CHAPTER 6: THE FIELD OBSERVATION

INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides a descriptive analysis of the current gaming industry’s methods which they employ to encourage people to play poker machines, and in particular incite gamblers to keep on playing. The data used in the analysis were collected through visiting 17 hotels in the Adelaide metropolitan area, The Adelaide Casino, and a league football club, discussions with bar and gaming staff, interviews with key informants within gambling services, and through a study of advertisements, promotions and incentives, and venue design and layout. The research is an observational field study, including participation in the form of playing the poker machines.

Questions guiding the study were:

  1. What methods are used by the gaming industry and the venues to lure people into playing the poker machines?
  2. How is the knowledge, and consequential abuse of the human sciences displayed with the venues?

Categories for data analysis had already been constructed before the observation study. The pre-constructed categories before the research were –

The categories revealed during the observations and ongoing analysis of data were –

Although the role of the staff in encouraging persistent play emerged as a new concept, descriptive analysis will be included throughout.

 

THE CRITICAL DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

The Venues – Physical and Affective Environment

Nine venues observed are in the northern suburbs; five are in the mid-western coastal region, two within the inner western suburbs, two within the eastern suburbs, and the Adelaide Casino. Of the nineteen venues surveyed, 14 had undergone considerable and luxurious refurbishment, or are undergoing refurbishment since the introduction of the poker machines. The remaining five had made various changes to accommodate the machines. A venue which had not refurbished was in the poorest section of a lower-economic area, and had just partitioned off the large eating area to accommodate 38 poker machines. Two other machines were in the front-bar. Seven venues (including the casino) were luxurious and palatial replicas of casinos. Three venues had undergone their third refurbishment. For three venues refurbishment had involved the elimination of ‘Discos’ to provide for the ‘new’ gaming room. This has been interpreted by the researcher as being indicative of the economic motives – there is more money to be made from poker machines than discos. Not only does the change in focus encourage youth to gamble, but it also is representative of the ever decreasing opportunities made available for youth reflecting society’s values towards them.

The more palatial venues were in both lower and higher socio-economic areas. Outside the door of two luxurious venues in particular, is one of the lowest socio-economic areas in the metropolitan area – the northern suburbs. The venues offered a direct contrast to its immediate environment. Discussion with a bar person in one of these venues revealed that it had undergone three refurbishment’s since the introduction of the machines and had been a ‘dump’ beforehand. Also the two palatial venues and another venue which had started re-building, had 40 machines each, and were within close proximity and within the main shopping centre, which means that 120 machines were available to play within several hundred square metres of densely populated passing pedestrian traffic. Hours open wre 10am to 4am weekdays, 10am to 5am Saturdays, 11am to 8pm Sundays (Sundays has imposed legislation). The above illustrates several factors: 1) the amount of profit gained from the poker machines; 2) the amount of money spent by the less affluent, which means they must spend a greater proportion of their income than do the affluent; 3) availability and accessibility increases gambling; 4) possibly the time available to play through under-employment, or unemployment. Confirming factors 2 and 3 are the reports from Northern Suburbs Family Resource Centre and United Way (Chapter 2), both of which are in the immediate environment of the 3 hotels comprising the 120 machines.

Fourteen of the nineteen venues had the maximum limit of 40 machines, three had an average of 23, and the casino has approximately 400. A hotel in the eastern suburbs had only three in the front-bar, due to a successful petition against having the poker machines in the hotel by its patrons. All venues offered other gambling facilities. In fact, gambling was ‘in your face’, as were the display and promises of prizes. There were TAB facilities with sky-channel, Keno, Chocolate Wheels, raffles, barrels and Footy Punt, and many had a large television screen viewing football.

In every venue, except one which had only twenty machines, the gaming rooms were in immediate proximity of the dining room, enabling both visibility and audibility, and easy and quick access. Thus diners were made well aware of the poker machines. In a particularly large hotel observation between the dining hours of 5.30pm and 9.30pm saw a constant flow of traffic from the dining room into the gaming room. Although there was another exit from the dining room, the pattern of movement was from the dining room into the gaming room. That the venues had poker machines was advertised on the outside of the venues by signs and neon lights, with some noticeably more than others. Current poker machine promotions were also advertised.

