Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Petrol damages pokies turnover

The high price of petrol, coupled with a recent interest rate rise appears to be hitting pokies revenue in New South Wales, Australia:

“THE state Budget is facing a $137 million black hole after latest figures revealed clubs and pubs have experienced a dramatic reduction in revenue increases from poker machines.”

Daily Telegraph

Note that the quote references a reduction in increases - real revenue has gone up, but not at the expected rate. If it is hits to discretionary income that is reducing pokies turnover, then its unlikely to be from the chronic players - more likely to be from the casual pokies players.

The overall revenue received by the NSW government from poker machines is around 1.3 billion dollars - from a population of about 6.7 million people. This is around $200 for every citizen, whether of gambling age or not.

Pokies tax grab

Do you sometimes wonder why you can lose so much playing the pokies? Its not actually the fault of the machines - they just do what their regulator tells them they must do, and the results are usually engineered to line the pockets of your government as much as possible:

“VICTORIA pockets about $33,000 a year in tax from each Victorian poker machine, almost twice as much as any other state.”

Herald Sun

The $33,000 figure is not what each machine wins in a year - its just the governments cut. They actually make a fair bit of money for the venue they reside in as well. Multiply that amount by almost 30,000 machines present in that state and it represents a major windfall for the state.

Nothing stops the pokies

A recent armed holdup at a gaming venue in Victoria, Australia proved that slot players take their hobby very seriously. From media accounts it has been divulged that during the holdup players continued playing their machines, and even when the police arrived, continued to do so:

“The witness said the crime scene was bizarre, as people continued playing the pokies and turned a blind eye to the incident.”

News Article

How odd is it that people will continue to play in the face of a holdup! Its possible that some players simply didn’t notice - after all the gaming machines do hold your attention. Possibly some others just didn’t want to get involved.

Its hard to think of another situation where people would ignore such an event or not run away and hide under a table.

Slap a slot machine - or a player

Some slot machines have very annoying habits. The most annoying one which comes to mind (besides losing money to them) is the way some machines force you to wait for the first 30 seconds or so of a payout whilst they play a merry tune.

Most slots allow you to over-ride by pressing spin again, but there are a minority which force you to wait while payouts tick over. This seems to occur mainly during free game features. Perhaps its legally mandated, but in that case, all machines should do it - not just an annoying minority.

Slapping the machine might make you feel better - but we don’t recommend it. The venue might just decide to slap you and then remove you from the premises.

Some slot machine players also deserve a slap from time to time. You know the ones:

Lurkers - those folks who wait around peering over your shoulder to see how much you win or lose. Some are subtle, others actually dribble on your clothing as they get too close.

Octopusses - as the name implies - those folks who insist on playing as many machines as they can reach out to with their hands, feet or other supplemental bodily appendages. During busy periods in venues, it can be hard enough to find a favourite machine to play. These multi-machiners may take three or four of the most popular models and play them all at once.

Talkers - talking to a neighbour at your chosen slot machine is ok, but not when they talk at you 90 miles an hour. This is especially annoying when you are losing and just want to be left alone to sulk.

Bumpers - these are the folks who just can’t walk past your chair without bumping it. A slot machine players aisle may be 2 feet wide, or 10 feet - they’ll still knock your chair.

Blockers - related to the multi-machiners, blockers will sit in front of a poker machine and not play it. They may be there to talk to an adjacent friend, or just be sending psychic messages to the machine to get it to pay better next time, but either way they’re not there to play. They usually pick your favourite machine to block.

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.

Racers - you know the feeling, you’ve seen your favourite slot machine and are walking over anxiously to insert your hard won dollars. Suddenly you look up and your eyes meet with a racer. You are 10 feet from the machine, they may be up to 1 mile away. You know they are going to try and beat you to the machine, but you choose to maintain your dignity and walk casually. They run, pushing punters aside left and right, causing mayhem in their quest to beat you there. They usually win the race and you silently grumble.

