Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Queensland registers huge increase in pokies losses

Queensland, Australia has a population of a little over 4 million people. Take out the under 18’s and there are quite a few less again. The over 18’s are spending ever more on slot machines, and the State Government is becoming ever more reliant on the stream of tax revenue they provide – at the expense of players.

“GAMBLERS in Queensland lost a staggering $1.73 billion on the pokies in the year to
January, an increase of more than $100 million on the year before…the losses continue to create a windfall for the State Government, with $592 million expected to be raised in revenue from gaming machine tax and levies this financial year alone”

Courier Mail Article

One slot machines profit – $410,506 in a year

A record profit for a slot machine was recorded in South Australia, according to a Sunday Times article:

“a single SA machine recently logged a net profit of $410,506 in a year – more than $1100 a day”

Sunday Times Article

Thats a pretty incredible profit for an electronic device about half a meter wide which just sits there and attracts customers. Note that that is a net profit figure – after running costs have been removed.

Making slot machines can be profitable

Aussie slot machine manufacturer Aristocrat is likely to report a juicy profit:

“The Sydney-based company is set to report a doubling of net profit to $249.65 million for calendar 2005″

Sunday Telegraph

Aristocrat games are some of the best looking in the industry. They play well, are usually very easy to understand and can be found in huge quantities in Aussie pubs, clubs and casinos.

Perth nixes pokies

Western Australia is the lone Australian State to have no video slot machines as such. They do have 523 assorted video poker machines and mechanical slots. Western Australia is about the size of Western Europe. Some people have to travel long distances to play.

This was covered in a previous post on this blog:

Slot Machine Blog Article

PBL, the owner of Burswood Casino – which has all 500+ gaming machines in the state – wants to increase its machine count considerably by introducing proper pokies/slot machines. Its chief met with Western Australian politicians recently:

“Mr Packer met Premier Alan Carpenter on Monday in a failed attempt to get the Government to overturn its ban on traditional poker machines ….. Mr Packer made it clear pokies were the only way PBL could fund a $500 million expansion of the casino.”

They could also possibly fund it using the massive pokies profits generated by PBL’s Crown Casino in Melbourne, but thats beside the point.

NSW clubs pokies tax review

Clubs in the Australian State of New South Wales are unhappy about their governments decision to increase the tax take on their gaming profits.

Illawarra Mercury Article

Governments already take too much in tax from gaming machines – a very fat cash cow for them at the expense of players.

Its interesting to see that the government needs to ‘negotiate’ its tax increases, instead of simply implementing the changes as it sees fit.