Collingwood & Gambling: if I were a betting man then....

[watt price tully]

[matrix10]

Worked in pokies for a few years- horrible, horrible things.

I think I was the only person working there that didnt go and piss my money away on pokies after their shift finished.

I could tell someone they'd had too much ro drink- yet, couldnt tell someone bawling their eyes out telling me that tehy had just sold their apartment to pay off gambling debts- that they had gambled enough.

They should be abolished.

Of bigger concern for mine, is the AFL shoving gambling down the throats of supporters- gambling advertising before games- during every ad break- covering the ground- flashing up on the screen- it is the greatest blight on the AFL and society.

But, of course- 'if we stop regulated gambling we will push it underground'- GOOD.

I am sick of my 8 year old son telling me about the odds for each game.

I am sick of watching my 16 year old nephew sit gambling on his phone during family do's.

The AFL plays a significant role in normalising gambling.

Gambling is NOT NORMAL!

The McLachlan brothers are balls deep in this also-promoting the hell out of- Fanshake/Last man standing/Draft stars- all just lining the pockets of the big boys while exploiting the dumb and poor.

rant over
(PS I am not Nick Xenophon

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

The advertising drives me bonkers. Especially ones that portray gambling as something glamorous. PLLLEASE!

[Bucks5]

A lot of iPad 'in game' advertising is for slot machine and poker games which are targetted at kids. I find this worrying for the next generation.

[Jezza]

Making gambling or the pokies illegal won't address the problem. People will always find ways to gamble if they're desperate enough and the so-called professionals always know which places to go to regardless of advertising or not.

Although, I'm worried about the rampant advertising of gambling in Australia, and this point was reaffirmed to me recently when a mate of mine went overseas to Europe and attended the French Open and now currently Wimbledon, and he cannot believe how little betting advertising European countries have in contrast to Australia which is rampant in comparison, yet we think it's normal because we've become so used to it. He said it was a real eye opener for him.

Gambling is also a massive issue for young people. I remember in year 12 on Friday afternoons when the school day was over, some fellow students I knew would sometimes ask me my thoughts on the upcoming footy weekend about certain matches, with me initially believing that it was just a chat about footy amongst mates until they told me they were heading down to the TAB to bet on multis and etc after school. One of those guys from what I've last heard is a gambling addict now and he's the same age as myself (22 years old).

I do worry about young kids analysing football through betting odds rather than through the actual form guide and referring to win-loss records, injuries and various other factors that will go some way to being able to predict the outcome of a match, and this is where the issue of advertising needs to be aimed towards

Personally, I've never betted on the footy and only betted once in the Melbourne Cup a few years back, but apart from that I've never been interested in it nor do I intend to pursue as an interest in the future.

The question of whether the club should be accumulating revenue through the pokies is a question of ethics and morals. Since it's legal at the moment, I don't really have a massive issue with it but I'd like to think long-term the club can find other ways to accumulate revenue that won't hurt the club's current hip-pocket in any shape or form.

[stui magpie]

[matrix10]

[stui magpie]

^

Ban gambling advertising? Agreed.

[Jezza]

No issue with banning or at the very least significantly reducing gambling advertising.

Sick of it being shoved in my face 24/7, especially when it comes to the footy.

[blackmissionary]

Aside from the ethical issues, it's concerning that one of the biggest and wealthiest sporting clubs in the country doesn't seem to think that it can achieve adequate profitability without pokie revenue.