Australia's Gambling Industries - Productivity Commission

Gambling behaviour
Because previous Australian research has revealed gaming machines (‘pokies’) to
be the main form of gambling associated with problematic behaviour, information
was obtained from respondents on particular facets of their play, including:
• denomination of gaming machine usually played; and
• nature of play (number of lines played, number of credits bet per line, use of bill
acceptors, use of loyalty bonus cards).
Use of ATM machines
Gamblers can augment the amount of money they take with them to gamble by
accessing funds from an ATM machine at some types of venues. Accordingly,
information was obtained from players of gaming machines (at clubs, hotels and
casinos) and players of table games at casinos on:
• how often gamblers withdrew money from an ATM when they played the
gaming machines and/or table games.
Expenditure on gambling
A study by Blaszczynski, Dumlao and Lange (1997) has shown that one question
often asked in gambling surveys — “how much money do you spend gambling?” —
can be interpreted by respondents in a number of ways, and only between half and
two-thirds appear to interpret it in the preferred ‘net expenditure’ sense. As
Blaszczynski, Dumlao and Lange (1997) state:
Net expenditure [is] calculated as the difference between the initial amount available at
the commencement of a gambling session and the amount remaining at its conclusion.
… This reflects the actual amount of money the gambler has gambled and represents
the true cost of gambling to the individual (pp. 248–9).
Accordingly, the National Gambling Survey used mainly a two-question approach to
allow net expenditure to be calculated. For example, in relation to the playing of
gaming machines, the questions were worded along the following lines:
(a) When you visit a venue, how much money do you usually take with you to
play the machines, including any additional money withdrawn or borrowed
during the period of play?
(b) And how much money do you usually have left when you finish playing the
machines?
F.12 GAMBLING