Playing the pokies
What are the chances of winning on the Pokies?
The pokies are simply a form of entertainment. However, sometimes people play the pokies for the wrong reasons, often spending more money or time than they can afford. If you think that you can beat the pokies, think again. You cannot change the fact that the odds are stacked against you.
The longer you play a poker machine, the more likely you are to lose all the money you have put in the machine.
The poker machine is the winner.
Think about these facts:
- Each poker machine has a computer program. Pokies are programmed so that in the end the machine will win. Nothing you do changes that
- Pokies are not designed to provide you with extra income. They are designed to make profit for others
- Like other forms of entertainment, you pay to play the pokies. The more you play, the more you pay
- You can't influence the machines. Nothing you do can influence the machines
- The outcome is independent of previous plays. If there is a win, you get paid credits. If not, the poker machine waits for the button to be pressed again
- The machine is never ‘due' to payout. You can never predict how each play will end. None of these factors makes a difference:
- The last time the machine paid out
- Anything you or anyone else does to the machine
- How much you bet or how many lines you play
- How long you have been playing
- Past and future plays
- The time of day
Poker machines are programmed to pay out less than you put into them, so the odds are you will lose.
Losing money this time doesn't increase your chances of winning next time. You may have smaller wins but over time you can expect that these will not cover what you put in.
When playing a game like Black Rhinos, to have a 50 per cent chance of getting five rhinos, playing one line at a time, it would take 6.7 million button presses and cost nearly $330,000.
| Prize value in credits | Chance of a prize in a single play line (including scatters) |
|---|---|
| One chance in | |
| More than 500 credits 200 to 499 credits 100 to 199 credits 50 to 99 credits 20 to 49 credits 10 to 19 credits 5 to 9 credits 1 to 4 credits |
10,198 2,669 1,458 450 246 106 53 10 |
| Prize type in Symbol Combination | Chance of combination occurring in a single play line |
| One chance in | |
| 5 of a kind 4 of a kind 3 of a kind 2 of a kind |
4,784 490 45 9 |
At these odds you have to play seven games in a row to have a 50:50 chance of winning four credits. But you have to play more than 7,000 games in a row to have the same chance of winning 500 credits. In the end the machines will win.
The poker machine always has the advantage.
WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING the pokies, THE ONLY THING YOU CAN CONTROL IS YOU.
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hi, thank you for this site. i started going to the club to watch the footy on foxtel since i dont have it at home but i ended up on the pokies and since its just a 10 minute walk from where i live i have been there this weekend. today i lied to my housemate and said that i was going for a walk but i went to the pokies. started betting 80cents then went up to 4 dollars a bet. i tell myself i wanna win the big one, but now thanks to this page here i have learnt that not only are the odds stacked against me but also that the machines are set. before this site i thought it was all absolutely random and i belived that. i will change my ways. have spent on internet pokies too. i am 26 yrs old...and cant afford to lose my savings. i think i will feel better if i go there when i am bored. hearing the sounds of the machines, and listening to stories of people winning the jackpot...i think it will happen to me bt i know it wont. i want to control this, its not worth a cent. next time someone next to me wins 1000 dollars i will ignore it. i thought that i was a newbie and had to "learn" how to play, i still dont get how pokies wins work...so i am lost and end up a loser. please dont tell me stories of winning because i cannot win enough, if i did win i would spend it again on the machines....whats the point...money is not easy to come by as i am a student...i think i win my rent but i have lost it lucky i have some savings left which i wish to keep
People reading this understand the story. How it started & where it all leads. I am ashamed of how pathetically addicted I am despite having a mature, rational & logical mind. I do believe my family & friends would be shocked to find out how deeply consumed I am in pokie addiction. It would seem to them 100% opposite to how I conduct everything else in my life. Ive tried a variety of different methods to quit. Ive tried the hypnosis, the banning myself from clubs & GA. Nothing has worked for me. The longest Ive stayed clean was 8 months. I managed that by giving over my salary to my partner. I did not miss gambling that entire time. So I believe that limiting my access to money is the only practical solution that works. Since I feel it is unfair to expect my partner to take care of my finances, I decided to try limiting my access another way. Firstly I have setup every direct debit possible for my bills. Secondly I have setup salary deductions from my pay (via my employer) to automatically place money into a savings account with no atm access. Thirdly, Im left with a very small amount left in my atm account for cash expences. It is so little that I dont see the point in gambling it. Fourly, if I want to buy something out-of-budget, I buy it online if possible. This system has really worked well for me so far. I have kept away from gambling for 17 weeks now & for the first time in my life, Ive got savings to my name. I dont know if I'll ever be free from this addiction but hopefully one day I'll look back with pride. Best wishes to all those out there suffering. I understand your pain & have faith that we all will find a way out of this.
hi all , thanks for the words of wisdom .
i my self have a problem with pokies it has ****** my life up for the past 20 years spending so much money i couldnt count it even if i had a year of spare time , i blow thousands of $$$$ each week on these pathetic things when my wife and kids are at home waiting for me, i work my guts out each day to earn as much money as i can to make up for the week before, these ****** pokies are ruining live.....i hope this helps some young people falling into the trap god bless
I'm a 20 year old that had spent every cent that i've earned on the machines..
