WHILE thousands of Gold Coast parents are scrambling to find money to buy presents for their children this Christmas, pubs and clubs are pocketing $750,000 a day in poker machine profits.
Pre-tax earnings from pokies hit $274 million in the past year, with the biggest splurges in clubs in Southport, Nerang and Surfers Paradise. The figures do not include Jupiters Casino.
Machines at Robina took the most, averaging $5158 a machine a month, compared to $1729 a machine at Coolangatta.
Nerang machines took an average of $4661 each month.
The regional figures, which do not provide the amounts paid out to players, have been released by the State Government.
The average loss on Gold Coast pokies in the past year was $45,780.
People playing at Robina lost the most, averaging $61,896 a machine, compared with $55,932 on Nerang machines and $45,852 at Southport.
Coolangatta players lost least, with an average of $20,748 on each machine, while users at Bilinga-Tugun blew $28,416 a machine.
Mid-range losers were people playing in the Broadbeach-Mermaid Beach areas, with the average machines taking $36,035, while $41,968 was the average at Burleigh Heads, $35,872 at Surfer Paradise and $35,333 at Palm Beach.
There are 6108 machines at 146 sites on the Gold Coast.
Relationships Australia gambling counsellor Soleil Poynton said 80 per cent of gamblers that contacted the service were affected by pokies, with 48 per cent of revenue from machines lost by people with gambling problems.
She estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people had a gambling problem on the Coast.
Southport Baptist Church senior pastor Ken O'Rourke urged problem gamblers to kick their habit as a new year's resolution.
"I'm with (ex-Premier) Wayne Goss -- one of his worst decisions was to allow poker machines in Queensland," he said.
"It's a staggering number and it's easy to say 'you've just got to walk away', but the reality is a lot of people can't do that."
Hotels and clubs in the Gold Coast local government area raked in $122 million from pokies in the 1999-2000 financial year, rising to $284 million in 2005-2006.
In the accounting year from November 2007 to November 2008, pokies reaped $284 million in the Gold Coast region.
Call 1800 122 050 for the Gambling Help Line.
Issued by www.goldcoast.com.au 22nd December 2009
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/12/22/171875_gold-coast-news.html
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