Ka-Ching! Pokie Nation (2016)

• 80%
• 2016
• Documentary
• Jane Manning

They're rigged, they're addictive and they're everywhere. The Pokies/Slots/Fruit Machines. They're addictive, and they're everywhere. But does the problem lie with the individual or the machine? Ka-Ching! goes inside the machine to find out, speaking with the masterminds behind their design, plus neuroscientists, anthropologists, game theorists and more. Australia has rapidly become the pokies capital of the world, with five times more machines per capita than the USA. Australian's are losing a staggering $19 billion a year, but everyone - players, industry and government - are hooked. What is it that makes these machines uniquely addictive? Ka-Ching! delves behind the flashing lights and spinning reels to find out what makes these machines so treacherous, leading one expert to call them the "crack cocaine of gambling". We speak exclusively to the masterminds behind the machine, who reveal how carefully they program pokies for addiction. It is no accident that these machines are now listed alongside cocaine and heroin in the 'psychiatric Bible', the DSM. What we find is a highly organised network of mathematicians, musicians and designers, working together on a single vision: to make sure you lose, and keep on losing. We also hear from Pokies victims themselves, who've fallen prey to what they describe as an 'unlawful hypnotism'. They let us in on the psychological lure of the machines, describing an escapist 'zone' where the stresses of the outside world disappear.