I am now 20,000 in debt and i'm only earning 30,000 a year
I cant hang out with my friends or buy food because i'd prefer to go to the pokies.
Right now i'm home alone for 2 months due to my family being overseas, I have some food in the fridge and $3 in my wallet
I've spoken to friends about my problem but they don't understand, they think it's just a matter of not going
i really need help, i cant be giving $500 a week to the big guys....
I get paid on a thursday and i'm broke as soon as i leave work
I don't know what to do
I want to stop
I want to live the life of a 20 year old
I was about 17 years old when I got my dole money paid to me.
I paid board to my parents at the time on a fornight basis.
My dole money lasted forever. One day, my young sister and my 2 cousins decided we go and have lunch at the food court or just look around at mall.It did not happen at all.
We were all standing outside this local club to decide what to do. My cousins open the door at the pub and I walked in behind them and I saw them taking a seat to play the card machines. I was actually pondering what will happen if I take a seat and play the card machines. So I sat down the chair to practice because I had no idea how the game works.
I turn my head to see my cousins and I said to myself "they are pretty smart, I think I'm going to be smart as well."
Guess what, that's how I got hooked on, by following some cousins. The largest lump sum i ever won in one go was about seven hundred dollars. I wished I didn't follow them inside the gaming room.
I know exactly what everyone is saying when i was 18 i went to the pub for my first beer and i saw them and asked my mate what are they and he told me so i thought y not so iput $50 through and my very first spin got free spins and ended up pulling out $500 so i collected and next week i went back and put $300 in and didnt win so i wanted to chase my win, anyway im 21 nearly 22 now and i know its really sad but i go to the pub EVERY WEEK on payday and put my whole pay check through some times ill get a realy big win but im only 21 and i have put well over $30000 through it makes me want to cry i could have saved that money and put a down payment on a house with that and i have the most wonderful girlfriend that knows i have a addiction and dont want to go to those awfull things but im like a fish on a hook i think my gf is about to snap and break it off but i love her so much and i want to marry her and have a family anyway i think they should ban those ******* things that way i will have to save my money and take my girlfriend out to nice places and treat her like the princess she is
hey every one after reading all the comments and stories of differnt people i would like to say we all have pokies problem ....and its reallly big ..we need to do some thing abt it and it has to be done now before it gets to late ..
my story i also went once with my friend to a local casino and that night luckliy i had a win of 10000 with only 50$ in my pocket when i enter in casino ....and then i started going alone and try to win more nad more ....which never happen and i keep losing till date date i have lost more than 15,000 in 4 weeks of time all my saving has gone in pokies which i had for my holiday ....i feel very lonely an a big loser in life i have no intrest in any activities...but after reading to all those comments i have promise to my self that i will never go again and touch those machines ....
pokies= the door to hell stay away from it ......the more u stay away from it the more u will enjoy ur life n spend more time with family n friends......
all the best ....make ur self strong......
Sad to read these stories, I too have been badly affected by the pokies.
Initially my partner would go to the pokies and I would just go with her
and read the paper or have a coffee, slowly I started walking around and
watching others play, I would tell my partner, "better play that machine the
guy just put in $300 and lost it all" so she would play it and lose and then
would blame me.
When she lost I would feel bad so I secretely started playing around the
corner and if I won say $100 I would give it to her when she lost her money,
this would make her happy and I thought I was smart because I knew how to
win on the machines. Then there was a turning point, when she lost I would
try to come to the rescue, I always had a lot of cash on me so I would hit
the machines hard, betting $3 , $4, $5, a push and feeding in the $50s , in
the early days I would most often win my money and her money back and get
out of there , but within a short time the machines started to beat even me,
I say even me, as I thought I had an edge, I had sat in venues for 5-10
years without hardly playing and thought I knew how they worked. My method
was simple , watch someone else lose, or not get a feature, then hit it
hard, like all other stories beginners luck , then nothing, nothing and more
nothing.
I started losing all my savings, thousands of dollars, I just wanted to
prove that I knew how they worked, but obviously I didnt, and over the next
five years lost all my savings and had sold many items trying to keep us
both out of debt.
The last part of the story is now we are both addicts to these machines, we
have different addictions though, I can stay away for a week or maybe 10
days then I lose $1000 in one visit, she tends to go down with $50 and lose
it and go again the next day after she has got money from somewhere ?? and
play again, she is always broke and cries a lot. I probably have a worse
problem as I bet much higher and still try to win our money back.
Last year we had to mortgage our home, we had owned it outright but at age
50 our debts from gambling just caught up to us, I used to say to my wife
"all these $50 notes that we lose will have to catch up to us one day" and
one day they did, $60.000 in credit card debt just from cash advances, so we
had to mortgage the house to reduce the interest and make it manageable.
