The gambling regulators in the state of New South Wales in Australia have recently come up with a report dedicated to the most harmful feature of the highly popular slot machines which are better known as pokies among the community. According to the findings of the report, pokies should be modified in a way that removes their controversial feature called “losses disguised as wins” which is tricking the players into thinking they are winning money, when in fact they are losing a fortune.
Experts in the field are behind the new report and they are warning all officials that the prohibition of the deliberately confusing feature is of utmost importance for the good financial state of the residents and frequent pokies players. The said report has been in the works for the last two years and its discoveries are well-thought-out. The recommendations included in it are striving to improve the state of the gambling industry in the area and reduce the economic damage pokies are causing to Australians.
Richard Di Natale is the Leader of the Greens and he stated his opinion that his former Senators acted right in their choice to stand aside following their ruling as ineligible to continue being in the Parliament. Paul Toole is Minister for Racing and Gaming at the moment and he said that the report and its recommendations will be taken into account as part of a more in-depth review of the various prohibited features of poker machines in the New South Wales.
Information in the Report
The report was created by the University of Sydney Gambling Treatment Clinic and it was ordered back in 2013 by the Office of Liquor, Gaming, and Racing. In 2015 the end result of the researches was delivered to the Government, which is when the deliberately confusing feature was first acknowledged. The well-known losses disguised as wins, or LDWs as they are popular in the industry, is the set of cheerful music, celebratory images, and flashing lights which are played by the pokie when a player receives a sum of money.
The catch here is that this win is much less than what the player has gambled initially. By doing this, the machine is tricking the player to remain some more and gamble more money, thinking that they’re on the winning end. In the note, it is also noted that the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has in its possession a register featuring all prohibited poker machines features which tend to be harmful to the financial state of layers and could potentially lead to problem gambling issues.
Losses disguised as wins is a feature which is effectively banned in Queensland and Tasmania, which is visible by the lower rates of players reporting gambling addiction. The Government responded that the information will be taken into account and it will work on the Gaming Machine National Standard which will be based on new principles.