Entering the gaming rooms was like entering ‘another world’. The outside world could be left behind, and an escape from outside reality is offered.

There were no clocks observed. Both psychological and affective needs were appealed to. The gaming rooms were structured as primarily enclosed areas, with a dark background, produced by little natural lighting and windows (many with none, and in some cases dark drapes covered them), and dim artificial lighting. The rooms offered a warm, cozy, womb-like environment. The dark background was enhanced by the bright flashing lights of the poker machines, a dazzle that in turn was enhanced by the dim lighting and in some venues silver reflective ceilings and smoky mirrored walls. Predominate decorative colours were maroon and blue. The Casino carpets were deep maroon, and one hotel had wall-to-wall red fluorescent lights. ‘Muzak’ style music was played within the gaming rooms, and although noticeable, was no competition for the noise generated by the poker machines and the promotions and incentives.

Regardless of the number of participants, the rooms gave the impression of heightened activity, fun, glamour, opulence, and excitement: all of which appeal to the excitement and fun needs of the people. Together with the ‘mesmerising’ effect of the machines, it is little wonder that people who experience difficulty with poker machine playing have reported that they play to escape boredom, isolation, and loneliness (Anglican Community Services, 1997). Also, for those who are in structural poverty, appeals to a ‘better life’ are overtly and strongly present, especially in those ‘centres of opulence’ within the lower social-economic areas. These motives are hardly pathological, but natural human responses particularly when considering the alluring environment of the gaming rooms, and the overt promise of wealth.

What became noticeable in the observation were the vacant chairs at the hotel bars. In the researcher’s limited experience of hotels, bar stools provide for social interaction, and are particularly occupied. However, the poker machine stools were predominantly occupied, and in some venues people were lining up waiting to play, regardless of the time of day. This bears out McMillen’s (1997, in Bogle, 1997) view that commercial gambling, rather than being a socialising event as is ardently promoted, is instead, a solitary isolated pursuit with the main relationship being between the player and the machine. Most venues offered comfortable lounge chairs within the gaming room among the machines, gaming promotions, noise and flashing lights.

Although poker machine players were not the subject of the study, and only 19 venues were observed and at different times of the day which diminished the extent of generalisability of patterns, a pattern of ‘who’ the punters were, emerged. The emerging pattern revealed the success of the change in social construction of gambling. That gambling has now been made socially acceptable for women, and the promotion that it is a ‘family’ leisure activity was demonstrated. During the day the gaming rooms were predominantly occupied by women of all ages, (many young children were present in the dining rooms), with equal numbers of men playing in late afternoon to early evening. Late evening saw many couples participating in playing.

 

Structural Characteristics of the Poker Machines

Upon entering the gaming room the bright colours and flashing lights of the poker machines demanded immediate attention. The colours were varied, bright and mixed – bright yellows, green, reds and blue. Large key pads flash and light up when played. While losing is silent, ‘winning’ makes a loud noise regardless of amount of cash won and creates the impression that winning is more common than losing, and of an exaggerated win. When credits are won, jingles are played or buzzers sound. Cash winnings are in dollar coins and upon ‘cashing in’, the coins fall into metal troughs making a loud noise, regardless of whether is $5 or $50. The sounds are stimulating and motivating to keep on gambling.

The amount of money gambled is not displayed on the machines; only the amount of credits won which have to be mentally converted by the player into cash amounts. The denominations required are dollar coins giving the impression that little is being gambled. Both these structures provide for the erosion of the players’ value of money.

Each machine was named and appealed to different universal human characteristics –

3 Bags Full, Double Fortune, Double Strike, Big Bickies, Phantom Pays, Golden Canary, Golden Dreams, and the many with ‘win up to $10,000’ brightly displayed.

Winning Touch, Touch of Luck, Lucky Bug, 9 Lives, Lucky Strike, KG Bird, High Stakes, Back a Winner.

Heart Throb, Sweet Hearts, Hot Chili, Hot Stuff, Pure Pleasure, Touch Me, QT Bird, Feeling Playful. A particular example of purposeful targeting for women is the new machine with ‘dolphins’.