It does catch up with you , we all think "oh I got $600 in my pocket and
money in the bank and wages coming in, I am better off than the next guy ",
but before you know it your friends that dont gamble are going on a holiday,
or are fixing up their house , while you are walking around the supermarket
with $60 trying to do a food shop to last you two weeks, half a tank of
petrol and a tooth ache because you cant afford the dentist.
My reason for writing is simple, it is an admission, I cant beat them and
they have beaten me. I have made money in all other areas of my life, but
after 20 years of being in venues a minumum of 4 days a week,I can honestly
say, you can't win, they are getting worse, and they will destroy your life,
as eventually if you dont stop, you will get to the stage like me where you
actually can't stop. I can't stop, I walk in intending to spend $20 and spend
$300 and then have a can of soup for tea, its crazy.
It is too late for me and my wife, it has taken over and I can't see us
getting out of it, and trust me we are both very intelligent people, its
just that we are now caught in the cycle of trying to get our money back,
never going to happen we know, but it won't come back if we stop, so we go
down to play again, like mental illness really.
I hate the venue staff, they do play a part in it all, they smile and say
hello but secretly I know they laugh and think us gamblers are second rate
people and they believe that by giving you a party pie , or a coffee it will
make up for the fact that you have just lost all you have for the next two
weeks.
I hate the other gamblers who through desperation reserve all the machines,
its hard enough with the venue having the odds in their favour, but the
other patrons reserve 3 or 4 machines, and you get left with the machines
others dont want and have no chance of getting a jackpot or a win as all
the jackpot machines are "reserved".
*****
*****
I hate myself for being so selfish , niave , and stupid enough to think I
could make money out of the machines, and I hate myself for all the money I
have lost, all the things I and my family have had to go without , and for
all the times I have had to bend the truth about why I need to sell
something or what I did with the $50 I got in the birthday card. I hate that
when my children tell me they are short of money I justify not giving them
any by saying they need to learn to stand on their own two feet, when really
I just dont have any money to give them, and would love to if I could.
I hate those machines, I hope I can one day have them out of my life, as one
day when I die, they will have me out of the venues and they wont miss me
one bit !!!
I had a 9 year pokies habbit, and would hate to work out how much i have lost, This web site is very helpfull in regards to information and stats, But unfortunatley if you really want to quit this social cancer (as i refer to it) then it takes more than a plan, you have to want to quit. I have been pokies free coming up 10 years now, Not one dollar have i invested in these machines, the result?, running my own business, 3/4 owning my first home, being happy in life, and a very differant veiw about money and life in general...
This can be acheived if you really WANT TO GIVE UP....
I know the feeling of hating pokie machines yesterday I lost $1000 in an hour that is digusting i have two beautiful children and thought I would automatically stop when I had kids it is a very depressing addiction!!!
Hi there, I too am a pokie addict. I try over and over again to stop. I started probably 15 years ago, and it just gets worse and worse. I can't remember a pay day where money didn't go in the machines. I've read the posts and my challenge is to keep this pay out of the pokies. I know that you can't blame others for going, but if they weren't there, if they weren't so accessible and so well set up to number the world, it would make it a lot easier.
Like others I will try to keep out of them. Logically, I know the harm but there is a part of your brain that blocks out all else where poker machine addiction is concerned.
I've lost a lot and would really like to believe I will lose no more.
I have seen it all. Yes, I do go to the pokies and I have been successful with the purpose being a form of budgetting entertainment. It doesnt matter which machine you sit on or the time or whether its been played. The odds are always high.
****
The pokies has turned patrons into vulchors yelling abuse at people if they lose or ask about a reserved machine sitting in idle for long periods.
The bad behavior rule advertised is being ignored by staff and a single patron can be allowed in several times regardless of warnings. They should be banned immediately if rules aren't followed with no second chance.
The pokies is a form of entertainment for a short time and patrons should be times so they can follow up with there family committments, health and well being, and more money in there pockets to feed the family etc.
I enjoy the pokies and I enjoy my family, unfortunately people forget once there in there and it should be up to staff to see to that which only requires a simple policy. Borrowing money in a venue should also be banned.
Police should have a right to enter a venue and ask for I.D. for some surprise discoveries and give them the right to report them to ato, centrelink, charities etc.
Putting tougher rules in place is for the safety and protection of the community as same as putting hoon drivers in place.
Ive lost about 300,000 over the last 10 years. Very sad considering i should own a house by now but instead i dont have cent at 33. For me it all started when people would catch up at the pub after work,somehow playing the pokies was a bit of a routine and it was easy to see how their features are designed by experts to exploit a players weakness. What i find really annoying is how these machines have infiltrated mainstream society. If they were restricted to the casino then at least we would have to make a conscious effort to gamble as opposed to just wanting a few beers down to the local which turns into a few too many beers and continuous atm trips to the atm conveniently located in spitting distance to the machines. For someone like me that meant a few thousand thrown away. In all cases i tried to limit it, starting with 20 bucks and betting small just for entertainment. But we all know how quick these things munch even betting small, so then you slowly up your bet in an attempt to recover losses and sooner or later you are betting max bet and feeding in 50's and 100's. Make no mistake that these machines can be as addictive as heroin, yet you cant buy heroin at every street corner, yet both are so destructive in their own way. **** Yes a lot of people dont gamble at all. But for those that play pokies, based on my observation and personal interactions i am willing to say that for those who play pokies, 30% have an extreme problem,40% a moderate problem and 30% no problem. ****
Yesterday I lost $900 and told myself I would not do pokies again, but today I went there again and lost another $600. I hate pokies. Two years ago I left this country because I couldn't control myself from gambling. After I came back end of last year, I've lost more than $15000 on pokies. I hate this.
