It’s hard to imagine any other legal leisure activity that is as widely reviled and criticised as playing the pokies. The large percentage of our population who don’t play poker machines, or do so very rarely, view them with disdain. Screens full of cartoon images, flashing lights, annoying music, and the oh-so-tiny chance of a payout in return for the dollars and hours spent… pokies are viewed as the refuge of the stupid, the lazy and the irresponsible.

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