Amazon, Black Rhino, White Rhino, Wild Lotus, Golden Lion, White Tiger, Tequila Sunrise, Wild Africa, Enchanted Forest, Cleopatra Gold.

 

Researcher Participation in Poker Machine Playing

Being inexperienced at poker machine playing, I asked a member of the gaming staff how to play. I was given instructions and proceeded to play. The staff member stayed to watch and proceeded to exclaim 'Look, you nearly won’. I asked her what she meant and she pointed out the two winning symbols that I repeatedly ‘achieved’. Not understanding what this meant either, I asked her. She explained that it takes 3 winning symbols to win, and I was nearly winning each time because 2 symbols repeatedly appeared particularly toward the left-hand side of the screen. This incident evidences: Reid’s (1986) psychology of the near miss purposefully installed into the machines; and the winning symbols are fixed to appear on the left-hand side of the screen – the side where reels appear first. Upon reflection I should have inquired whether or not the staff member was instructed to promote this idea, or whether she firmly believed it herself.

I played one machine in many venues and repeatedly lost. $15 was lost within 3 minutes. The rapidity of the losses left me ‘dumbfounded’.

The idea that I had control over the machine was provided by the choice of ‘bets’ – how many lines, and the amount to wager.

When another player won credits, and in particular when they cashed in their winnings, heads turned towards the winner. Gaming staff also came to congratulate the winner. I observed the winner looking very pleased and enjoying the attention. This was one example observed of appeals to prestige in the form of being made important.

When playing the machine, the rapidity of the bet, the display screen, flashing lights within exterior dimness, demanded attention. Other players were not noticed, except for the noise of ‘wins’ and communication with others was negligible as they were also concentrating. The social aspect of gambling was not evident, even though the impression was of sociability. ‘Reading’ facial expressions and body language of the players who turned to notice a ‘winner’ and then turned back to their machines, led me to interpret the atmosphere as competitive and solitary. When players left the machines to change their money, they left a cup as a sign of ownership on ‘their’ machine.

 

Incentives and Promotions

I also experienced many of the incentives and promotions provided by the venues. Both incentives and promotions are purposeful in inciting players to play. What became particularly evident were the ploys that keep people playing on the machines.

 

Strategies purposefully employed to keep punters persisting in gambling

Although methods to incite people to play the poker machines also seduce players to return to the venue, the following are particular methods employed to promote persistent playing within the venues. The aim is to keep people playing on the machines.

Distributing free meal vouchers two hours before lunch is available.

Staff walked around the gaming room offering to deliver the free tea or coffee to the players on the machines, and offering to deliver alcoholic drinks. Thus the players did not have to leave their machines which would both provide for less time on the machines, and the break necessary to think about the money being lost. Also alcohol has the potential to free up the ‘gambling spirit’.

‘Free credits’ provide ‘free’ play on the machines, and are a particularly common form of prize. Free credits require playing on the machines, which in turn incite persistent and continuous play.

Extra games were provided by the gaming staff, and the criteria for participation was to be a member of a ‘Club’ (a free membership) and the participant has be playing a poker machine.

  1. The Credit Chase –

Fifteen minutes before one o’clock a gaming staff member announced by microphone that at 1pm the person with the most win credits on their machine can pick from Jackpot cards to win a prize. The main prize was $140. There were 22 cards and the winner had to pick a pair to win or a Wild Card.

  1. The Lucky Machine Number –

Each machine is numbered. A gaming staff member using a microphone announced that a number will be called out shortly and ‘You could be on the lucky machine’. The winner could also pick from Jackpot cards to win a prize.

  1. Guess the Name –

Players, if guessing the name of the new gaming staff member, could also ‘have a go’ at the Cards.

Incentives and promotions had set times during the week, and were also executed randomly.

Venues had their own ‘clubs’, incentives and promotions, as well as used other private promotional clubs. Offered is a point for every dollar spent within the hotel either on food, drinks or gambling. When the points reach a certain sum, free drinks and free credits on machines are the prizes. Offered also is when certain credit points are achieved, a player can ‘win’ a raffle ticket in the hope that their ticket will be pulled out of the barrel.