I'm a compulsive Gambler . Thats all you have to admit . To all the compulsive gamblers not ready to admit defeat , it will be a long , miserable existence of a life. The conclusion of Compulsive Gambling not arrested lead to Prison, Insanity or Death ( usually Self Afflicted) ..I can say from my own experience of Compulsive Gambling admitting defeat is the hardest things to do. Who wants to admit defeat? ( I can't win) Its one of the pokies biggest lies telling you can win Big time just by a spin or a feature .
My story is that I started playing Pokies when i was younger 19-20 due to boredom and lack of financial planning and management and immaturity . It started small , little here, little there. Then Big Jackpot (not much when i think i used to loose) It was amazing thrill rush /high i guess they say( big taste) so the hook sets you up for more pain because you want that high again but as pokies are set to take money you eventually give back everything you win
I can say i've lost close to $150000-200000 over ten years to Gambling. Its a bitter pill to swallow but the worst is the time i wasted . So if you are still struggling with this DISEASE do anything to take or use your time ( no spare time at all )
You have to go a Gamblers Anonymous (or contact Gambler's Help) meeting to really work on this disease as it can never ever ever be controlled . I went to a meeting and it was a finally a place where I could talk about how stupid i was and not be judged and made a fool of because every single person at that meeting has been through what i'd done. The people there are helpful and nice, and its good to see how other people have recovered and to take on board they're ideas to help me ...as a result I have stopped 2half years whereas before GA i couldn't even manage a day!
Also to me as a nervous person all the time i was extremely anxious at speaking at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting but my pain of losing and dispair made my pain of speaking nothing by comparison , and its not essential to speak to if you desire not to.
Remember these Three words.PRISON,INSANITY,DEATH . That's the final destination of Gambling .
I just lost all my money at the club i was there for like 4 hours, i walked in with 150 and within 1 hour i had 350. Should of walked out ... After 4 hours i still had $300 left than i jumped on another machine, after putting 100 dollars in and playing 60 cent bets it featured once on 30c when thats all i had left in the machine, the feature payed 12 dollars. I than put 50 after 50 of my remaining 200 dollars and played $1.50 bets and did not even get one feautre!!! What the hell is that?!
I banned myself from a club i used to go to, i thought that would stop my gambling but i found another club. I ripped up my membership card after a big loss from there recently but everytime i get a decent amount of money i still go back there and sign a slip just to get in. I feel like an awful horrible disgusting worthless person after continually taking money from my brother mother and father. They all work hard for that money and i just put it in a machine hoping to win more money so i can go on some big shopping spree or maybe even buy a car!
I'm going to try and quit gambling again maybe even ban myself from this club if i go again.
I think I may be starting to get addicted to pokies. Up to a certain point I had been lucky. I've only been gambling for about 12 months. I have won $1900 and $1600 and up to a "point" I had won about as much as I had lost. The turning "point" was this- I blew $1000 on a single machine ($1 machine) hoping to get the feature. It never came and the ATM would not let me take out any more. I had an empty feeling. With the remaining coins I purchased a pint and went home. After that happened I made a promise to God that I would never again play pokies on my own (i.e without mates etc). If you're with friends it's just a bit of entertainment.
The main problem is this. Once a weeknight (and at work lunch breaks) I would go alone to my local pub and just drink and play at the machines. I resolved to play a system where I would go through the bets (1,2,3,5 then 10) twice then move on to the next machine. However I would often get stuck on a machine I liked the look and sound of. The problem is that the association of something pleasurable (having a beer after work/during lunch) with pokies has invoked in me some Pavlovian conditioning whereby I feel "naked" if I'm on my own having a drink and not the pokies. My solution to this is to play Barry trivia machines instead. That's not really about gambling and it actually takes some intelligence to play (i.e not some mindless, hypnotic, soulless, button-pushing event) and you can get other pubgoers involved- much more fun than pokies!
This is something I'm working on. I don't have debt problems, I'm living within my means but I want to take early action to make sure these machines with their Pavlovian "bells and whistles" don't start to get the better of me. I wrote this lengthy comment because I have to get this off my chest and being an young, arrogant Aussie bloke, didn't want to talk to anyone about it.
I appreciate this site because for all the crap the various governments spend money on, this site and its associated helpline, is truly worthwhile.
I am a bloody loser. Why dont I ever learn, I tell myself over and over again that it is not worth my marriage. I love my husband so much and I cant forgive myself that I've lied to him over and over again. The sad part is he trusts me.
