The Victorian government in Australia has issued a list of venues that will lose their poker machines due to its regional caps policy. The government decided to limit poker machines to 10 machines per 1,000 adults in 19 regions that are rich on poker machines.
The decision will remove 543 machines within a year but the total number of machines in the state will remain the same under a duopoly agreement giving Tattersalls and Tabcorp, two gaming operators, permission to run 27,500 machines outside Crown Casino in Melbourne.
According to opposition gaming spokesman Michael O'Brien removing the poker machines will do nothing to fight problem gambling and the Government is simply moving poker machines around instead of reducing their total number.
According to Gaming Minister Daniel Andrews the Government's regional caps policy is part of $132 million plan to deal with problem gambling, which includes reducing the maximum bet from $10 to $5.But the Government rejected a recommendation from its own taskforce to make the caps tighter and remove 1900 machines in total from vulnerable areas.
Email this page
Print this page
Bookmark with del.icio.us
