Recently, Victorian politicians have passed several legislations that endeavour to reduce problem gambling rates across New Zealand. The use of headphones while playing pokies and ATMs in clubs have been banned by the local government, and these measures have had a positive effect on the gambling market.

According to The Age, Victorian punters lost $2.5 billion on pokies in 2013-14, which equals out to about $4750 per minute on all of the poker machines across Victoria.. While this may sound like a lot of money, it is actually the second-lowest total of gambling losses across the state since 2007.

In 2012, the Victorian government introduced two important legislations which have helped to significantly reduce gambling losses. The first amendment that was passed was the introduction of a ban on ATMs at pokie machine venues. This measure aimed to stop players from chasing losses.

Once they were out of money, they would have to leave the venue to withdraw more, which gave them time to rethink their decision to spend more. There was a loophole that allowed players to make withdrawals using the venues EFTPOS, but players were reluctant to use it.

The next legislation banned players from plugging headphones in to pokies. This prevented them from getting too immersed in the game, allowing them to continue to make responsible decisions.

While these two laws have helped significantly, responsible gambling advocates in the state believe that more could be done to further this cause. Mark Zirnsak, Chairman of the Victorian InterChurch Gambling Taskforce, believes that $1 betting limits would help.

“We do need to see further measures to rein in the harm,” he says. “There is a need for more measures to reduce harm like a one dollar bet limit, a system that allows people to set themselves enforceable limits on their losses and staff intervening when the person has a clear gambling problem.”

There is still a long way to go, but Victoria is on the right path. We anticipate that more reductions in gambling spending will occur in the future.

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.