Northland counsellors are seeing an increase in the number of people who gamble online and get affected by the negative impact of gambling addiction. According to specialists, the rise is concerning especially for people who are categorised as problem gamblers, as such players are more likely to spend large sums of money while gambling online.
According to data revealed by Nga Manga Puriri Northland Problem Gambling Services, there have already been too many people engaged with problem gambling. The organisation which provides confidential and free counselling from people suffering from gambling addiction has revealed that it is dealing with an additional five to six online gamblers between young and middle-aged groups on a monthly basis. Currently, it has been working at full capacity, with about 60 compulsive gamblers on its books.
The information has been revealed following the Department of Internal Affairs report which showed that local people spent NZ$8.6 million on gambling machines over the third fiscal quarter of the year, which represents an increase with almost $137,000 in comparison to their spending registered over the second quarter.
#Northland Gamblers Spend NZ$8.4 Million on #Poker Machines in Q2 2018 #Pokies #PokerMachine #Gambling #GamblingAddiction #ProblemGambling #NewZealand https://t.co/KY4Pg0fZUE
— Casino Guardian (@CasinoGuardian) August 29, 2018
Marino Murphy, Nga Manga Puriri manager, explained that organisations which dealt with gambling addicts would be meeting soon in order to discuss various ways to minimise gambling-related harm. According to Ms. Murphy, the so-called sinking-lid policy used by local councils in terms of the number of pokies and gaming venues in the region was simply inefficient.
Northland Gamblers’ Spending on Pokies Increase in Q3
An interesting trend is the fact that the number and profits of gambling machines increased both in the second and the third quarters, while the number of venues offering such pokies in Northland declined, with the trend suggesting that pokie players have started spending more money on their habit.
According to regulatory reports, the number of Northland-based poker machines in the period from July to September 2018 was 625, or two more compared to the previous quarter. On the other hand, the number of gambling venues in the region slightly fell, from 48 to 47. Also, the largest number of pokies was registered in Whangārei – 195, with the spending of local gamblers on pokies amounting to NZ$4.3 million. Poker machines customers in the Far North spent NZ$3.7 million on pokies, while the ones in Kaipara spent NZ$581,575 in the third quarter of the current fiscal year.
As mentioned above, Nga Manga Puriri was seeing one to two new problem gamblers on a monthly basis for the last couple of months. As the organisation’s manager Ms. Murphy explained, it had never seen such a “constant flow” of between young and middle-aged gambling addicts who sought help for dealing with their problem gambling behaviour. She further confirmed that there was an increase in the number of people gambling online – a trend which was quite difficult to track and deal with.
Ms. Murphy revealed that there were already people who used the self-exclusion option to make sure they stay away from gaming venues offering poker machines but also shared that competent authorities need to come up with a solution for online gamblers who usually did not reach the organisation until they reached “a crisis point”.
- Author
Daniel Williams
