Electronic gaming (‘pokie’) machines provide a continuous form of gambling, where winnings can be immediately reinvested. Playing pokie machines in non-casino gaming venues, such as pubs or bars, is the gambling activity most commonly associated with gambling harms such as spending more time or money gambling than intended. The Health Promotion Agency (HPA) works to increase awareness about gambling harm and supports communities to prevent and respond to harmful gambling. As part of this, HPA’s 2012 Health and Lifestyles Survey (HLS) assessed the public’s preferences for and against non-casino electronic gaming machine venues.
Methodology
Participants in the 2012 HLS were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with two statements about the desirability of pokie machines in pubs or bars. Responses were compared by problem gambling severity (non-gambler 1, non-problem gambler, low-risk gambler, moderate-risk/problem gambler), use of electronic gaming machines at a pub or club in the past year, gender, age and ethnicity. Because the questions referred to spending time in pubs or bars, analyses were restricted to those who said they had had a drink containing alcohol in the past year (‘drinkers’, n = 1,668). Only statistically significant (p < .05) differences between groups are reported.
Key Results
• Four in 10 drinkers said they preferred to drink in pubs or bars that do not have pokie machines.
• Only a small minority of gamblers (14%) said pokie machines make a pub or bar more enjoyable to spend time at.
• Those more likely to agree that pokies make a pub or bar more enjoyable to spend time at and less likely to agree that they prefer to drink in pubs or bars that do not have pokie machines (and thus assumed to prefer pubs or bars that do have pokies), were those with a greater level of problem gambling severity, and those who had played gaming machines or pokies at a pub or club in the past year.