Im 28 and have been married for 3 years and my husband does not know what I'm going through and been having this evil problem for 2 years. Altogether I've lost about 20k. I WANT TO STOP I WANT TO HAVE A LIFE AND BE FREE. I just lost 1500$ 2 hours ago and I feel sick, I cant sleep, I cant breath properly and I've been having this bad cough for the past six months. It has definitely affect my health. I lose at least $400 a week! I FEEL SO ALONE. I WISH I COULD BE TRUTHFUL. I WANT TO HAVE A NORMAL LIKE. I feel like I dont know myself anymore. DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
yes this is really hard stuff. it is like a hook in you once your mind gets a glimps of a thought about having a flutter that day/night. you can be so sensible in thought, so rational after you have stuffed up overspending, and this sensibleness lasts all of about 20 hours then you realise there is free time and hey you've got some cash!! well then its all optimism and off you charge to the venue. ... and stay there until every last dollar is gone. your sure your gonna win the $873 maxi but unforunately it didnt happen. now time to figure out all the excuses as to why you cant pay that bill this week. sound familiar? apparently its all about brain chemical production amidst all the exciting almosts and the fun graphics and noises...the hype. ever noticed how hyped and awake you feel when you get home at midnight after bashing away at the pokies for a couple of hours, when normally you'd be tired and virtually asleep. all that excitement and all that bloomin electricity. but you keep going back. we must be eternal optimists which is great, but not when it comes to pokies cos we come back to the thought that we are going to win big again and again. i guess it may be true that one should call the gambling problem hotline or seek professional help. or find a fabulous fascinating and captivating and relatively inexpensive hobby to replace the pokies. but they are so easy and so entertaining.
yep yep they are certainly evil. I am 27 and just worked out that ive spent around 200 000 on the pokies in the last 8 to 9 years. I won the first time i played like 1600 dollars and then nagain a week later. I was betting 2 dollars a spin. Since then i downed my bets to 25 cents a spin but can never win big anymore. I always c people win big around me and it makes me think that i can 2. Whenever ive got money im there, at the pokies, drinking, betting on the races as well. I just cant seem 2 stop. SHATTERED!
I have been gambling on the pokkies for twenty years, never going more than two weeks without gambling and mostly gambling every week. I have lost heaps and have sessions spending $2000 in a night. I have tried a lot of things but none seem to work, currently I am reducing the amount of money I can get out of Atm'S. It seems to me that an urge overtakes my reason and even thought i should not be gambling there I am. It is like Iam hynotised and out of control. There must be a part of me that wants to gamble and a part that does not, however, I cannot seem to make the don't want part strong enought to beat the want to part. Last night spent $2000 and I am now really determined to stop, however i have been here before. I just hope that this time, I can make the don't want to gamble part take over. Maybe I should move somewhere where there are no pokkies. I sympathise with all problem gamblers pain and loss, the only thing which has worked for me, is to not beat myself up and never give up on trying to beat the problem, hopefully this time I will.
Well everyone is sharing so im gonna tell my story....
I first played pokies when I was 18 to be honest I didnt like them at all the first time I played I was bored and didnt understand lines or combinations nothing.
I put $10 dollars in and got it up to $50 my friend came over and he wanted to put $50 in as well so I thought why not cuz I really didnt understand and to me it wasnt big deal losing cuz I only invested $10 so heres where things went bad got a a feature on a $5.00 hit which I still didnt understand but noticed we had 380000 my mate told me it was almost 4k so we collected it I couldnt believe here I was an 18 year old with 2k in my pockets thats when these ugly things became a habit I always betted like this until I turned maybe 21 then bets went higher I had some big wins here and there one being 9,000 dollars...
I just never realised how much I would gamble it became an ugly side to my life only good thing the pokies ever done for me was put a deposit on my unit but hell I would rather have saved the money then put myself through all the stress of losing
I have lost way more then I have won my story is not as bad as others but I still understand what people are going through who are compulsive gamblers
and the money I lost I can never have back I have tryed self exclusion banning myself from venues councilling just I cant stay away from them today I lost $250 its not a bad loss but its still a loss especially when I was up earlier...
... always good to talk to someone who can relate to what your going through..
in short **** POKIES BAN THESE AWFUL THINGS AND I HOPE ARISTOCRAT REALISES WHAT ITS DOING TO PEOPLES LIFES
yes poker machine are evil....as for me i dont know if i can say that im a gambler or not or maybe im in denial...i had personal loan to buy some furniture thats 5000 dollars loan pay up in 2 years with interest 8000 dollars,credt card max out, no savings weekly bills monthaly bills yes...although my boyfriend is paying our mortgage im still ending up NiL in my savings account...GOD i need help.. Its all started 1 year and a half ago,my boyfrend and friends and myself went out in a rsl club nice music nice lights plenty of machines that i dont even know how they work i dont pay much attention coz its my first time to see machines like that,,then i saw my boyfriend put some money and i ask how that supppose to work and he says just put 20 dollars and bet 25 cents which i did...then hit hit hit wow free spin im so happy coz i bet that means money it will pay out ..ending up 200 dollars wow..then i said to mysel well thats good,and my friends says beginners luck...then i went to play 3 more machine before we go home yes im still winning..Nice feeling isnt it???then not too long ago i started going out by myself...losing hundreds the thousand of dollars,,,savings gone..untill now im crying hoping ill stop before it become worst....all in i lost nearly 4000 dollars and counting....my advice please seek help ..I myself need a help..i dont wanna lose my good life my boyfriend..I dont wanna be in debt...GOD Bless all of U...
