A friend posted this on his Facebook page a few days ago:
The number of old aunties and uncles I see trying to draw cash at the ATM room next to the casino at RWS is shocking.
RWS is Resorts World Sentosa, one of Singapore's two new casino-cum-entertainment complexes.
Several people posted comments expressing shock and concern. Someone suggested increasing the entrance fee levied on Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents to dissuade them from entering. This is currently about $100 AFAIK. Someone else suggested barring them entirely and only allowing tourists in.
My friend said in response to the commenter who suggested increasing the fee:
Then the aunties will just want to make back more of their "sunk" cost. Gambling, if you haven't already noticed, is price inelastic.
...and in response to the barring suggestion:
Barring Singaporeans is not a good option because it opens other cans (of worms). It could imply that Singaporeans aren't able to control themselves (in some cases true) and changes the casinos' status to that of some foreign enclave. The cruise ship model was still the best - less access of the actual and not contracted sort, but then no revenue to gahmen. :)
I commented:
Did they look well off? If they want to gamble with their money, isn't it their choice?
Also, if the objection is to their age, would you rather they were young people just getting started on their careers, parenthood, first home, etc? Or middle-aged ones with growing children soon to enter expensive universities and with older parents to support?
One simple way to discourage gambling is to have the levy be a percentage of the amount wagered. That immediately brings down the odds of success. Gamblers, especially big ones, would understand this.
The percentage idea I'm talking about doesn't have to be a small single-digit percentage. It could even be 100% or more of the amount wagered. But, similar to what my friend said, this could end up discouraging gambling so well that government revenues (from Singaporean gamblers) actually go down in absolute dollars.
No simple answers, but what do you think?