Gambling Demographics in New Zealand

Gambling Demographics in New Zealand

In New Zealand, gambling is considered an economically-significant industry. Residents spend over $1 billion on gambling activities each year, marking its popularity in the country. The demographics reached by gambling operators in New Zealand are wide-ranging, as both men and women and individuals belonging to varying age groups take part in gambling activities.

According to studies carried out by Statistics New Zealand, over 90% of residents over the age of 18 participated in gambling activities at least once in their lives. Over 80% admit to gambling at least once a year. 85% of New Zealanders play the local lottery on a regular basis while 77% choose to take part in other forms of raffles. Additionally, instant lottery games and electronic gaming machines are played by over half of New Zealand residents.

Gambling preferences seem to vary among age groups. Residents aged 25-34 are the most likely to take part in gambling activities while younger New Zealanders, aged 18-24, are less likely to gamble. Of the younger population, those that do gamble mostly take part in Instant Kiwi games and informal monetary wagers with friends. Residents aged 25-34 are most likely to play poker machines and casino games. Middle-aged and senior residents are the most likely to play the lottery.

Additionally, gambling behaviour differs between genders. Gambling was previously an activity dominated by males, but recent years have seen more and more women getting involved. In a study conducted in 1991, 699 100 men gambled, compared to about 349 500 women. In recent years, however, things have evened out with about half a million men and women both taking part in land-based gambling games and online casino activities.
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More women than men play the lottery, bingo and Instant Kiwi games. 80% of women compared to 70% of men play the lottery, 23% of women compared to 15% of men play bingo and 53% of women compared to 43% of men play Instant Kiwi games. However, men outnumber women when it comes to sports betting as 12% of males compared to 5% of women wager on sports. An equal portion of men and women take part in poker machines (18% each) and casino games (15% each).

Rates of problem gambling also vary among demographics. 34% of women are suspected to be problem gamblers, compared to 46% of men. Also, residents over the age of 40 are considered to be the most likely to develop unhealthy gambling habits, as 43% of players aged 40-49 are potential problem gamblers.

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Greyhound Handicapping - It's Not Who You Know, It's What You Know That the Other Bettors Don't

Yesterday, I posted a couple of dogs on my Watch Dog list. Two of them placed and one showed. That might not sound too impressive, but when I looked at the payoffs, I was happy. Rico's Red Bull, the 7 dog in the 1st race at Tri-State on 1/19, paid $13.40 to place and the quiniela paid $26.80. His litter mate, Rico's Lipton in the 1 box in race 4 at Tri-State that evening, paid $6.40 to place and the quiniela was $66.40.

I watched the replay of race 1 and noticed several things about Rico's Red Bull. He got out well, not first, but second or third. He likes the inside, but was able to run mid-track when he had to. I liked the way he hugged the inside on corners and the way he kept going when he got bumped by the 6, EverettTheGreat, who finally got out of M by winning this race. I'm keeping Rico's Red Bull on my Watch Dog list and will play him next time out, as long as it looks like a good setup for him.

When I watched the replay of Rico's Lipton, I noticed several things also. He didn't get out very well, but he just kept running right up the rail for most of the race. However, he was so far back, I couldn't see how he could manage to place in the time that was left unless all the other dogs faded.

Well, he had other ideas. In the stretch, he apparently realized that hugging the rail wasn't going to work, so he made a move to the outside, ran around all the other dogs and just managed to nip place at the wire. He ran a lot farther than they did, and still managed to get in there for second.

I'm keeping my eye on this guy. He may have just gotten lucky this time, but he might just be smarter than the average bear - er - dog. Rico's Lipton and Rico's Red Bull are out of a litter by Dragon Fire and JR's Pure Luck and I'm keeping an eye on the other six dogs in that litter also. You might want to do the same, but if you do, don't just look for "Rico's" dogs.

