Makepokiessafe pledge launched

Today the makepokiessafe.com pledge was launched on the makepokiessafe.com website. The purpose of the pledge is to suggest a way that a player who may be spending more than they should, and who will not, or cannot, rely only on self control to limit their spending, could still use the pokies in a way that should give them some entertainment but cap the downside of losses from over-spending when they play. The background to the pledge on makepokiessafe.com explains why this is something for a player to at least consider, and stresses that for any person receiving gambling help or who thinks they should seek gambling help, that the pledge is not suggested for them.

I came up with the pledge after reading and later publishing about the pokies experience because far too many players become vulnerable to the addictive qualities that set pokies apart from any other form of gambling. Even with the 2009 draft report of the Productivity Commission fully supporting practical harm reduction proposals to put limits onto the machines themselves, and even with a constantly growing support base for this to happen, the actual change is many years away, if at all. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of players will be caught up in the loss of self control that leads to personal losses not just limited to money.

This blog is for those who find the pledge or the makepokiessafe.com website helpful, or for readers who might want to vent some steam about how people should leave the pokies industry alone and stop writing negative things about pokies. All views of the community are welcome on this blog but please follow normal blog rules if leaving posts.

Daviidv