Remoras - the worst of all, and related to the lurkers. Remoras watch discreetly across an array of machines, singling out players who haven’t had free games or a nice win. They wait until you run out of funds and pounce on your machine hoping to garner the free spins you just couldn’t win.

There may well be more player types to explore in later posts. Feel free to let us know any you have encountered.

Once again we don’t recommend actually slapping anyone from the above categories, its quite an anti-social thing to go around doing to people. Wait until you get outside, and slap a tree instead.

Pokies nostalgia part 2

More on Pokies, by Lawrie.

Poker machines have been with us for over 40 years and how they have evolved from a bit of fun to play at a registered club to being money grabbers at every drinking spot known to man and woman.

Today’s machines have hypnotic sounds and music, are usually linked to a mega jackpot that someone else always seems to win but never you, how many times have you left a machine and some legend comes along and wins a big one after spending a dollar or two, I’ve lost count.

Today’s poker machines seem to concentrate on big pays that only cough out when Jupiter aligns with Mars, I’ll have to check my astrological chart and see when it is a good time for Sagittarians to donate money to the government.

Back in the dim mists of times gone by a $2 container of ten cent coins would last you a good 15 minutes, lots of small pays (usually every 3rd pull of the handle) on a 3 reel machine, my favourite was the 3 reel Aristocrat Inca machine it usually always paid a $10 jackpot (Incas and Aces in any combination on the center reel) and if you were really lucky you would spin up a massive $20 jackpot (3 Incas on the center line)

Hey I’m not saying we didn’t have problem gamblers back then, it’s just that it took you longer to loose your loot and there were not as many poker machine venues around. Clubs were the only place in NSW where you could play the pokies, pubs were for swilling beer with your mates after a hard day at work and you were still in your work clothes, clubs were for a more sedate pace of drinking and socialising and a flutter on the one armed bandit’s over a Toohey’s or two.

There was one main reason reason that NSW introduced poker machines into pubs and that was to reach a whole new market of clientele, another 500,000 customers that rarely went to clubs were ripe for the picking, and how they picked, the ladies lounge (ladies couldn’t drink in the main saloon back then) became the gaming lounge and the toilet tile walls of pubs gradually began to disappear.

I suppose the revenue from the pokies did gentrify a lot pubs as this new found wealth had to be spent before the taxman took another swipe at it, today it’s carpeted floors and walls, muted mood music and girls in the main bar and blokes behaving themselves (well almost). Kids were once barred from setting foot on pub premises, how that has changed, pubs are more family oriented these days.

More soon from the past and present, hope this blog stirs a few old and forgotten memories.

Aristocrat updates profit forecast

The worlds second largest slot machine maker, Aristocrat, has announced an expectation of reduced profit from its Japanese operations.

“While Aristocrat expects to weather the Japan profit decline through strong growth in its other markets, its shares fell sharply, dropping $1.03 or 6.85 per cent to $14.00″

Courier Mail Article

Aristocrat make some of the best games on the market, often re-theming existing game designs and continuing the excellent design standards.

Even though its shares fell to $14.00, its interesting to note that only a few years ago its shares were worth around $1.00 after a difficult period. Had you invested $10,000 at that time, your shares may have generated a tidy profit of $130,000 in only a few short years.

Pokies nostalgia in Australia

Lawrie remembers back to the early days of pokies in Australia:

I remember back when:

- To get into a club you had to be a member or be signed in by a member.

- Pokies were either 3 or 4 reel machines and took 5,10 & 20 cent coins, there was even a 2 cent charity machine (jackpot $2).

- Jackpots were 200 coins on a 3 reeler and 500 coins on a 4 reeler and they either paid it all out into the hopper or you had to report it to the cashier and sign for it.

- You got your coins in a plastic tube from the change desk, no note acceptors in the 70’s.

- The machines were either Aristocrat, Jubilee, Nut and Muddle and Bally.

- Machines only paid on the center line.

- Everyone always made a beeline for the Inca or Tic Tac Toe or Gold Award machines.

- Little old ladies did line up at the front door just before opening time and yes there was a stampede for their favourite 5cent machine, it was death by PONGA if you beat them to THEIR machine.

