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More than 50 per cent of the people who live near hotels with electronic
gaming facilities gamble on the machines at least once a week, according
to research by Karin Di Dio, an honours student from the psychology
department at La Trobe University. The close proximity of the machines is
having a profound impact on the local community, Di Dio says. Di Dio randomly
contacted 306 households in an inner Melbourne area bounded by eight hotels
with poker machines and other gambling devices. A hundred and fifty people
from these households responded to a questionnaire. More than 50 per cent
said they gambled at least once a week. Di Dio classified 32 per cent of the
sample as being pathologic gamblers whose gambling had affected their jobs and
relationships. Some admitted to stealing to finance their gambling. Di Dio said
that some of the respondents used gambling to avoid dealing with personal
problems. The flashing lights and recurrent messages of the machines could have
a hypnotic effect on people, she said.