them-95,000 people-are troubled players. 
It is estimated that this reaches a percentage of 0.7% to 1.7% of the entire adult population. This may seem like something not to worry about, and, the report notes that some in the gaming industry use this as an argument that it is a minor issue. 
 
But it is not so trivial, it kept the report when it is put in its context. Only about 0.15% of the population enters a hospital every year for traffic accidents and it is estimated that about 0.2% of the population has consumed heroin in the last year. "Small population percentages do not mean small problems for society," the Commission asserted. 
 
Side effects 
According to the report, damage caused by gambling problems includes suicide, depression, breakdown of relationships, lower labor productivity, job losses, bankruptcy, and crime. 
 
The results of a survey of 2008 show that the game is the most common motivation for fraud and that the average of losses per crime was 1.1 million dollars. 
 
Also, there is what the report calls "ripple effects" of the problematic game. For every player with problems, other people are affected, from their family members to their friends and colleagues. 
A recent study conducted in the state of Tasmania resulted in half of the respondents saying that they knew someone who had had problems with the game. 
 
When it comes to putting a monetary value on the problems of the game, it is difficult to quantify, the report admits. Conservative estimates, however, put this cost on several billion dollars a year. 
The report recognized that in the last decade governments have introduced regulations that reduce the negative impact of the game. At the same time, the commission called for more coherent and effective policy. 
 
Among the measures suggested by the document was to reduce the speed with which the game machines operate. If they play at high speed it is possible to lose up to 1,500 dollars in an hour. 
 
Other steps that could improve this issue is to limit the amount of cash that players can take to the machines on each occasion, and also lower the limit of what you can bet on every occasion. 
 
Removing machines from the game tracks and imposing a daily limit on the withdrawal of funds at the gambling sites would also help some players, the report added. 
 
Gambling revenues tempt governments as an easy solution to reduce the budget deficit, but at a high cost to many families and to 








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