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[Lili]

Author: Odgers, Rosemary
Source: Sunday Mail
Published Date: May 06, 2006


QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA — More than 100 poker machines a month are being added to pubs and clubs across Queensland.

New figures show the number of pokies in the state has topped 40,000, prompting concerns from welfare groups and the Opposition that problem gambling will increase.

At the end of February, there were 40,171 machines in Queensland, up 539 from 39,632 last September.

This does not include poker machines in the state's four casinos.

Welfare groups warn that Queensland now had more poker machines per head of population than Victoria.

But the Government says the percentage increase is less than population growth.

Liberal leader Bob Quinn, who requested the figures from the Government, said studies had shown there was a direct relationship between the number of poker machines and the number of problem gamblers.

The Coalition has vowed to review the number of machines and possibly cut them by up to 20 per cent if it wins office.

"A cynic would be forgiven for wondering if this Government's priority of allowing more poker machines has anything to do with the fact that pokies are a lucrative revenue raiser," Mr Quinn said.

But Treasurer Anna Bligh said the growth in poker machines was "moderate" and a recent survey found no increase in problem gamblers in the past five years.

She said the number of poker machines in hotels was still below the cap, which would rise to 20,000 over the next five years.

"I'm pleased these figures show growth is well under control," Ms Bligh said. "There is such significant population growth in Queensland with new residential developments and new hotels being built that we believe there will be a take-up of these extra machines."

Ms Bligh said the Government was putting significant resources into combating problem gambling.

Almost $300 million had been paid to community groups under the Gambling Community Benefit Fund.

But Neil Mellor, the program leader for gambling help services at Relationships Australia, said most other states were capping or reducing poker machine numbers.

He urged the Government to reduce the number of machines and introduce measures to combat the problem, including reducing operating hours at gaming venues and having mandatory breaks in play.

While there is not a statewide cap on the overall number of machines for clubs, sites cannot have more than 280 machines each.

The Government expects to collect $527 million in gaming machine tax next financial year, rising to $657 million in 2008-09.

http://www.responsiblegambling.or...ws_results_details.cfm?intID=9053

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[Lili]

Source: Sunday Mail [Queensland]
Published Date: Jul 23, 2006

QUEENSLAND – Most of the almost 700 problem gamblers banned from pubs and clubs under new Queensland government laws dobbed themselves in.
Deputy Premier Anna Bligh has released figures for the past eight months, showing most of the 694 Queenslanders on a register of problem gamblers had listed themselves as a way of curbing their habits.

Anyone on the register was banned from entering pubs and clubs, and photos of them are circulated so staff know not to let them in.

In the eight-month period, there were 1113 separate occasions on which problem gamblers were refused access to pokies venues, meaning some of the 694 had been stopped from entering more than one venue.

Only 15 of the 1113 instances involved venues denying entry to people they considered to be gambling addicts.

The area with the highest amount of exclusions, per capita, was the mining town of Mount Isa, in the state's northwest.

"Queensland is the envy of all states with thorough, responsible gambling programs," Ms Bligh said.

"This is not only about the government helping problem gamblers ... it's also about problem gamblers helping themselves."

The legislation was introduced in May last year, and allows problem gamblers to get in first and "self-exclude" from pokie venues.

http://www.responsiblegambling.or...s_articles_details.cfm?intID=9249
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

Denis Peters
September 20, 2006 06:54pm

BET you any money you're not surprised to hear Australians are spending more money on gambling - $1.7 billion more a year in fact.

The total net takings from gambling in the year 2004-05 were $15.5 billion, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This was up from $13.8 billion four years earlier.

The preferred form of gambling is in poker and gaming machines, with takings from the descendants of one-armed bandits now reaching $8.7 billion, or $1 billion more than in 2000-01.

Other major sources were off-course TAB takings ($2.1 billion), casino gambling ($2.6 billion) and lottery-style games ($1.4 billion).

More than 68 per cent of the overall gambling occurred in NSW and Victoria.

Online gambling accounted for $114.3 million in takings from a gross turnover of $1.4 billion.

The ABS, in its report Gambling Services Australia, said casinos generated $3.3 billion in income during 2004-05.

The survey found 76,848 people were employed in the provisions of gambling services, with the majority in hospitality.