There are 164 dogs with "Rico's" in their name, on the active greyhound list at Trackinfo.com. From Rico's Abbey to Rico's Zew. Some of them have well-known sires like Kiowa Sweet Trey whose litter with Gable Vermilion includes Rico's Burgundy who paid $85.20 to win in the 15th race on last night's program.

To confuse the issue, there was another Gable Vermilion litter with similar names, only they were sired by Flying Stanley, a very good dog also. Flying Burgundy, Claret, Magenta and Scarlet have done very well, but I'm glad Kiowa Sweet Trey was chosen to sire the next litter. I happened to notice Kiowa Sweet Trey and Gable Vermilion's names on the program in the last race and had a hunch that their puppy, Rico's Burgundy, was worth backing.

Up until the very last step, it looked like he wouldn't make it, but he nipped Blazin Toddie right at the wire. If I wasn't such an avid researcher, there's no way I would have given Rico's Burgundy a second glance, even for show. Obviously, very few of the people watching that race - or most races - researches the dogs, which is fine with me.

I put most of what I find up on my Watch Dog list, but not all of them. It's not that I want to keep the "good ones" for myself. Sometimes, I'm not sure if a litter will turn out to be worth following or not, so I wait until one of them runs a good race. I guess I don't need to tell you that the first thing I did this morning is add Rico's Burgundy and his litter mates to my Watch Dog list.

If you have time on your hands, spend a few hours building a list of young dogs to watch. Start with your favorite, local track. Maybe next time you go to the track, you'll be the one cashing on an $85 winner while your friends wonder how the heck you knew it was going to come in.

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Red Bull and Poker - Why These Two Should NEVER Be Mixed

Sugar. Sugar. Sugar. As you can tell by my previous posts, I'm not a nutritionist. I'm a pharmacist. However, every medical provider knows the value of a good nutritional plan. In fact, the first therapy a medical provider should recommend is a nutritious diet. By just changing your diet, you can cure almost any disease known to man. There is no drug in the world that is more efficacious than a quality diet.

I'm not going to go into detail about how nutrition can benefit the human body. There are plenty of books that I can recommend that will do a much better job than I can. However, I am going to give you some basic tips about nutrition. These tips aren't the end all-be all of a quality nutritional regimen. They are a good start though. In fact, if you're diet sucks and you follow my recommendations, you'll notice the benefits within a week or two. Even though these tips are specifically geared toward poker and mental performance, they'll benefit almost every organ in your body.

I personally guarantee that if you follow the following tips, your mental performance will improve more than you could ever imagine. You'll remember more, you'll be able focus longer, you'll have loads of energy, and you'll feel sharper. The typical western diet has been a disaster for cognitive performance.

Tip #1 High glycemic carbohydrates bad, low glycemic carbohydrates good

Carbohydrates are vital to any poker player looking to maintain a high level of mental performance. Why? There are actually 3 reasons why every poker player should be getting adequate amounts of carbohydrates.

1) The brain relies almost entirely on glucose (the end-result of carbohydrate metabolism) as a source of fuel for energy. Unlike the rest of the cells of the body, the brain has a hard time utilizing amino acids and fatty acids as energy sources. Thus, maximum mental performance is almost entirely dependent on how much glucose is supplied to the brain for energy production.
2) The brain cells, neurons, cannot store glucose for later use as energy. If glucose is not available, the brain's mental performance declines almost in linear fashion.
3) The brain uses more energy than any other organ in the body. That's in a normal person. For someone that plays poker for hours, the amount of mental energy needed is a lot greater.

Carbs are not created equal

It's important to note that not all carbohydrates are created equal when discussing mental performance. It has been shown in study after study that carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index do not improve mental performance as much as carbohydrates that have a low glycemic index. Side note: glycemic index is a fancy term used to describe the blood glucose levels resulting from the metabolism of a particular carbohydrate. Those foods that have a high glycemic index result in a larger amount of glucose in the blood compared to foods that have a low glycemic index. Why don't all carbohydrates affect mental performance the same? Insulin. Whenever a carbohydrate is metabolized by the body, the glucose that results in the blood stream is shuttled into the body's cells by insulin. Not only is too much glucose in the blood detrimental to the arteries themselves, but it also serves no use to the body. Energy can only be produced when glucose enters the cells. Glucose can only enter the cells with the help of insulin. Thus, think of insulin as Drain-O and glucose as the gunk that builds up in the pipes.

