Important Tip When Video Game Betting Just like any sports betting or gambling for that matter, there are certain types or ways on how you could place your bets on video games and teams in the industry. There are also Moneyline betting, Point Spreads, Over/Under totals, Future bets and more. Betting on video games is easier than many other forms of gambling and just as quick. The prospect of how to bet on video games is covered by tournament style play, which means you will essentially be playing in a winner takes all event.

OPINION: For those of us who grew up playing Mario Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog, the concept of losing money playing a video game might seem hard to fathom.

In the long run, if you bet $10,000 each game, you lose about 5% of the initial fortune, which is $500 (10,000.5/100=500). With $100,000 at hand, you’ll be able to play 200 games (100,000/500=200). Active video game players grew a nag for gambling too. Children with lower interest in video games showed no gambling behavior. The entire concept of gambling is to have fun while taking risks and get so used to it that it becomes a ritualistic game.

But increasingly, young gamers today find themselves addicted to risky games of chance, throwing away money on virtual in-game items to feed a gambling-like habit.

In bedrooms and living rooms up and down the country, young people are being lured into casino-like features on video games. On mobile phones, computers and consoles, gamers are enticed into squandering money on so-called “loot boxes”.

Many popular modern games feature loot boxes. Gamers use real money to purchase a virtual mystery box in the hope of getting an advantage, like a playable character, weapon, or cosmetic feature.

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Cough up some money, and that box might include something valuable that can be traded on a secondary market for cash. Or it might unlock something with little value, tempting you to part with more money and roll the dice again.

Gaming forums highlight concerns over the virtual products. Kiwi Redditors describe loot boxes as “gambling for gamers”. Another likens them to “a Kinder Surprise. Gambling for toddlers”. One gamer tells a story about “a mate who spent $1300 on in-app purchases on a mobile game one weekend”.

The global gaming industry is estimated to make about $25 billion from loot boxes per year, comprising one-quarter of its total revenue. The in-game items have become a central part of mainstream gaming, with developers and platforms raking in a fortune in additional income.

Game developer Valve, and its online publisher Steam, is regarded as one of the pioneers of loot box gaming, through titles such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Valve’s owner, American billionaire Gabe Newell, moved to New Zealand during the pandemic and has applied for residency here.

There are growing concerns that modern games give young people an early introduction to gambling, using their parents’ stored credit card details.

Across the Tasman, a report released this week by the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling revealed that children as young as 11 play video games and apps that simulate betting. A total of 40 per cent of children in the state have played the games.

Meanwhile, a study published today by Massey University has found that problem gambling symptoms are associated with greater loot box spending. The association was found to be stronger for people in quarantine and isolation environments, indicating that more people with problem gambling symptoms were spending money on loot boxes during lockdown.

The rapid rise of loot boxes, and the ability to monetise and trade them in some instances, has prompted calls for stricter regulation and age controls.

Loot boxes are a grey area for New Zealand regulators. While NZ has relatively strict laws on traditional gambling, video game items are not covered under the Gambling Act 2003.

As developers cash in on loot boxes and in-game purchases, experts are calling for parents to keep a closer eye on their children’s gaming habits.

Massey University’s Dr Aaron Drummond says: “The key message is to do your research. Ask your kids to show you their game so you can see what is purchasable for real-world money. Make sure you put controls on your credit card details to stop unwanted spending.”

Drummond says loot boxes have “all the hallmarks of gambling”, and believes age restrictions on games, or clearer labelling for parents, could help to reduce harm.

The international regulatory treatment of loot boxes varies.

The Netherlands has taken a hardline stance. In October, courts in the country hit FIFA publisher EA Sports with a €10 million (NZ$167m) fine for its loot box features. EA denies that its purchasable “packs” constitute gambling and is appealing the ruling.

An Australian House of Representatives committee has called for the nation’s government to impose greater restrictions on loot boxes. In the UK, a House of Lords Gambling Committee has called for the boxes to be brought under traditional gambling legislation and regulation.

Our government is yet to confirm its stance. The Department of Internal Affairs has stated that loot boxes do not fall under the Gambling Act 2003. But the department is looking into games as part of its review of the online gambling industry.

The Problem Gambling Foundation is calling for faster action on the issue after launching an awareness campaign on loot boxes.

The PGF’s Andree Froude is concerned about the “gamblification” of the gaming industry. She says 32 people approached the organisation over loot box issues in 2020, a far higher number than previous years.

“These games feature simulated gambling,” she says. “Gamers don’t know what they are getting when they are buying a loot box, and it is risky. We’ve heard stories of people spending thousands on credit cards. It would be good if these games were restricted to a certain age group.”