Clubs NSW spokesman Jeremy Bath said employment associated with clubs - 53,000 jobs directly in NSW - had actually declined slightly in the past two years due to high petrol prices and higher interest rates.

"There's no doubt the NSW clubs industry is facing significant financial challenges," he said.

"Growth over the last 12 months has declined steeply."

But the big rise in takings worries South Australian No Pokies Independent MP Nick Xenophon.

"These latest figures make a mockery of state governments' so-called harm minimisation efforts," he said.

"They've now been exposed as largely window dressing rather than real reforms."

He said the 1999 Productivity Commission report on problem gambling needed to be followed up with another study.

"The only reform that's taken place over the last few years has been the Victorian government banning smoking, which had an initial impact of 10 or 15 per cent in 2002," he said.

"There needs to be an urgent review of the effectiveness of these measures."

The Federal Government should be more considerate with states which reduced their gambling tax intake, he said.

"In other words, if John Howard and Peter Costello are as concerned about gambling as they say they are, it's a case that they need to put up, in terms of allowing for the commonwealth to provide compensation and to allow for any loss of revenue from gambling to be supplemented," he said.

A spokesman for Treasurer Peter Costello said Mr Costello had been vocal on the ill-effects of gambling in the past and instituted the Productivity Commission report.

He said increased GST revenue to the states should allow them to make the adjustments required.

"The GST has provided the states with increased revenue ... to deal with the issue," he said.

The Salvation Army's coordinator of recovery services for Queensland, NSW and the ACT, Gerard Byrne, said a secondary roll-out of pokie licences in recent years, particularly in pubs, had made them more available to people.

"What we've seen as a result of that is an increase in the people who are reporting, either as their primary dependence problem or secondary dependence problem, problem gambling," he said.

"The vast majority of them report their problem to be electronic gaming machines."

Mr Byrne said the Salvos would like to see a rollback of pokie licences.
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

POKIES OUTDOORS IN SMOKING AREAS????... WHEN WILL IT END...

Andrew Clennell
September 23, 2006

HOTELS and clubs face losing millions of dollars in gambling revenue after the State Government threatened late yesterday to ban gambling machines in outdoor smoking areas.

Inquiries by the Herald had revealed there was no obstacle to placing poker machines outdoors. From July smoking will be banned inside venues but allowed where 25 per cent of a venue's combined ceiling and wall area is open to the outdoors. Anti-smoking lobby groups call them "fake outdoor areas".

Initially the Government said pubs and clubs would be able to place the machines outside under strict conditions.

But yesterday afternoon, a day after the Herald began to inquire about moving gambling machines to such areas, its line changed. The Minister for Gaming and Racing, Grant McBride, said: "I wish to warn clubs and hotels that should I see evidence of these proposals, the Government will be forced to regulate against it.

"It's government policy to have minimal levels of service required in those unenclosed areas."

Queensland has banned not only poker machines in outdoor smoking areas, but any form of entertainment, such as TV screens and pool tables, in an effort to discourage smoking.

If the NSW ban was implemented there would be no smoking in any gambling areas in pubs and clubs.

The executive officer for the Australian Hotels Association, David Elliott, had said earlier he expected some hotels to put gambling machines outside "as a reasonable way of reducing job losses".

After learning of the Government's decision, Mr Elliott said he was fine with it but "I can't guarantee that out of 2000 hotels in NSW a couple aren't going to try it [put poker machines outside]."

He said he also expected hotels to put more "entertainment options" outdoors.

A Clubs NSW spokesman said yesterday of Mr McBride's decision: "Our only response to that news is 'No comment."'

Last year the Government refused to adopt a proposal by the Democrats MP Arthur Chesterfield-Evans to ban the machines in outdoor areas. The Government said then it would be difficult under current regulations for a hotel to put a gaming room outside because of all the conditions it would have to meet.

The general manager of the Shellharbour Workers Club, David Whyte, raised the prospect of putting gambling machines on a balcony at his club in 2004. He told The Illawarra Mercury at the time "the logistics" were not easy.

The head of the anti-smoking group ASH, Anne Jones, said: "People linked to problem gambling are more likely to smoke. If they go outside to smoke they might break their trance-like [gambling] state."

Anti-gambling groups have criticised hotels during the partial phase of the ban for using the gaming room as their only indoor smoking room. An Australian Hotels Association survey of 178 hotels in July last year found 52 per cent were doing so.
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

And this from a state that disallows pokies in pubs... this is shocking... grrrrr... Australians are really in trouble.


