Addiction to pachinko worse than online gambling

Whenever there is an article about online gambling in the general gambling news there will sooner or later be discussion about the possibility of gambling addiction but it appears that this is not a problem purely associated with online gambling. In Japan for example there is, according to gambling news reports, a worrying addiction to Pachinko which as far as we know is not available at any online gambling sites. Pachinko gambling will be unfamiliar to many Irish gambling people but it is very similar to old fashioned pin ball machines found in penny arcades where you flip a steel ball and hope that it lands in one of the slots that pay out more balls. The Japanese gambling game is much more sophisticated but the principles are the same and you can even set them on auto and move the direction of the flipper slightly thus theoretically making it a game of skill. Pachinko halls are therefore everywhere in Japan and entering one is very interesting but be warned that they are very noisy places with hundreds of machines with steel balls clattering everywhere. The Pachinko halls are not allowed to pay cash prizes so they pay out gifts which can then be exchanged for cash in an enterprising manner often in a shop just across the street. Online gambling is however not perceived to be a problem. In the UK and Ireland the general gambling news has been focussing on the newly formed group trying to address problem gambling with the slogan “when the fun stops stop” and we have even seen recently a new twist recently with the song “Bad Betty” getting a new lease of life. This group is in fact run by the online gambling providers themselves and critics might suggest that they are merely trying to avoid possible legislation.