Gambling

• Do you spend too much money on gambling?
• Do you get lost in the world of the pokie machine spending more time and money than you intended?
• Are you drawn to the pokie machines?
• Is your gambling creating a problem for you?
• Is it affecting your family, your relationships, your job?
• Has your gambling created debt?

Since the introduction of pokie machines, gambling has become a major problem in NZ.

70% of problem gambling is on the non-casino pokie machines. That is, the pokies in the pubs and clubs. The machines you can get to anytime you want to.

There are two main types of gambling:- interrupted and continuous.

An example of interrupted gambling is Lotto. The results only come out once a week. An example of continuous gambling is the pokies. You can sit there and just keep feeding money into the machine. When you win you can put all your winnings straight back into the machine.

Over 50% of gamblers are spending between $200 - $5000 a week on their gambling. There are only two gamblers I have worked with since 1996 who have not stopped their gambling.

There is effective help available.