Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Pokies stunt backfires

A recent Pokies Blog article mentioned the intentions of the Victorian Liberal party to excommunicate 5,500 poker machines from that state if elected to power in the 2006 state elections.

In a public appearance the Opposition Leader chose to wield a pokie as a prop:

“Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu is being investigated by the state’s gaming authority after he campaigned to remove pokies, armed with a pokie machine “

Sydney Morning Herald

The pokie being used may have been an empty shell, either way the investigation will be interesting to watch.

Legislation in Victoria provides for a significant penalty for possession of a gaming machine:

“(1) A person must not manufacture, sell, supply, obtain or be in possession of a gaming machine or a restricted component except in accordance with this Act. Penalty: 1000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years or both.

(b) the person controls access, either solely or jointly with other persons, to the machine.

A penalty unit is $100. There is a handy exclusion to the above section:

(4) A person may manufacture, sell, supply, obtain or be in possession of a gaming machine or restricted component if-

(b) the person has the written authority of the Commission.”

Lets hope for the Opposition Leader that he sought the written permission.

There is a nice warning here for ordinary folk - don’t possess a gaming machine for private use in Victoria. From time to time they come up for sale on Ebay - always check before purchasing that you are allowed to own such goods in your state.

Smoking bans coming to South Australia

Licenced venues in Queensland, Australia recently became smoke free (Slot machine blog). On July 1, 2006 the Qld goverment introduced smoking bans. Plenty of notice was given, and venues had a long lead time to build specialised outdoor smoking areas.

South Australia is following a similar path - smoking will be completely banned in 2007:

“After 31 October 2007 all South Australian enclosed workplaces, including hotels and clubs, will be smoke-free.”

SA Govt site

Anecdotal evidence suggests Queensland venues are noticing the difference. Turnover and patronage are down. As happened in Victoria when similar bans were introduced, it is likely they will recover.

South Australia has an amusing interim measure in place:

“Your venues is required to designate at least 50% of gaming machines, and one metre around these machines, as non-smoking.”

Its reminiscent of the old smoking/non smoking sections on aircraft - completely pointless. Smoke has a tendency to waft whereever it pleases, and a one metre exclusion zone is of limited value. The number of smokers present is likely to be unchanged, so the amount of smoke present in the venue overall will also be unchanged.

New Zealand updates pokies

New Zealand has entered the 21st century - in terms of gaming machine monitoring:

“Work begins today to connect more than 20,000 poker machines in about 1600 pubs and clubs to an electronic monitoring system.”

New Zealand Herald

Strong oversight of pokies turnover, collection and cash is the only way to ensure fair pays and plays for both patrons and venues. On a trip to New Zealand a few years ago, payouts outside of the casino were noted to be very casually controlled.

As noted in a previous posting, perhaps the best reason for the government of New Zealand to tighten regulation is to ensure its tax cut is properly audited.

Liberals to banish 20% of Victorias pokies

The Victorian Liberal party has announced a plan to remove around 5,000 slot machines from that state if they gain power in next years state election.

“A Liberal Government will cut the number of gaming machines in hotels and clubs by 20% when the current licences expire in 2012 … a reduction of 5,500″

Victorian Liberals

The end of the current pokies regime in 2012 in Victoria is a long way away. If the party is elected, it might opt to change its mind in any case.

Other policy announcements include:

“introduce a maximum cash payout of $1000 for a gaming machine win, the balance as a cheque.”

This is interesting, but of dubious value. Most gaming machine wins are below this level.

“Maintain the ban on ATMs on the gaming floor and ensure daily limits apply.”

In Queensland at least, ATMs are often found just outside the gaming floor area - hardly a disincentive to withdraw cash. Applying daily limits could have an impact.

“Maintain the ban on 24 hour poker machine venues.”

Unfortunately we are unable to locate any research on whether this actually has a positive impact.