The dangers of loot boxes show that our laws need to evolve with the times. With more young people and children getting hooked on games of risk, the government should regulate these video game features, especially those that offer tradable and sellable in-game purchases.

While video games were harmless once upon a time, times have changed. Today’s titles clearly pose a far greater risk to young gamers. Developers should accept greater responsibility for their products, and governments should hold them to more scrutiny.

Do games like Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, and Red Dead Redemption strike the right fanatical nerves in you, leaving you wanting to play more? You will be surprised to know that all these games borrow some mechanics from online slots gamesand aim to get more addicted players with time.

Image source: (Pixabay)

If you are familiar with these games and have played them in your leisure time, you have indeed dedicated your time to the pursuit of the unknown in unfamiliar lands, sitting in front of the screen, living in a hypothetical world. While all this may sound fantastic and modern, this world of “AAA” video games is based on ideas running in the form of gambling for decades.

How have the mechanics of online slot games inspired the video games?

With the incorporation of fun and games in daily life in the early 80s, video games were launched with prudential considerations as everyone could understand its similarity with the gambling system. But soon, it took the market by a blow. The video gaming industry became a hub of youngsters and a channel to route their energy and passion. The sparks slowly grew, and the video game industry became the hot market because of their extreme customer engagement and diverse experiences.

The evolution depended on the likes and dislikes of the youth. They kept evolving with the growing trends, and so, instead of fading away like a phase, the video games saw enormous growth and fan following. It was not late that it completely transformed from being a teenager’s time pass to a full-fledged industry. Professional players made a career out of it by live-streaming their gameplay, assisted people through gaming tips, and also developed their own gaming channels. The world of gamers became a refuge from real-life struggles, and for once, every player got the chance to be whoever they wish to be through video games.

Gaming or Gambling: uncanny similarities

The gaming mechanism sounds to be a complicated concept, but it is pretty easy to understand. It is how gaming affects the gamer’s heart such that the emotions of desperation, enthusiasm, and the passion for more, continually lingers. These emotions are the reasons why they can be so close to dangers and still fight to survive.

Various elements are building up the entire gaming industry – the difference in genres from sci-fi to horror, single-player to multiplayer. These are some significant elements that may seem very different from gambling or online slot games. But in reality, the driving force of every game is the passion it teaches to the player, such that he/she will always want more. Sounds a lot like gambling now? It is.

The gaming idiosyncrasies govern a gamer, and the desire to take more risks is fuelled by the passion these mechanics bring. Such a desire to win the ultimate prize also makes the gamer very vulnerable to making wrong and risky moves. They are so focused on the prize that they take close calls, a tendency mostly found in gambling.

Many studies have been conducted to note the similarities between gaming and gambling tendencies, and the fundamentals bear an uncanny resemblance. A survey of light games and heavy gamers between the age of 9 to 14 showed some interesting factors:

• Active video game players grew a nag for gambling too.
• Children with lower interest in video games showed no gambling behavior.
• The entire concept of gambling is to have fun while taking risks and get so used to it that it becomes a ritualistic game.

‘AAA’ video games fuel these attributes in kids, and with moderation, both gaming and gambling can be healthy distractions from the hustle-bustle of life.

Patterns of gaming (and/or gambling – let’s see)

We have to consider the three main aspects of gaming:

Peer To Peer Video Game Betting

• Considering your assets: the beginning of a game where you analyze what your assets are and strategize how to use them against your opponents.
• Wagering: when you risk your assets to reach to the conclusion with the ultimate prize
• Prize: a reward that celebrates the risks you took to achieve it.

Video Game Betting Websites

With these three stages of gaming in place, you must be able to see similar patterns in online slot games or any other way of gambling. Both the entities teach their players the quality of never being satiated, whether it’s good or bad, is entirely debatable.

The convergence of ‘AAA’ video games and gambling

The convergence of ‘AAA’ games and gambling is very evident in online gambling or social casinos. The attributes of gambling are digitized to present them as gaming with high graphics and user interactivity. Today, gaming and gambling go hand in hand, but the similarities are so subtle that most gamers never pay attention to it. The gamers are prone to develop gaming addictions as much as a gambler, and the convergence of the two mediums is already there; it is just not talked about enough.

Video Game Betting Website

Final note

Video Game Betting Platform

Video games are already called out several times for impacting a child’s brain as they do. But the impact the whole gambling industry has on the ‘AAA’ gaming industry is very less studied and observed.

Video Game Betting Site

While gambling and online slot games mostly cater to a crowd above an age limit, games are for everyone. This is where the borrowed mechanics seem to be problematic as a child may grow gambling tendencies from an early age. Rest depends upon the discretion of the company if they can bring down their influences from the gambling industry without any acknowledgment or not.