23rd September 2006, 6:15 WST

West Australians are losing more than $500 each a year on gambling as the buoyant economy helps push one of the nation’s favourite pastimes to new levels.

The latest data on Australians’ gambling habits show WA punters blew a record $785 million betting at the casino, the track, the TAB and playing Lotto in 2004-05. That equated to $521 per adult in the State, up from $493 the previous year.

It followed a record wagering spree of nearly $3.5 billion or $2300 per adult, up nearly 10 per cent, well above the national growth rate.

And the enthusiasm for a bet appears to have continued to grow as cashed-up blue-collar male workers — key customers of the gambling industry — unload the unprecedented wages being paid in mining, building and manufacturing.

WA’s two State-owned gambling bodies, the TAB and Lotterywest, confirmed yesterday they together had posted record revenue of more than $1.7 billion in the past financial year.

The owner of WA’s only casino, James Packer’s Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd, also recently thanked a “particularly impressive performance from Burswood” for helping it post a 26 per cent surge in profit to $610 million.

But the latest national figures, compiled annually by Queensland Treasury, also confirm punters in WA bet far less than other Australians as the State continues to stand alone in outlawing poker machines.

In total, Australians gambled a record $143 billion or $9266 each in 2004-05, a 6 per cent jump on the year before.

They lost $16.9 billion of that, or $1097 each, of which a staggering $10 billion was swallowed by pokies.

The WA Government is continuing to resist pressure from Mr Packer to allow Burswood to add pokies to its existing less lucrative electronic gaming machines.

It has also defied renewed lobbying from the Australian Hotels Association to allow pokies in pubs and clubs to compensate them for the more relaxed liquor licensing laws introduced to Parliament this week which will allow liquor stores to open on Sundays and restaurants to serve alcohol without meals.

The Government moved further to protect its own gambling agencies last month by making it illegal for WA residents to bet with online betting exchanges like Packer-backed Betfair.

Racing and Wagering WA, which operates the TAB, is yet to report its latest annual results but said it had achieved very solid growth over 2004-05’s record revenue of $1.2 billion.

General manager of strategic planning and development Ric Wimmer said turnover had been buoyant across the State as its customer base, skewed towards men in blue-collar jobs, benefited from the strong economy.

“You could say we’ve got the trifecta — a good manufacturing and administrative base, a good rural side and a good mining sector,” he said.

Mr Wimmer said sports betting, a relatively new form of gambling that takes in sports other than horse and greyhound racing, had posted a further 40 per cent surge in growth, though off a low base.

It had been boosted by the 2006 World Cup and the success of WA’s two AFL football teams, with WA punters keen to bet on both results and local Brownlow medal candidates.

Lotterywest chief executive Jan Stewart said sales of Lotto, scratchies and other lotteries games climbed to a record $546 million in 2005-06, up 5 per cent.

Cathy Bolt
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

OH GREAT... NOW LET'S TEACH OUR TODDLERS TO GAMBLE.

By Lauren Williams and Kate Sikora

September 25, 2006 12:00

A REVIEW of toy poker machines has been ordered by the NSW Government after it was revealed children as young as four are playing the life-like machines.

An investigation by The Daily Telegraph has discovered toddlers are at risk of developing dangerous gambling habits by playing with the toys.
The replica machines, available in toy shops and supermarkets, encourage children to feed fake money into them.

As soon as The Daily Telegraph alerted Gaming and Racing Minister Grant McBride to the toys yesterday, he said he would have the Department of Fair Trading review their sale.

The toy machines feature the word "jackpot" and include plastic tokens, a pull-down handle, reels and flashing lights like those in real poker machines in pubs and clubs.

Mother Carmelle Coleman said yesterday she would not encourage her young children to play with the toys.

"I think it would give them ideas when they see the money come out the bottom," Mrs Coleman said.

With gambling addiction rife in the community, the sale of toy poker machines has alarmed parent and welfare groups, who want them banned.

Psychologists have warned that young children playing such games ran the risk of developing addictive behaviour.

"You're playing russian roulette by introducing kids to anything that has the potential to be addictive," developmental expert Barbara David said.
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

Saturday's Herald-Sun (and Sydney's Daily Telegraph) report on a NSW Club that is facing fines of up to $300,000 "following reports it instructed staff to encourage customers to play the pokies."