The stigma attached to gaming machines will remain in place for as long as the various governments choose to regulate them in the way they do. As mentioned previously, the gaming machines themselves are merely advanced tax collectors in their current setup. By changing the payout levels to 98%+ and reducing maximum bets you could have any number of gaming machines - with considerably less social imact.

Victorians lose $7m a day to poker machines

Victorians appetite for gambling on pokies is continuing to grow. After a minor hiccup related to the introduction of smoking bans, losses are back to almost record levels:

“with punters losing almost $2.5 billion in the past financial year”

Mercury News

A startling insight into the demographic of gamblers was revealed in the article, based on prior research:

” 43 per cent of the losses came from 2-3 per cent of players who were problem gamblers”

Pokies company seen as a winner

The worlds second largest poker machine manufacturer, Aristocrat, is seen as being on a winning streak:

Fnarena review

This comes on the back of its chief being recently voted one of Australias most admired CEO’s. After a turbulent couple of years things have certainly been picking up recently for Aristocrat.

South Australia loses $750m on poker machines

Residents of South Australia have lost 750 million Australian dollars on the pokies in 12 months.

“South Australians lost $751 million on poker machines in the past financial year, despite there being 1,500 fewer machines to play”

ABC News Online

South Australia has a population of around 1.56 million. Losses per citizen equate to approximately $500, though obviously the population actually playing poker machines would be considerably less. Each installed slot machine makes an annual citizen wallet deduction of around $60,000.

Interestingly, we can see from the following document that the number of gaming machines and venues in South Australia is fairly static in the last year or so, after the decline of 1,500 in the previous year:

SA Govt site

The South Australian government also publishes a list of installed poker machines by manufacturer:

SA Govt site

Aristocrat is by far the #1 supplier, though its lead is very slowly being whittled away by IGT (worlds largest slot maker) and by Konami. IGT have introduced a new range of “Blue Chip” machines which are considerably improved graphically over their older machines. Japanese manufacturer Konami are known for innovative features in their games.

Casino pays huge licence fee

The government of New South Wales, Australia is rolling in cash after its recent licence fee negotiation with the only casino in that state:

“THE State Government will go to next year’s election with … up to $500 million – the up-front fee it is set to receive for the renewal of Star City’s exclusive operating licence.”

Daily Telegraph

Governments can act as they see fit in relation to licencing of gambling products or venues. Ultimately though, as usual its the punters who pay for those licencing fees. The venue must recover the fees somewhere.

“industry sources estimate the average annual revenue from each machine is about $180,000.”

The casino obviously does very well with its pokies. This would equate to around $500 a day in wins per machine. One you take out the usual expenses and taxation, its quite a bit less.

Slot machine players vanish in Queensland

From July 1, 2006 you will be seeing a group of forlorn people huddled 4 metres or more from the entrance of all gaming venues. A familiar group of players have been banished:

“Chimneys - lots of pokies players smoke at machines - at least until its banned (as in Queensland, from July 2006). Chimneys are those players who take a puff and then aggressively blow their smoke at you. They seem to wait until you are at your most vulnerable - like when you are cleaning your contact lenses, or grooming your cat. “

Slot Machine Blog article

Smokers can no longer smoke indoors at any gaming venue (or venue which serves food or drink). Since the first of four casinos first opened in Queensland in the 1980’s, cigarette smoke has been a permanent fixture in the venues and in the hair and clothes of departing patrons. It seems the social pariah status of smokers is extending further and further.

Most casinos and large clubs or pubs have spent the past few months building smoking portals adjacent to their gaming rooms - at quite some cost.

We’ll be watching for news stories in the next few months about gaming turnover in the affected venues and will report back right here. Watch this space.

Pollies vote down pokies

A wave of anti-pokies politicians is emerging in some Australian states.

“The Country Alliance wants the machines taken out of clubs and pubs and limit them to racing venues and casinos.”

ABC online

Great news for the casino and racing venues, worse news for all the pubs and clubs out there.