Australia's Gambling Industries - Productivity Commission

for an amount of time that is less than one third of the expected duration — and this
may fuel excessive player suspicion and disputes.
Figure U.4
The distribution of duration a
A Black Rhino example
Frequency (%)
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0.02 to 0.03
0.12 to 0.13
0.21 to 0.22
0.31 to 0.32
0.41 to 0.42
0.50 to 0.51
0.60 to 0.61
0.70 to 0.71
Hours
0.80 to 0.81
0.89 to 0.90
0.99 to 1.00
1.09 to 1.10
1.19 to 1.20
1.31 to 1.32
1.43 to 1.44
a This is based on someone who puts $30 into a 10 cent machine and plays 3 lines and 5 credits. The
simulation assumes that If they have a win of $100 or more on a single button push they stop playing.
Otherwise they play until their money has gone. The simulation suggests that the mean is 13 minutes and 4
seconds (with a standard deviation of 35 minutes). On fifty per cent of occasions, the game is finished within
48 button pushes (about 4 minutes).
Data source: Commission simulations of a poker machine.
U.5 The impact of recycling wins
Gaming machines tend to produce most of their prizes as small wins, and many
players will recycle or re-‘invest’ these winnings. However, problem gamblers are
much more likely to recycle big wins (table U.6). For example, problem gamblers
are 4 times more likely to re-invest a prize of $100 than non-problem infrequent
gamblers.
Since every game (bar some temporary features) has a house advantage, the impact
of re-investment has a significant impact on overall player losses, and also tends to
prolong gambling sessions.
U.12 GAMBLING