Bingowings said:
It cuts to the chase that way.
You learn that Anakin is a slave, that Watto owns him and his mum, that Watto uses him to race pods, that Watto may be tricked into giving the ship parts to Qui-Gon using his weakness to gambling.
Everything you need to learn about Anakin you can learn by Qui-Gon being lured home by Anakin.
On top of that Anakin transforms into a clever manipulator, he senses what Qui-Gon needs and turns it to his advantage and not the other way round.
Oh and it avoids the yippies, Jar-Jar antics and the "Are you an Angel?" nonsense too.
Hmmm. Very true.