Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia

Gap in social options raises ‘pokie’ appeal

Story by Melissa Marino

There is a flip side to the issue of problem gambling. The spin generally put on this issue casts gamblers as captives of a compulsion that is fuelled by the glittering, whirring, colourful machines that occasionally, tantalisingly, also rattle out cascades of coins.

The scene painted is that of players robotically losing their money and their social vitality. But a far more complex, more human and understandable element is beginning to emerge as researchers delve deeper into gambling; into how a social activity can become a perceived addiction, and why poker machine venues can hold a particular appeal to women.

These venues are usually comfortable and clean. They are non-threatening. A cappuccino is as acceptable as a chardonnay, and above all, they are safe. These are all factors that many women gamblers have cited as reasons that keep drawing them back, and they are factors acknowledged by venue operators.

“Poker machine venues have spent a lot of time and effort making them an attractive and accessible place for a woman,” says researcher Anna Thomas, who has conducted several hundred interviews and surveys as manager of Swinburne University of Technology’s Gambling Access Project.

“They tend to be very safe places … one woman told us security would walk her to her car if she was there late at night. You don’t get hassled as a woman in a pokie venue, whereas if you went alone to a pub as a woman … well, you just don’t.”

Responses like these are now being studied in more depth as part of research that could change the way problem gambling is viewed in Australia and also change the way counsellors, researchers and policy-makers approach the issue.

Chief investigator Professor Mike Kyrios says the project fundamentally shifts the way people’s access to gambling is analysed.

While gambling access is a common thread in gambling research, Professor Kyrios says the parameters have been too narrow.

The traditional research focus, on the number of pokies per capita and per suburb, and their proximity to people’s homes, misses the human factors, he says.

Instead, the Swinburne project has applied a much broader definition of ‘access’ incorporating psychological as well as social and demographic variables.

“It’s all very good to be talking about the existence of ATMs within gambling venues or the number of machines per capita in an area – they are all good indicators of some aspects of access, but we think that it actually misses the more human element which can be ‘I’m lonely, it’s midnight, what are my options?’,” he says.

Professor Kyrios says gambling access is also about what the venue offers – whether it is relative safety, a cheap drink, or simply a place to be among other people when other venues are closed.

These situational factors, when combined with the already well-studied psychological lures of the games themselves – particularly poker machines – make for a potent, potentially addictive recipe for some people. But it is an aspect that has not been well-researched.

“Our research is very much focused on what’s drawing you in and keeping you coming back,” Ms Thomas says. “It’s not just about the game you are playing, but the environment you are in.”

To better understand the full scope and influence of access and environment the researchers are looking at why people gamble, to what extent, and what management strategies they have in place to maintain control … what separates social gamblers from problem gamblers. “For many people gambling is entertainment. It is part of a varied social life, but for others gambling can spiral out of control,” Ms Thomas says.

One early clue the researchers have identified is the absence in some areas of alternative entertainment options that could provide a similar experience. For example, a pokies venue with 20 machines in an outer-suburban shopping centre, where it is the only place for people to congregate, may represent far greater access than an inner-suburban hotel with 100 machines, but which is near other entertainment options such as cinemas or restaurants.

The two-year project has taken both a qualitative and quantitative approach to examine and measure such access factors and the link to people’s vulnerability or resilience. The research started with open-ended interviews with 38 people about their habits in order to identify issues. These were then tested in a survey of 300 participants including problem and non-problem gamblers.

As the researchers analyse the data they are finding some surprises. In their analysis of measures that distinguish problem and non-problem gamblers they unearthed a striking similarity. While, as expected, social gamblers enjoyed the pastime with friends as part of wider activities, they also found that problem gamblers used social gambling with friends as a way to control their habit. “It’s a strategy we’re calling ‘keeping gambling social’,” Ms Thomas says. “They were deliberately trying to keep their gambling a social activity as part of a range of strategies to control their gambling.”

The finding, Professor Kyrios says, has revealed ways to potentially help people who have a problem.

Professor Kyrios says the onus of responsibility has tended to be on the individual – ‘you’ve got to have self-control, you can self-exclude, come to counselling, cut up your credit cards’ – and so on.

“But what we’re also suggesting now is that there may be a range of socialisation strategies that can be incorporated into the advice we offer people at either the individual or community level,” he says.

One obvious approach would be to seek ways to increase people’s social options through relationships or activities.

On a public or community level, socialisation strategies could include the development of more community venues where people can comfortably go, either alone or in a group, and feel welcome and engaged.

“So rather than thinking about the number of pokies per capita, another index might be the number of social outlets that are not gambling-related per capita,” he says. “And, conversely, what it means when there are no other options.”

The researchers expect their research, funded by the Victorian Department of Justice, will help policy-makers, as well as counsellors and researchers, understand more about options for keeping gambling under control.