We have seen groceries for cheaper fuel for many years but this one is a new one. According to this notification at the ACCC, Seven Eleven and Crown Casino are entering into a deal where, as far as I can tell, if you do enough gambling you can get a petrol discount. I had always thought there were unexploited opportunities for bundling unrelated goods. Can anyone find the complementarity here?
3 thoughts on “Gambling for fuel”
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Core Economics 
Perhaps Crown is worried that people won’t drive in to hit the pokies?
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The casinos depend for a large proportion of their revenues on low income, poorly-educated pathological gamblers.
I guess petrol discounts might have two functions. One to foster the illusion that gambling is a ‘normal’ sort of activity (like Coles and Safeway petrol discounts)and second to provide an additional motive for the ill-informed to continue with a stupid practise.
Veblen saw gambling as fostering an irrational ex ante belief in ‘luck’ thereby fostering social stupidity. Its what modern theorists called fostering the ‘illusion of control’.
I hope there is some legal way the ACCC can prevent this discounting move from happening and that they act to stop it.
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Harry, I agree with your sentiments but I don’t think that the ACCC can start ruling against business arrangements because they don’t like the players.
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