It doesn't take very long to get into a certain lifestyle always looking for an opportunity to play the pokies everything else just fades away,not even spending time with friends anymore>my experience is less than 12 months my life has changed so much never thought this was possible but i am still in the really enjoying it phase and have the funds to do it this. That is probably what a lot of people before me have thought.trying to decide when to walk away but on reading others experience I relate and IT Is SCARY!!!
22 year old.. been a gambling addict for 4 years. It started with $5 trifecta bets with a few friends and within months i found myself alone in the early hours of the morning pumping all of my car savings into machines. Now i've been working full time i have nothing to my name...only debts. Whenever I lose my entire pay I feel it the worst..having to live a fortnight without a cent is like living in hell. ive borrowed money from every person i know, credit cards, pawning selling valuables etc. I cant believe that this has happended to me..i was so ambitious as a kid now all i see is a lifetime of misery, every failed attempt to give up makes me weaker until now i have no self confidence at all. I dont enjoy anything anymore, my whole life is leading up to the next time i can get some money together and go to the pokies..i feel pathetic and useless and deep down i doubt i will ever pay back everyone i owe money to..the lying, cheating and misery - when will it end?
Hi everyone,I've been a full on addict for about 10 years.I have a great job, great friend and family who support me and yet every week I "pop in for a play" and 99% of the time I walk our hating myself, I swear this is the last time till tomorrow.and now I'm in trouble.The self loathing is the worst part, I feel dirty and out of control. I should be living the dream but I feed my dream into those damn pokies over and over. I stop then justify a play because Ive been good and off I go again.Why have I no disapline in this area when I have it in every other area of my life???
ive just been reading all your statements but like some of you that said to set your self a limit there is no such thing cos limits just go out the window yesterday i went out and spent the money that was supossed to be for my daughters day care
i feel ashamed of this taking from my own daughter its just wrong i need help and first thing i and any of you that have memberships of clubs is to get rid of it cos thats the other thing they suck you in with reward points for playing you have to spend $1000 to get a free schooner
ill be doing my best to stay away from the clubs get help and i know my wife will support me who i love very much good luck to you all and thank you for the stories reading these statements really makes you think how silly we are.
Exploitation
The minimum legislated return to players in Australia is eighty-five percent (The Hill Report, 1995) , so for every $100 fed into the machines, the average return is $85 – an automatic loss of $15. The next bet then is eighty-five percent of the eighty-five percent and so on until there is nothing left. The fact that the return is eighty-five percent does not entail every time a players bets they get $85 back either. Poker machine playing requires no skill; it is purely a game of ‘chance’ (a doubtful label when considering the machines are programmed and how they are programmed). Players therefore have no control over the activity. Instead the machines dictate the play, and are programmed to only return fixed amount that are less than the player feeds in.
can someone explain why there is no 'payout percentage' on the machines. Ive come from the UK and work in the gaming industry and the fact that all our machines have to state this fact means that operators are more likely to up the payout of the machine as people will seek out the 'loosest slots'
The odds explained above doesn't really mean anything where as if you were playing a machine that is on a payout of say 90% you know that 'over time' (not allowing for short time play) the venue would be taking 10c for every $1 spin. you could put into a monetry term, every $10 spin you would be giving $1 straight to the operators?
Is there a legal minimum that these machines can be set on? could a pokie machine be legal run paying out 20% for example?
Yes I agree....I know someone close to me who plays pokies. She can go the whole night pressing the button the poker machine! Oh, how boring! I spend my time walking around the casino. As If I sit near she think I am a jinx, as she says good vibes and concentration will win a mini or max jackpot.
It that a twisted myth or what? And I often nearly fallen asleep of boredom due to sitting in of a pokie machine and hearing same old sounds over and over again next my mate. She pumps in hundreds of dollars into one machine! She spend alot of time with em, she calls it a HOBBY!!!!! Me, I don't think it's much of a hobby......a hobby that empties your wallet that is!
I have been playing pokies since they came in to Queensland 25 years ago i have lost about 500,000 dollars i still am paying off my house and have personal loans and credit cards i am 53 my husband earns good money and i still owe all this money my husband must love me because he doesnt stop me. I have been suffering this addiction every week of my life i only go once a week and loose everything in 4 hours, then i go home and say i am not ever going back and then next week comes and there i am again. I have been to hypnotist and councellors and still no luck......I wish we could all bound together and stop this once and for all.
