Analysis: Slots to smartphones: pandemic sends Australia's gambling problem online

Slots to smartphones: Pandemic sends Australia's gambling problem online

For Rhys Wareham, a coffee industry technician from Sydney, the start of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 did not just mean staying home, but having to stop visiting the pub every afternoon to gamble on poker machines. So he switched to a smartphone app which lets him track bets on his…

Slots to smartphones: Pandemic sends Australia’s gambling problem online

For Rhys Wareham, a coffee industry technician from Sydney, the start of Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 did not just mean staying home, but having to stop visiting

Slots to smartphones: pandemic sends Australia's gambling problem online

Gamblers' losses on poker machines shrank for the first time during the pandemic, but at a rate far slower than an unprecedented increase in money lost on apps, data shows

Slots to smartphones: Pandemic sends Australia's gambling problem online

Already the world's biggest gambling nation in terms of loss per person, Australia has seen a shift in betting behavior since the pandemic-forced closure of public venues.

Analysis-Slots to smartphones: pandemic sends Australia’s gambling problem online – One America News Network

By Byron Kaye and Praveen MenonSYDNEY (Reuters) – For Rhys Wareham, a coffee industry technician from Sydney, the start of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 did not just mean staying home, but having to stop visiting the pub every afternoon to gamble on poker machines.So he switched to a smartphone app which lets him track bets on his favourite sport, baseball, no matter where he is.“The gambling itself doesn’t stop,” said Wareham, 31, who has a yo…

Analysis: Slots to smartphones: pandemic sends Australia's gambling problem online

For Rhys Wareham, a coffee industry technician from Sydney, the start of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 did not just mean staying home, but having to stop visiting the pub every afternoon to gamble on poker machines.