Insulin's dirty little secret

So what happens when you eat a food that has a high glycemic index? The pancreas in the body releases a large amount of insulin to clear the glucose from the blood stream. This is good and bad. It's good because a large amount of glucose doesn't build up in the blood stream causing a host of problems (think diabetes). It's also bad though because the brain needs a constant supply of glucose. Remember, the brain primarily uses glucose for energy and can't store it for later use. Thus, when you eat that doughnut or drink that can of soda or sugar-laden energy drink, you initially get a burst of energy because of the initial large supply of glucose. However, once insulin clears that glucose from the bloodstream, you become lethargic, your memory becomes foggy, you begin to lose your mental sharpness, etc. That's why after about an hour or so of consuming your precious energy drink, you suddenly hit a wall and are in desperate need of another shot.

Low glycemic carbohydrates to the rescue

So how can you prevent this? Well, there are three things you can do.

1) Consume carbohydrates that are low on the glycemic index. These carbohydrates include apples, pears, strawberries, cherries, almost any vegetable, or whole-grain foods. Do a simple search for the glycemic index and you can find a value for almost every food imaginable. Those foods provide almost a controlled release amount of glucose in the blood stream. Instead of the drastic changes associated with high glycemic carbs, you should get a nice steady supply of glucose for the brain. Avoid soft drinks, cookies, candy, bread, milk, and ice cream at all costs.
2) If you do happen to eat a high glycemic carbohydrate, consume it with some kind of a fat, preferably a healthy fat such as fish oil, almonds, cashews, etc. Fat slows the absorption of foods. Thus, high glycemic carbs won't rapidly increase the amount of glucose in the blood.
3) Eat foods high in fiber with your high glycemic carbs. Fiber, like fat, slows the absorption of nutrients. Vegetables are high in fiber. If nothing else, take some Metamucil with your junk food.

Why energy drinks aren't for poker

Hopefully after reading the above, you've realized that energy drinks are detrimental for maximum mental performance. While I was looking over the ingredients of the typical energy drinks, I noticed a common trend: large amounts of high glycemic carbohydrates. While this is great for situations that require a short burst of energy, it's awful for situations that require a long duration of energy. Poker isn't a sprint. Heck, it's not even a 1600 meter race. It's a marathon. It requires a constant supply of glucose over anywhere from 2-8 hours. These energy drinks cannot supply this constant amount adequately. Now I can hear many of you already, "Dr.T, I'll just drink a Red Bull every hour or so." Good in theory, but bad in practice. You'll experience too many highs and too many lows throughout the game. You will not be able to adequately monitor your blood glucose levels to determine when you need another shot of energy. You risk the chance of making a dumb mistake because of low blood sugar. Plus, it'll set you back around $20 or so (However, this is what the energy drink manufacturers want. Very smart I must say, almost like an addiction. Now I know why Red Bull had 4.2 billion dollars in sales in 2007). It'd make much more sense to have an apple or maybe even some celery throughout the game. If you need that extra boost, take a caffeine pill. A bottle of 100 will only cost you around $5. That combo will not only give you wings, but also a larger bank account.

Like I said above, I really just scratched the surface concerning carbohydrates and mental performance. There are numerous books, clinical studies, and articles that go into much more detail than I did. I could bore you with all of the pathophysiological mechanisms behind carbohydrates and energy, but I don't want you to fall asleep. This is a blog, not a textbook. If you'd like to read some studies or books concerning carbohydrates and energy, I'll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

Point to remember: Avoid the spikes in blood glucose levels resulting from the consumption of high glycemic carbs commonly found in energy drinks, candy, etc. Think fruits and vegetables.

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