Im sick of the pokies.last week i blew $1,500 on them won nothing there not getting any better they pay less and the jackpots are a joke ive lost alot of money on them over the last 16yrs around $500,000 i must be crazy i sat in my car and cried last week ive never done that in all of those 16yrs of pokies its made me realize what i have to do and that is keep away no one drags you in there i say goodluck to Everyone.pokies are EVIL.
Reading the above has helped and defiantly told part of my story. I have been addicted to the bloody pokies for just over 12 months, not really big bets but in there a few times a week. I did it when ever I felt down, had spare time or just wanted to escape the world. I have at times lost $500 and went back a week later trying to secure some of it back...how it started was very small $20 outlay wasting time between a meeting, then after a few weeks this turned into a few times a week...then BANG i won a big jackpot, then another within a week as I was playing with the winnings, so betting more came from it. I was hooked like a Murray Cod.
My wife was wondering where I was all the time, how come it took so long to get home and how come I never answered the phone when I was "on my way"...I managed to get the bank statements each time they came and hid them- we both get paid monthly and have a fair bit of disposable income, so it took a while for her to catch on what was happening. She kept saying how did we manage to spend everything again this month? Me! Over 6 months I had blown $5k and didn't see it as a problem because it was my money...I am starting to see it has hurt us as a family a lot more as I am lying and spending time away from them to chase a few hundred dollars...to me it isn't the money, it is more about the thrill and outcome.
My wife knows I am working on the addiction, I have been back a lot since she found out, but have reduced the amount I allow myself to lose...it is a start.
I would try to self inclusion program but meet people with work at these venues for meetings/beers etc...I would hate to be told to leave as I have a gambling problem that no one from my work knows about.
Using this site I am starting today the gambling diary and trying to find another HABIT when the opportunity arises with me.
This has heled heaps just writing it....I want to quit the pokies, they are way to easy to access and bet way too much.
Good luck to everyong else.
40 year old male with an amazing family who should know better.
Is almost impossible to win the big one... don't lose your time... and money!!!
Great post!
Viviana
viagens
Up until 2 weeks ago, I was hopelessly addicted to pokies. They have consumed my life on and off for the better part of 10 years. I decided to get help, as I could not help myself, and I'm currently getting treatment, which I encourage all people with a problem to do. Talking about the addiction with a complete stranger is like a cleansing of sorts and has really helped me curb my gambling thoughts. So much so that I'm starting to believe that I will never again stick another note into those insidious machines that almost destroyed my life. It feels so good not to be a slave to the machine. Set yourself free - do it NOW.
I have just been to the pokies and everytime i go and come back home i say the same thing, that is it no more. Once again my brain goes into overdrive and thinking i will win the big one. There is no chance that i will win the big one, I have a problem but always seem to hide it and say its someone elses problem. The pokies and casino as put my life in a bad way, i have spend well over $100000 and that money was an inheritance from my dad. I have read most of the stories about other people and say well i know that i will win but the reality is that no i will not ever win. Pokies does destroy life and we all talk about it that is bad. I just feel that i have let everyone down in my family, so i am going to to try to change how and when is the question. The one thing that i cannot understand when i was overseas i was exposed to gambling but did not even gamble and let me tell you it was easy over there, I think that its easier here.
Just wasnted to speak my mind about the pokies, its not worth it but who am i to make that decision when i know i will be back and saying the same story.
People go out and enjoy life because onces we are gone we have left a whole lot os destruction that our families have to pick up and fix.
I know the sudden tragic death of my beautiful mother launched me into chasing my losses at the pokies just one more free spin, then IÍI go I promise to myself, after ive exhausted my card limits I hav to go home only to go back in the morning to "my" machine before someone else wins all of my money!!! Its horible how it gets you! My advise is do what I did I came home last night and confessed to my partner and my brothers that I need help, They didnt judge me they just talked.....We are all feeling the loss, we are just all dealing with it differently..... my way by far the most destructive. It helps to talk and to read others stories, I guess the truth is we are all looking outside ourselves for something that we think will solve our problems...... but only creates more..... I believe I can control this horrible habit, and im starting from now.... Good luck in life (not pokies) to everyone
my wife has lost approx $350,000 over the past 10 -15 years and still cant the damage she has done ,so much so I cannot even buy a haircut.our house is morgaged to the hilt,my super is gone but dosen't realise she cannot see that it is impossible to win and will not seek help.
