Wollongong's $131m pokie habit

Poker machines are continuing to deliver a financial bonanza to Wollongong pubs and clubs, with new data showing that the city's residents lost a whopping $131 million to the pokies last financial year.

Startling figures from the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing show that Wollongong residents poured rivers of gold through poker machines - to the tune of $682 per resident.


In the same period, Shoalhaven residents handed over $60 million to the pokies ($679 per person), Shellharbour lost $36 million ($597 per person) and Kiama residents squandered $7.5 million ($395 per person).


Independent senator and strident anti-gambling campaigner Nick Xenophon has called on the Federal Government to wrest control of the lucrative poker machine industry from the states and territories, which he said raked in money "off the backs of the vulnerable and addicted".


"What's disturbing is that research shows over 50 per cent of pokies losses come from problem gamblers," Sen Xenophon told the Mercury.


This figure is disputed by the gaming industry.


"Pokies are like the electronic locusts of the 21st century in the way they strip money out of individuals and communities," Sen Xenophon added.


The Federal Government is considering a Productivity Commission report which has recommended a raft of measures to curb problem gambling, including imposing a cap on losses and limiting the time people spend playing the pokies.


Its final report is due to be delivered on February 26.


However, an Illawarra club has rejected a key recommendation of the report, that ATMs be banned from gaming venues.


Steelers Club operations manager Luke Barker said problem gamblers would easily circumvent this by taking more money in their wallets.


"It won't solve the problem at all - I think it would be more of an inconvenience for members and guests who want to get money out," Mr Barker said.


Last month, club chairman Peter Newell told a public hearing in Canberra that the Steelers Club and other similar venues would "shut within weeks" if the commission's proposals to limit poker machine revenues were approved.


Speaking in his capacity as ClubsAustralia president, Mr Newell accused the commission of failing to assess the impact of reduced revenue on club employment, charity donations and local economies.

Meantime, Mission Australia has launched a new DVD which sets out to debunk common poker machine myths in the hope of limiting the havoc wreaked by problem gambling.

Manager of counselling services John Brett said the campaign sought to dispel superstitions by gambling addicts that they could beat the pokies.

"Some people believe that if a machine hasn't paid out for a while it's due for a win, or that if you stroke the machine in a different way you will have a better chance of winning," Mr Brett said.

"A lot of people believe a particular machine favours them personally, or they relate to or like a particular machine."

But the cold, hard reality was that poker machine performance was completely random, Mr Brett said.

"There is no way of affecting outcomes.

"And if, like many problem gamblers, you put all your winnings back into the machine, it's a mathematical certainty you will lose everything eventually," he warned.

Gambling counsellors will use the DVD to work with problem gamblers and help them shake their beliefs.

Issued by Illawarramercury.com.au 23rd Janaury 2010
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/wollongongs-131m-pokie-habit/1732061.aspx