How naive can you be? Hotels and clubs are trying to make money from poker machines. This is a business. Of course it is not in line with responsible gambling obligations but does that mean they don't try and encourage gamblers to gamble and gamble more and more.

The club in question unfortunately put their 'customer service' policy
in writing which brought their undoing. The practice of not holding $2 coins is however extremely common across the industry due to the $1 tokenised nature of most Australian machines (i.e. they will only accept $1 coins or notes - coins of other denominations are not accepted.) This is also very easy to achieve and get away with for a venue as due to the high number of $1 coins on hand it is easy to bank $2 coins and only circulate $1 through the venue.

Responsible gambling means for most industry doing what you have to do as required by law not what might benefit your patrons. And of course nothing should prevent maximum revenue being achieved - keep them at the machine and keep them happy is the core business of the gambling industry.

Now there will be the probe into this club's behaviour and they may get fined, but nothing really will change. There is simply too much money to be made for all involved, except the players of course.

Gambling has winners and losers but it isn't a fair bet as we always know who wins.

GG
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

A banker stole from her employer to fund her extraordinary compulsive gambling addiction, a court has heard.

A former loans officer at the Bendigo Bank's Preston branch, Kate Leanne Jamieson stole the money between July 2001 and May 2004, using the funds to gamble at Crown Casino.

The County Court was told Jamieson's gambling increased year after year, culminating in the loss of more than $1.5 million at the casino. She also lost money at other suburban gaming venues.

Jamieson, 39, of Lalor, has already pleaded guilty to 13 counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and 23 counts of theft.

Kevin Armstrong, prosecuting, said the total amount obtained by Jamieson was $7.3 million.

Jamieson created false identities and false accounts so she could withdraw the cash. She also used the bank's computer system illegally, using other workers' passwords to log on while they took breaks.

Bendigo Bank staff later identified 4000 transactions where Jamieson moved more than $22 million between several accounts.

Duncan Allen, SC, for Jamieson, said his client lost $19,000 to the casino, an average of $291 per hour she was there in 2001. In 2004, Jamieson lost $508,000 in the five months leading up to May, an average $2644 per hour that she was at the casino, he said.

"Her extraordinary compulsive gambling was evidenced by statistics kept by the Crown Casino," Mr Allen said.

But the casino who made her a VIP did not have any records of Jamieson's employment, despite having other personal information, the court heard.

"They don't provide in writing any explanation of as to how a woman of her apparent circumstances could continue to lose," Mr Allen said.

The pre-sentence hearing, before Judge Roland Williams, continues this afternoon.


November 30, 2006 - 1:40PM

Kate Jamieson
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All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

Michael Warner

February 24, 2007 12:00am

A SECRET document has revealed the extraordinary riches reaped by Melbourne's top poker machine clubs.

The internal Tattersall's report details the huge profits industry chiefs and the Bracks Government have fought to keep confidential.

The gambling is fiercest in Clocks at Flinders St Station, where a staggering $16.27 million is turned over every 10 weeks.

Player losses in the same period totalled $1.62 million – about $162,000 a week, $23,000 a day, $964 an hour or $16 a minute.

Clocks is run by Tatts and the Doxa Youth Foundation, a charity backed by the Catholic Church.

The document seen by the Herald Sun lists 134 Tattersall's venues in order of turnover and machine revenue during a random 10-week period in mid-2005.

And it reveals how most of the state's biggest-earning clubs are located in blue-collar suburbs.

The figures underpin the huge revenue at stake in the Bracks Government's review of gaming licences, and why Tatts is so eager to strike a new deal. Every dollar lost at a Tatts pokie club is split evenly between the gaming giant, the Government and the venue.

Trailing Clocks for top honours was the Box Hill RSL, where punters lost $1.58 million in 10 weeks, followed by the Dandenong Club($1.56 million) and Vegas at Waverley Gardens ($1.54 million).

Tatts' top clubs boast between 90 and 100 poker machines.

But the company's most prized venue, in terms of the biggest revenue for individual machines, is the Bruce Mathieson-controlle d Rex Hotel at Port Melbourne.

Despite just 57 pokies, punters at the Rex lost $1.23 million–about $123,000 a week. Turnover passed $11.74 million.