wow. i so relate to you all. im embarrassed and bewildered by my addiction to pathectic pokies1 its like being addicted to a chocolate or toy machine only you get less!!!!my addiction started after my friend died i started playing pokies at local rsl and then 20 bucks went to 50 went to whole wage packets ....you know its wrong but its the thrilll like a hit !! the endorphines that are triggered' at those very clever winning sounds like poof tee ta poof tee ta poof ta ta ta!etc lol!!i go to bed at night with those hypnotic sounds 1!! its subliminal hypnosis and its evil
Where do I start? I'm sitting here reeling after a horrible weekend of heavy gambling on poker machines, losing money I can't afford to lose and leaving myself with $0 til payday. "I thought it would pay", " it is due to pay"," it'll come up so I'll invest my last $50 and then I'll be right when I win"....these are things I kept telling myself as I proceeded to lose $2000 this weekend. I'm now distraught, helpless and oh so ashamed. I have so much gambling debt that I can never ever seeing me paying off. Credit cards mAxed out, savings nil, live pay to pay. I keep thinking I'll win big the next time but instead go further backwards. I want to stop, I really do but find it really hard to resist the urge, the draw to the casino and local venues. I can't drive by on a weekend without stopping. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs, but I'm a hopeless gambler, a serious addict. Unfortunately it's destroying my life.. I can't sleep properly, or enjoy friends and family etc as all I do now is worry about my finances. I'm 34yo and feel that I've blown it. All this started because I went to the old casino as a 21yo with family for dinner and luckily won $20,000 on the pokiesnot knowing what I was doing. I got the taste after that. The Worst thing thathappened to me was winning that money. God knows I've put that and much much much more back since then. I hope I find the inner strength to stop. I really do but I'm scared I'm not strong enough to overcome this, which in turn scares me about the future. My concern is the debt.. The personal loans, credit cards etc and the struggle to pay them. If anyone who thinks they are starting to develop a gambling problem, I hope my story, my battle will discourage you from putting one more dollar in a machine. Gamblers are, by and large, losers - just like me :-(
Compulsive gambling is a mental illness (believe it or not) that is inherent in some people and not in others.The only successful treatment is by total abstinence, one day at a time, this can only happen when the individual makes the decision that their lives have become unmanageable (is gambling costing you more then money?) and that he/she needs help and then they must surrender themselves to the care of Gamblers Anonymous where they will have the guidance of like minded people who follow a 12 step program of recovery.
My father was a compulsive gambler and as such he left us in abject poverty and destitute, he died at the age of 93 and his entire wealth consisted of a wrist watch which was worth about five dollars, once again, believe it or not, do you ban all forms of gambling?, I don't know!. Thank you for your valuable time.David
I can say it does definetly destroy lives, i have been gambling since i was allowed into the casino back in 98, and til this day i find myself sucked in over and over again, what can i say... they're sure do know how to make you spend big.
ive lost in excess over a million dollars and i feel the most biost remorse but all to find myself back there again. and now that ive discovered online poker i have wasted so much time and money that it really has taken a toll on my mental health, everyone around me knows, but all they can do is just tell me to stop. they just dont get the true meaning of this demonic addiction.. and those pokies machines, thats where it all began, by winning a $5000 jackpot i was sucked in for life.
i write this letter as i am currently playing online poker and staying at the casino compliments of crown.. as if.
I put my hole pay through last night im so angry had stayed away from them for a few months im 21 and since i was 18 have had a slight problem with them. I was doing so well untill yesterday spending my money on things i can show for it rather then blowing it in 2 and a half hours on nothing.
i'm only 18yrs and started goin with my mum to the pokies, that was the only thing she wanted to do, then after a while i started goin by myself figured go there for a few drinks after all i was working, but then week by week i was scrapin by, bills were pilling up and i figured this is no fun if every week i feel down, so i stopped i think my mum has an addiction though, she just refuses to tell anyone its plain obvious when she borrows off me a day after her payday, suggestion on helping my mum would very much be appreciated
its strange iknow the probabilty of winning big on the pokies are very very slight,but,when i sit in front of that machine another world opens to me.i tell myself to watch myself so far as amount i can lose.after a while that goes out the door at times anger can set in asituation arises where by I CAN BEAT THIS MACHINE,wrong,wrong,wrong.then you walk out of the club no money to pay those certain bills,no money for food,rent,smokes,so you have to wait till next pay day,and,guess what,you start all over again.lately i have reduced my betting to minimal outlay,and,only take in a certain amount of monies to cover,meal,drinks,and the magic flutter i find that i enjoy playing them this way,i hope this comment can help others thank you b.b.
My Dad has wasted thousands of dollars on the Pokies. All the while I supported the family, paid for the bills, groceries & phonebills. That money should have been used for my education or even a deposite for a property.
My hatred for him is immence yet I try not to, as it is the addiction that is the problem not him.
If you are addicted and reading this; YOU deserve a lot better. Give your hard earned money for your childrens education or to the blind institution. They will send good wishes your way! the people who own pokies, laugh at you, EACH TIME.
its all about luck people cant blame society for them to play people in todays society are always quick to blame everything but them selves people need to work out there prioteries and set limits.if you cant afford it dont play. I do admit it is a bit of fun but it has not taken control of my life i have better things to do than just sit in front of a machine
maybe you are victims of poker machines, if the first time you think it's only for entertainment but after that you will turn into addition, it's one of causes of homelessness and so on.therefore,poker machines should be banned right now
i completly agree with Mr bowchamp i know it is affecting the ones i love but im just waiting for that hit that will get me out of this god for saken part of town. im such a let down to my parents and my kids think im a loser what can i do?
I agree with bowchamp now that i know that gambling not only affects my life but it also affects the people i love. Stay true
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