Japan looks to fight gambling addiction ahead of casino openings

Casinos don't make their money from those visitors who make a small bet, but from those sddicts who bet and lose everything they have.

More nanny state. I am looking forward to gambling for a bit of fun. If you can’t control it, more fool you.

This is terrible, casinos ruin lives

One big casino like in Macau is enough in just one location of Japan. No need for branches, it will increase the crime in community.

Feed the addiction and organized crime who will be running it. What a "healthy society!"

So they're wasting a bunch of taxpayer money to build something that will make people sick, and require more taxpayer money to help fix those people? Can we just burn our money instead and save ourselves the time?

Isn’t there already a gambling “issue” in Japan with pachinko, mahjong, horse racing, keirin, and other forms of frivolously squandering one’s money? Not enough I guess. Let’s add a casino and say we are being proactive by suggesting everyone consider thinking about trying to possibly find a way to potentially prevent addicts and underagers from participating....

A step up into the 21rei coming from pachinko.

Ridiculous xenophobia!

So we have Pachinko’s at every corner, but since slot machines are from abroad, we the Japanese need a moral compass to navigate this?

In other news, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

It’s all about the casinos. How about looking into the present addiction issues with horse racing, pachinko, bicycle races and those stupid little boats? Making people pay a stupid amount of money to go to a casino is only going to encourage problem gambling because a pair of punters will be already be ¥8,000 out of pocket before they walk in the door. These Japanese casinos will be empty 80% of the time and the tax payers will be paying to keep them open whether they gamble or not. If you are going to open casinos, open them, but don’t micro-manage them out of existence before they are even open.

Great idea (not!). A casino that doesn't have ATMs!

The big money is in Casino's, well done Japan, better than a wealth tax, redistribute wealth.

Bugle Boy of Company BToday 05:26 pm JST

So they're wasting a bunch of taxpayer money to build something that will make people sick, and require more taxpayer money to help fix those people? Can we just burn our money instead and save ourselves the time?

Well, at least your idea would be pretty, especially on rainy nights, we could do it in those old 44 gallon drums in the shadows of tall buildings. Little communities would spring up everywhere with those little street stalls for ramen, it would be much better for society than a casino and very dystopian/cyberpunk.

Perfect for Tokyo.

@serendipitous1

The atms will be located right across the street so you won’t have to travel too far.

Removing atms won’t fix gambling addiction, what you may end up doing is making people take larger amounts than they might usually spend and lose it all. Furthermore, you might create a pickpocket paradise as they will now expect people to carry large sums of money since the arms are not on the premises.

Casino location suggestion. Three designated location for to attract foreign tourists and boost regional economies .

Fukushima Dai Ichi Nuclear Power Station

?

Dumb & DUMBER!!

More nanny state. I am looking forward to gambling for a bit of fun. If you can’t control it, more fool you.

Andsome people just can't. I thank my lucky stars that I don't get a thrill out of gambling. Frankly it bores me - hundred yen or a million. And I also understand how the odds are stacked in the casinos favour - both mathematically and psychologically. On the latter point, a roulette table should only make a 2.5% margin. In reality its magin is far far higher.

I have known people whose career was destroyed by gambling. Yes he was a fool but he couldn't stop himself.

You may get some modest pleasure from the odd bet but it is massively outweighed by the utter misery for a smaller number.

You gotta love Japan:

"We are going to lead the fight against gambling with these great new casino resorts!"

Why not just legalize heroine in the fight against drugs?

"We will create a healthy society by thoroughly implementing measures based on the basic plan in order to prevent people from finding themselves in difficult situations"

Well, scrap the consumption tax hike then!

"We will create a healthy society by thoroughly implementing measures based on the basic plan in order to prevent people from finding themselves in difficult situations," 

Well, it hasn't worked so far, has it? Bwahahahaha!

Communities that rely on casinos to revitalise rarely do well. Just look at the dump that Trump and other 'investors' left behind in Atlantic City. Not on my doorstep no thank you.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/apr/08/atlantic-city-trump-ghost-town-gambling-brian-rose-photographer

Great idea (not!). A casino that doesn't have ATMs!

Don't worry, it'll be just like pachinko parlors. The ATM won't be on the property, but about 15 feet outside the door on the adjacent property, which is helpfully owned by the same owners.

Or, they'll say that the ATM isn't in the casino, but in the lobby of the hotel/resort (after all, all those tourists need cash and we're just being omotenashi, ne?), about 50 feet outside the doors of the casino portion of the building.

Considering there's no penalties in the law, it won't matter anyway.

Only in Japan can they take the fun idea of having a casino and total ruin the experience with a bunch of non-sense (paying an entrance fee, limiting how many times you can visit, no access to atm's on property). Can't wait to see how the change the rules of games that are the same everywhere else in the world, offer ridiculously low payouts and other nonsense.

So are Japan's casinos going to be like Las Vegas(Gambling + Shopping + Conventions + Food + Shows) or Atlantic City(Gambling + beach in the summer)?

If they are going to be like Atlantic City, then Japanese government has nothing to fear since it's going to be ghost towns with empty casinos.

I have seen no indication that Japan's regulators plan to turn Tokyo into Asia's Las Vegas; that honor already goes to Macau and Singapore.

Japan's casinos are going to be Japanese i.e. their own version of what everyone else in the world is used to but worse.

Look, if your going to legalize gambling, just be honest about it and do it. Personally I’m all for some brand spanking new mega resorts to pull in the tourists, even if they are a bit gaudy. Just don't flip flop around promising to help those with gambling addictions , cause you won’t. Like any addiction, they’ll find a way.

It’s pure doublespeak that treats the public like morons.

Really?! You're going to fight the problem of gambling addiction before you mainline it into society? Wow! That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Gambling addiction is here to stay. Adding casinos won't make it any worse.

They're planning on fighting gambling, NOW?

On my way to work I see at least 5 to 6 people waiting in line to get into the Pachinko parlors... If that's not a coin dumper, then I don't know what is.

I thought the point of these casinos was to attract foreign mugs? If so, they could simply ban Japanese from going into them. They can ban non-Japanese residents too if they like: I don't care.

Also, why would removing ATMs make any difference? Can't people use credit and debit cards in these places?

In most casinos, a credit card/debit card could be used to gain a cash advance (if no atms were there). Also, you can request a marker, which would be based either on funds you deposited with the casino or based on them credit checking you.