Mr Mathieson controls the Rex with Tatts and the Port Melbourne
Football Club.

Victoria's second-hardest- working machines are found at the Noble Park RSL ($592,000 lost on 33 machines), followed by the Phillip Island RSL ($948,000 on 53 machines).

The Bracks Government and Victoria's gambling regulatory authority have repeatedly refused to release data on individual venues.

Instead, gambling losses are released on a regional basis.

Total annual losses by Victorian poker machine punters have now surged beyond $2.4 billion – about $6.8 million a day.

The Government's own annual tax take is more than $1 billion.

Gaming industry sources said that player losses at Tatts' top clubs and pubs remained constant from year to year.

The leaked Tatts document reveals how it closely monitors performance of its venues in areas where the Government has introduced regional caps on machine numbers.

Underperforming venues include the Mornington Country Golf Club, Sunshine Baseball Club, Heidelberg RSL and Richmond Tavern.

It also shows how machines are systematically placed on waiting lists for distribution to more profitable venues.

But it does not reveal the profits being made at Tatts' 120 gaming hotels or at venues controlled by rival operator, Tabcorp.

By law, Tatts and Tabcorp are required to divide the state's 27,500 poker machines between privately owned pubs and community based clubs.

The clubs are given an 8.3 per cent tax advantage over hotel rivals on the basis that profits are then invested back into the community.

Clubs Victoria chief executive Mag Kearney said clubs, unlike pokies pubs, returned their 33 per cent of profits to local sporting clubs and community groups.

"These clubs are not-for-profit organisations. All the money that goes to the club goes directly back to the community," Ms Kearney
said.

For example, a third of the money lost at Clocks goes to the Doxa Youth Foundation – an underprivileged children's charity established by Catholic priest Joe Giacobbe.

Ms Kearney said she hoped the Government review into the state's gaming industry structure resulted in more machines being placed in clubs rather than pubs.

A decision on whether the Tatts-Tabcorp duopoly is extended beyond 2012 will be made by the Cabinet this year.

Crown casino is licensed to operate another 2500 poker machines
until 2032.

The Government recently admitted Victoria now had enough gambling addicts to fill every seat at the Telstra Dome.

Tatts spokesman Michael Mangos said it was not policy to release
data on individual venues.
_________________
All Strength in Surrender

[Lili]

Online casinos, worth billions of dollars and based on the other side of the world, are telephoning Australian gamblers and offering them inducements to bet.

The practice, believed to be illegal, was discovered this week after The Age logged on to several internet poker websites to research online poker. Less than 24 hours later, one of the sites — Pacific Poker — telephoned, offering money to return and sign up. "We noticed you have tried to log on to our site and been unsuccessful," the company representative said. "If you would like to come back we can sort out any technical problems and also offer you a bonus."

The woman said the casino would offer an extra 35 per cent on top of any amount deposited in a gambling account.

Internet casinos are forbidden by the Federal Interactive Gambling Act from advertising in Australia or from taking bets from Australians. But despite the laws, Australians continue to bet millions of dollars with them.

A spokeswoman for the Victorian Department of Justice said it was likely that the telephone approaches were illegal. "Victoria is of the view that the Commonwealth needs to take the lead in this matter," she said.

Problem gambling experts said the telephone approach was extraordinary. "We've always known that online gambling is dangerous — you can lose your home without even leaving home," said Mark Zirnsak from the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce. "The thought that they would be calling Australians and offering them enticements to gamble is very worrying. For a problem gambler to be facing these kinds of offers would be potentially very destructive."

Pacific Poker is based in Gibraltar and owned by the mammoth 888 corporation — a multibillion-dollar online gambling entity. 888 was forced to cease all operations in the US in October last year after the US Government enacted tough new laws banning online gambling sites.

Another new law that prohibits US banks from passing funds between online gamblers and internet casinos has slashed the number of Americans who gamble online. As a result, virtual casino operators have pulled out of the US to focus on winning new customers elsewhere.

A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Helen Coonan said while the Government was concerned about problem gambling it had no plans to introduce laws banning the transfer of funds to online casinos because it did not believe enough Australians were betting online to make such a measure necessary.



http://www.theage.com.au/news/nat...res/2007/03/16/1173722750308.html

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All Strength in Surrender