A player can join a club that provides a booklet in which stamps can be placed. Stamps can be won by achieving 100 or 200 credits. When achieving these credits, the player calls out the name of the club or venue (another ploy to give the impression of winning to others, rather than losing), and a staff member gives a stamp to the ‘lucky’ player at the machine. So even when a player is losing their money, they still get to be ‘winners’ of the stamps. When a certain number of stamps are reached prizes are given. However, the prizes are a ‘free’ drink or more stamps. Finally, after accumulating a considerable number of stamps, a prize equalling the amount of stamps (that is the number of credits won, not cash) can be chosen from the ‘show case’. The players are provided with multiple incentives and given the impression that they are still winning even though they are losing.

Other promotional clubs provide members with a personalised hard plastic card (similar to bankcard). All purchases within the hotel, including exchange of notes for coins, are placed on the card by sliding it through a machine (like Eftpos). When the owner of the card reaches a certain sum other incentives are given as prizes – a raffle ticket for a television, or free credits on the machine. Free credits, which mean that a person gets free play on the machines, are also supplied with $2 free credit gift vouchers to encourage other patrons to play on the machines.

Besides being incentives to keep playing, the personalised cards are also a powerful marketing strategy, for they are a key monitoring device to track each player’s patterns of gambling – the times that they play the machines, the amount of money spent, and the venues patronised. They also provide the promotional clubs and the venues with demographic statistics – age, gender, and address. Birthdates are recorded and if a person plays the ‘pokies’ on their birthday they are given a ‘gift’ of a certain amount of ‘free’ credits.

 

Other Incentives and Promotions

Advertised prolifically in local papers and within the venues are ‘packages’. For example, an $8 package entails $3 worth of coins with which to play the pokies, a meal, a free drink (wine, beer, or a soft drink) and a ‘free’ Keno ticket.

Another package is a ‘Poker Voucher for $7’ which entails $3 off of any meal, $4 of pokies coins, a free drink, free entry into 5 lucky draws. Food is now synonymous with poker machine playing. The two are now one event. The association of gambling and alcohol is also further established. Patrons choosing to buy a package are making a rational economic choice, for the meals are indeed inexpensive.

Although the opulence of several venues in lower socio-economic areas did not reflect their environment, the prizes did. For example, prizes of packages of meat and basic food items were awarded in a hotel located within suburbs highly populated with pensioners. Prizes in affluent areas were bottles of wine and flowers. Many of the prizes displayed in glass cabinets were reminders of carnival prizes.

 

Information Provided by the Venues regarding Gambling Activities

Rather than a ‘leisure activity of choice’ the selective information provided by the venues erodes the gambler’s opportunity to make informed choices. The casino had several Break-Even Services cards discreetly placed by coffee machines and telephones. The gambling industry’s Smart Play pamphlets were also discreetly scattered within the gaming rooms. However, only one of the other 18 venues observed had Break-Even Cards and they were placed in front of the exchange teller. Only one other had a Smart-Play pamphlet on display, and this ‘one’ pamphlet was placed on a high ledge in the front bar where there were two poker machines. Not that the pamphlet discloses the financial threat of playing anyway. Instead if informs players how to play, how to budget money, advises not to gamble on credit (but at the same time Eftpos machines are provided in venues), provides the phone numbers of rehabilitation services, and clearly indicates that poker machine playing is financially profitable and fun. It also asserts that the machines are not preprogrammed and that the venue has no control over the outcome of the game. Considering that the machines are programmed to pay out only a certain percentage (see Chapter Four), this claim could be questioned. The payout ratio and its outcomes are obvious omissions in the pamphlet.

Information provided by the venues was in the form of instructions where ready cash was available. The exchange tellers – where notes are converted into coins for playing and placed into cups, were enclosed with glass partitions. Below the names given to the exchange tellers such as ‘The Mint’ and the ‘The Treasury’ were signs such as ‘Want Cash’! The Eftpos machine, Ready Teller, can be found just outside the door of the gaming room. An arrow on the signs pointed in the direction and further signs indicated the path to follow to the Eftpos machines and Ready Tellers which were all located just outside gaming room entrances, and for most hotels within or between the dining room and the gaming room. The machines made available cash from a wide variety of banking institutions.