- A schooner of beer at the bar was 25 cents, that’s all real blokes drank back then.

- Lobster Thermidor in the restaurant was $10.

- The girls all drank Sparkling Rhinegold or Porphery Pearl, the posh ones drank Brandy Alexander’s or Blue Lagoons.

- The gents had to wear a tie to get into the restaurant, meanwhile the girls got away with wearing Mini’s and Hot Pants (not that I was complaining).

- There was always a show on in the Auditorium on the week-end.

- Movie night was usually Monday or Tuesday.

- More to come next week on the history of pokies in NSW .

Do you have memories of pokies places from long ago? Let us know… email blog@pokiemagic.com

Granny gets lucky - twice

An octogenarian in Atlantic City in the USA has struck it lucky - twice.

“A FIVE cent poker machine in Atlantic City US disgorged a $US10 million ($13.42 million) windfall for an 84-year-old US grandmother who promptly received four marriage proposals.”

Sunday Times Article

Large payouts in the USA tend to be taxed, where in Australia they are tax free, and also tend to be paid out over long timeframes, where in Australia they are paid in an immediate lump sum. US jackpots can get considerably larger than those found anywhere else in the world

As for the marriage proposals - well she turned them all down. But no doubt it was nice to be asked.

Would you buy a steak for $420?

Gaming venues often subsidise meals and other activities in order to entice you through their doors. In venues offering only slot machines as a form of gaming, you’ll very often find cheap meals as standard. Drinks are usually not subsidised.

But just how cheap are subsidised meals? One of the folk here, we’ll call him Mr Pokies, recently went out for a night on the town in Cairns, Australia. Unluckily for him, his wallet went too. One of the motivations for frequenting the particular venue he did was the knowledge that they served delicious meals at wallet-pleasing rates.

Mr Pokies duly forked out his $10 for a great dinner, and a little more for some drinks to round things out. At the end of the night when he arrived back at his hotel, he noticed the night out had cost $420. In between eating and socialising, Mr Pokies had played the pokies…to the tune of a loss of nearly $400.

And thats the rub. Where do meal subsidies come from? In most cases, its you, the gaming player. Those dollars you put through the pokies are coming right back your way, but usually you receive considerably less in subsidy benefits than you lose by gambling.

If you visit venues with cheap meals and other low priced attractions, you’ll almost certainly be better off if you avoid the gaming machines. You probably won’t have as much fun, but your wallet might weigh more at the end of the visit.

Look at the reason the subsidies are on offer - its to benefit the venue, not you. Don’t play their game and you might just be a winner after all.

Gaming expansion in USA?

A recent posting touched on the decision by the US State of Pennsylvania to allow the installation of up to 61,000 slot machines - mainly in and around racetracks. This creates a huge new business for gaming machine manufacturers.

Slot Machine Blog Article

Even after the addition of 61,000 slots, the number of gaming machines per capita in the USA will fall well short of what it is in Australia.

In 2004, the total estimated number of slot machines in the USA, including the 61,000 new devices approved for Pennsylvania, was: 770,408 (source: NWSource Article)

In Australia, the estimated total number of slot machines in 2005 was 197,107.

*Average slots/State reflects the average number of slot machines present in each State which allows slots.

#Estimated breakdown of gaming machines by Australian State:

So what would it mean for the slot machine makers if the saturation of pokies in the USA eventually reach the level its already at in Australia? Money! And plenty of it. At present there are 387.32 people per slot machine in the USA, versus 104.64 people per slot machine in Australia.

To catch up, the USA would need to install 2,081,275 additional slot machines. The cost of each unit is highly variable, but an estimate of USD$11,000 per machine means there is potentially USD$22,893,981,000 ($22 billion dollars) in new business to be had.

Is it likely the USA will catch up to Australia in slot machine penetration? Its not going to happen soon, but it may at least catch up to half the difference in the current level - around $US10 billion in new gaming machine hardware business. Slot machines require maintenance and eventual replacement - another huge source of potential revenue.