My god

This state is an absolute disgrace. The whole thing. I know that from 1991 to the present that the only way to keep the budget alive has been to (in order) flog public assets, put p***r machines on every corner and nick drivers for going a kilometre over the limit but things have finally hit rock bottom. And it’s been more than four years since the supposed anti-christ of State Premiers was replaced with the “honest option”. I’m having trouble telling any difference other than the distinct lack of people whinging.

Read this story in it’s entirety and tell me who the villains are..

PROFESSIONAL gangs are systematically stripping Melbourne’s gaming establishment of pokies jackpots.

Armed with calculators, mobile phones, pagers and wads of cash, the syndicates swamp venues when jackpots are imminent, leaving minutes later with up to $5000.

Regular punters waiting patiently for a significant pay-out have been left angry and frustrated as pro-gamblers swoop on the big money.

Up to 20 gang members arrive together at venues before pumping thousands of dollars into the p***r machines, giving them almost unbeatable odds of scooping the pool.

By playing as many “lines” as possible with the maximum number of credits in the machine, syndicate players believe they can dominate the jackpot chances at venues, leaving the average punter with little hope of winning.

It is believed syndicate scouts monitor venues, paging or calling gang members when jackpots are due to be won.

“If everyone was betting the same amount of credits . . . then you would have an equal chance,” said a Tabaret employee we’ll call “David”.

“But the thing is, the syndicates know that by betting maximum credits they get a greater chance of winning the jackpot.”

As soon as the jackpot is won, syndicate members refund the original stake and collect their winnings before going to the next suitable venue.

David, who works in an eastern suburbs Tabaret, told the Herald Sun the highly organised groups sweep into venues literally minutes before the jackpots go off.

While Tatts Pokies have statewide jackpots linked to every club or pub, Tabaret has “Wildcash” machines isolated within a single venue, allowing gangs to dominate those due for a jackpot.

These professional players have been known to pressurise other punters into leaving the jackpot machines.

“When it’s coming towards the end of the jackpot they flood the machines,” he said.

“They stand and watch other players on the machines and take up all the spare Wildcash jackpot machines. I can’t believe how organised they are. It astounds me every time they walk into the venue.”

Working around the clock, the gangs can make tens of thousands of dollars each week as they move from venue to venue.

“They come in at all sorts of time . . . 10 o’clock in the morning or two o’clock in the morning,” David said. Regular customers who are thwarted by the gangs are angry and frustrated about the practice, which is perfectly legal.

“When (customers) see them flood into the venues they just become so down and they approach me to kick them out or something . . . but there’s nothing I can do,” David said. “We want gaming to be fun . . . this is a slur on the entertainment aspect of gaming.”

Golda, a regular gambler at an inner-eastern suburbs venue, said pokies punters should be made aware of what they are up against.

“Joe Bloggs is sitting there patiently waiting for the jackpot, but he has got no idea that he has Buckley’s chance of winning,” she said.

Tabcorp initially denied there was any evidence of professional pokies gangs operating in its Tabarets, but later admitted it was a continuing problem.

“It is becoming a far less frequent issue, but Tabcorp has systems and practices in place to identify these people and have them removed,” a company spokesman said.

“Any behaviour that is threatening or abusive to patrons will not be tolerated, and groups trying to systematically target jackpots will be removed from our venues.”

Who are the villains? The idiots who own the machines in the first place of course. They’re quite content to take as many dollars as they can from the punters but when somebody comes up with a good way to win they whinge loudly and try to dress it up with some sort of “oh the regular players are being ripped off” conspiracy theory. Of course pokie players are being ripped off - THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF FUCKING P***R MACHINES YOU ASSES. Anyone who goes in expecting to win money needs a good dose of electric shock therapy. Any half sane person knows that they’re going to lose. And the less than half sane don’t care.

What the Hun journalist fails to mention in the article is that Tabaret tell you when the jackpot is going to go off. They have signs saying that it will go off somewhere between $900 and $1000. So who’s fault is it that people know the exact range in which to show up and start gambling? Are they somehow cheating by taking advantage of the information given at the venue by the company and gambling in a normal fashion? I can’t see how. And what about the “threatening and abusive” behaviour? Laughable.

And how about that Herald-Sun angle where they come out in favor of the ‘battlers’ and ordinary pokie bogans. What a rubbish paper. We should be standing up to applaud when massive companies who make their money from an industry deliberately rigged towards making them huge profits get stung legally. If it was men in balaclavas kicking in the door and putting a shotgun in some barmaid’s face I’d be against it but in this case I rise to applaud.

Of course the State Government are having a colossal whinge about it. What are they going to do if people decide that they’ve got no chance of winning the pokies and stop playing them? State revenue will go through the floor and they’ll have to come up with some more bullshit ways of fining drivers instead.

Bring back Kennett? Erm no, been there and done that. Bring back Kirner? Surely you jest. Bring back Cain? Fuck off! Bring back somebody. Anybody else.

Seriously - this is fucked. Find me something illegal and/or immoral that these people have done and I’ll think about a retraction.

UPDATE - I shouldn’t read stories like this when it’s hot. Rampant stupidity and heat combine and I start to feel feint.