The information that was not provided was just as noticeable as the information provided. Missing was precautions about the ‘hazards’ of the poker machines. Instead the information was about easily accessible and available wealth – the large amounts advertised on the machines, pictures of previous winners, the prizes that could be won were openly displayed (for example, an expensive car in the Casino, tables and glass cabinets full of prizes), and the proliferation of coupons and raffle tickets.

 

Control and Responsibility of the Gaming Industry

The selective omission and commission of information provided by the venues indicates that they are aware of the possibility that correct information would diminish the gambling dollar, thus their profits. It also is a reflection of their control over the gambling arena, and a lack of responsibility. Their control is also reflected in the fact that, as revealed above, clocks have not been installed in gaming rooms. Eftpos machines are still in Hotels (and are still being installed), and the rooms are still dark and womb-like. Within the first two years of the introduction of poker machines, concerned gambling voices made recommendations to governments and the gaming industry, to have clocks installed in the venues, remove Eftpos machines, and provide players with natural lighting. As this field observation has shown none of the above have been implemented in the venues observed, and concerned voices are still making the recommendations (Anglican Community Services, 1997). Having control represents power, and power without responsibility is a grave concern.

 

Utility (and abuse) of the Knowledge of Human Sciences

The entire environment from the economic incentives advertised externally on the venues to the staff’s role in keeping players at the machines clearly indicated the gambling industry’s knowledge and utilisation of human sciences. As already indicated in Chapter Four poker machines are purposefully programmed with a constellation of selectively chosen psychological theories of human nature on the basis of their potential to arouse basic human qualities which incite play and continuous play – for example, the psychology of the near miss, the psychology of naming, and behavioural reinforcement theories. These psycho-structural characteristics were observed and experienced during the field observation.

Although gambling is strongly promoted as a leisure activity, appealing to the motives of leisure which is highly valued, the economic gains were the most frequently used and highly emphasised, demonstrating the gaming industry’s understanding of the importance of money in people’s lives. Gambling is primarily about money – the betting of money differentiates gambling from play and the ‘excitement’ of gambling is the ‘wins’, not the losses. Economic appeals exploit the fact that besides economic gain being highly valued in out capitalist society, every person in out society is dependent upon money for survival and to fulfil basic human needs – shelter, food, clothing etc. Thus attempts to gain money are very rational decisions. But, as already illustrated, commercial gambling is programmed for the punter to lose. However, to extract the gambling dollar, the gambling industry presents gaming as an economically rational activity, and use strategies to promote the notion.

Evidence of the gaming industry’s understanding of the need to promote gambling as a rationally economic activity were: the noise of the poker machines indicating winners to further reinforce the impression that everyone is winning; the announcements of winners over loud speakers; the use of reinforcing names on poker machines and promotions (Jackpot), and exchange tellers (The Mint); posting the photos of winners within the venues; and the open display of prizes (cars, photos of people enjoying holidays in the sun).

The venues also provide the impression that a person is being economically rational by patronising their venue. For example the cheap meal packages, free drinks, free stakes with which to play, and cheap entertainment.

The venues understanding of human needs was also evidenced by the gaming staff ensuring that every player is attended to, feels welcome, and made important. A family-like atmosphere is attempted to be created fulfilling human needs of acceptance, warmth, and approval.

 

Discussions with Key Informants in Gambling Services

Another example to further the argument that the gaming industry utilises and abuses the knowledge of human sciences was revealed through discussions with key figures in gambling services, one a world renowned gambling authority. The key informants wished to remain anonymous.

INTRODUCTION AND CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: THE SCAPE-GOATED

CHAPTER 2: FROM A SIN, TO A VICE, TO A DISEASE, TO A SOCIAL VIRTUE

CHAPTER 3: TWO TYPES OF GAMBLERS? A LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 4: POKER MACHINES– THE LETHAL MONEY STRIPPERS

CHAPTER 5: THE SCAPE-GOATED

CHAPTER 7: QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

APPENDICES