For quite some time, responsible gambling campaigners have worked hard to ensure that the local community can reap more rewards from poker machine proceeds. Now, their hard work has paid off, as the New Zealand government has passed a new law that will increase the amount of money that poker machines must give back to the community – starting on September 4, 2014.

On that date, the The Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Amendment will take effect. It will increase the maximum rate of return on pokie proceeds from 37.12% to 42% over the course of five years. The increase will begin the first financial year after the regulations have come into effect. During the first year, the rate of return will increase to 40%. By the third year, it will increase to 41% and the fifth year will see the rate of return rise to 42%.

This means that more money will be taken from pokie proceeds and given to community groups. The funding will help pay of cultural, educational, health and sports services and programs across the country. As was to be expected, local poker machine club owners were not particularly pleased when the bill was first announced. They feared that giving away more money for grants would harm their own bottom line.

Some groups stated that they would have to close venues in order to accommodate the increased rate of return. While these are very real concerns, many responsible gambling campaigners felt that they may have been over exaggerated. Still, there is no telling how exactly the new bill will effect clubs.

We will have to see for ourselves once the changes come into effect on September 4.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.