The Wairarapa Times-Age reports that as many as 500 people in the Wairarapa area could be problem gamblers – it based on the stat that 1.8% of Kiwis are reported to be problem gamblers.
It’s an interesting figure, given that spending on lotteries, pokies and casinos have dropped in New Zealand over the past 12 months… In fact it’s only sports betting (helped by the rugby world cup) and TAB Racing that have risen in the past year.
The number of Pokies in Wairarapa has been reduced since 2003 from 260 to 242 this summer. However despite this reduction there was still over $7million spent on pokies in the last 12 months.
As a result of these heavy losses concillors Lynn Pattrson and Chris Peterson have promised a full review of the area’s gambling policy – changes are expected to be made in the areas of number of gambling machines (no more to be allowed) and consideration is to be taken of the social and economic affects of gambling on the area.
