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8/9/2008: Manitoba gambling patterns
Most adult Manitobans gamble, and most consider it entertainment — but the number of “moderate risk” gamblers has doubled over the last five years, according to a new study by the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.
More than 85 per cent of Manitobans have gambled at least once in the past year, which is about average in Canada, according to the study, released Thursday.
The most popular forms of gambling in the province are raffles and fundraising tickets and lottery tickets, with about 75 per cent of survey respondents indicating they had played.
Video lottery terminals were also popular, with 28 per cent playing in the last year, and casino slot machines, at 24 per cent.
As of 2008 the population of Manitoba was 1,196,291.
14% of Manitoba residents do not gamble, 10% are classified as low risk, 4.7% as moderate risk and 1.4% are problem gamblers. The study noted the number of problem gamblers has remained consistent since a similar study in 2001, but the number of moderate gamblers had doubled. The study also found women are becoming as addicted to gambling as men.
Women are also catching up to men in other addictions, such as alcohol and drugs, Borody said.
Problem gamblers are more likely to be between the ages of 18 and 24, from a lower income bracket, single and have less education compared with their non-gambling counterparts, the study suggests.
Overall, the at-risk and problem gambling rates are slightly higher than the Canadian provincial average, but comparable to the average figures in the Prairie provinces.
A total of 6,007 Manitoba adults, 18 years and over, participated in the telephone survey in the spring of 2006 to obtain the study’s results. The margin of error for the sample is plus or minus 1.29 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
From CBC Manitoba (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/08/07/gambling.html)
Where are Manitobans gambling?
Raffle/fundraising tickets 75.3%
Lottery tickets 74.4%
Scratch tickets/instant win 41.7%
Video lottery terminals 27.7%
Slots in a casino 23.9%
Card games not in casino 18.0%
Bingo 12.9%
Sports pools 12.2%
Horse races 7.3%
Sport Select 6.6%
Dice/card games in a casino 6.4%
Outcome of professional sports 6.1%
Internet gambling 1.5%
Other forms of gambling 1.3%
Sports with a bookie 0.2%
Addictions Foundation of Manitoba Gambling studies and treatment (http://www.afm.mb.ca/AFM%20Library/gambling.htm)
Administrator
August 11th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Families of addicted VLT / slot machines /pokies all are likely to feel the same way .. they are made to suffer for the actions of the person playing, and the laws that make it illegal to fish without a licence do nothing to make the player accountable to the family for the financial and emotional loss created.
In Australia, Duty of Care Inc. has organised a public march on Sunday 24 August 2008 to coincide with Day 1 of the Australasian Gaming Expo in Darling Harbour NSW. A supporter of their work, Daviidv, has created a series of infomercials about the “Silent Scream March” and a blueprint for introducing smart chip cards that control the level of spend on machines while retaining the right to play based on affordibility for a player.
The infomercials can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=akadaviidv
We are trying to raise the profile of the march to ensure the maximum number of people can attend and let the Government and the manufacturers and venues know we are demanding an end to the madness. The battle is as epic as Erin Brockovich to take on a billion dollar industry, but she did it, and so can we. Please use whatever connections you have to get this story of the fight and blueprint for smart cards into the news so it goes Global.
Thankyou
Daviidv