Addiction Services

Gambling

Why Is Some Gambling Riskier Than Others?

In Nova Scotia, there are seven forms of legalized gambling, including inter-provincial and provincial lotteries and sports betting, video lottery terminals (VLTs), casinos, bingos, charitable lotteries and raffles, harness racing, and First Nations gaming activities.

When it comes to causing problems in people's lives, all forms of gambling carry some risk, but some are much riskier than others.

Generally speaking, the more time you have between draws, the less risk that form of gambling has. For example, weekly lottery draws tend to be lower risk because you have to wait a week in between draws. That period in between draws gives you time to think clearly about your budget and responsibilities. It also gives you time to be involved in some other activity.

Daily draws have a higher risk because you have more opportunities to play and less time to consider your budget.

Video Lottery Terminals and Casino Games

The riskiest form of gambling is continuous electronic - such as VLTs. By law, these machines have been slowed down, no longer have a "stop button" (which allowed gamblers to speed up the time between "plays"), and have had their hours of access restricted. While these changes help, any form of gambling that allows you to keep gambling for uninterrupted periods carries a high risk.

A small proportion of adult Nova Scotians regularly gamble on VLTs and casino slots each month; however, this segment of players lose, on average, about $5,300 per year, a rate almost nine times higher than for the lottery-ticket-only gamblers.

You can learn more about these forms of gambling by reading our Electronic Gambling: too fast to handle? brochure.

Sports Lottery and Break-Open Lottery Tickets

These popular forms of gambling cause problems for one out of 45 regular players.

Keno and Bucko

Approximately one in five people who self-reported any gambling problems specifically mentioned difficulties at some time with ALC's daily lottery ticket games, Bucko or daily Keno.

Other Lottery Tickets

The risk is lower with lottery tickets that are not daily draws. One out of every 140 Scratch 'n Win ticket players and 1 out of every 250 ALC Weekly Draw ticket players (649, LOTTO MAX) developed a problem with regular play.

The reason Scratch n' Win tickets have a higher risk than weekly draw tickets is because the result, win or lose, is more immediate. Therefore it is easier to get caught up in the excitement and buy more tickets than you budgeted for.

You can learn more about the risks of lottery by reading our Lottery Tickets: what's the real risk? brochure.

PlaySphere

In 2004, Atlantic Lottery Corporation introduced PlaySphere as a way for people to purchase lottery tickets and play certain betting games online. It is unclear whether the site attracts those at higher risk or contributes to risk. But the evidence indicates that people using the PlaySphere site were at higher levels of risk for gambling problems than those who did not.

Internet Gambling

While the 2007 Adult Gambling Prevalence study showed that only 4 per cent of those who had tried Internet gambling reported having problems, early data suggests that it will approach VLTs for its rate of risk.

Internet gambling sites have several features that make them riskier. For one, they allow you to gamble in private, with no interruptions and no "time out" to think clearly between draws. Secondly, many people will try out a free "practice site," which may have inflated odds so you'll win more often. This creates a false sense of skill, tempting you to play for real money on pay sites where the odds are not in your favour. Finally, these sites allow you to gamble in private, without anyone seeing how much time or money you are losing.

Poker

In recent years, poker has become a televised "sport" with some players gaining the status of stars. This has encouraged many Nova Scotians to take it up as well, either online or with friends. Among those who have tried Internet gambling about 1 in 20 reported developing problems with the amount of time and/or money they spent on this activity. This preliminary rate of problem development was almost identical to that well documented for VLTs.

Bingo

Some people think this is not "real" gambling; that it's just for fun. But about 12 per cent of regular bingo players develop problems.

Are you concerned about your involvement with any form of gambling? Call the Problem Gambling Help Line at 1-888-347-8888. It's free, available 24-hours a day, and completely confidential.