Crown Melbourne CEO Mike Volkert believes carded poker machine play should be mandatory, saying it has greatly reduced gambling harm at the Victorian venue.
Volkert said mandatory carded play had seen great uptake and the signs were positive after decreases in problem gambling, stemming from the 2,600 pokies housed at the CBD venue.
While Volkert acknowledged Crown Melbourne had taken a financial hit from the initiative, he said it was the cost of doing business in a regulated gambling environment.
NSW is now considering rolling out a similar carded pokies play scenario after an independent panel made recommendations, with an “account based” system a possibility.
But critics and industry heavyweights are worried about the impact it might have on revenue, following reports of a 15.5% drop in just four weeks, after Star Sydney implemented mandatory carded play and $5,000 cash limits in October.
Clubs NSW said rolling this model out across the state could result in massive job losses, highlighting the fact Crown Melbourne has cut 1000 staff from its book since the changes.
“The economic and societal impact of similar job losses across the industry could far outweigh the marginal reduction in gambling harm and money laundering that account-based play might achieve,” ClubsNSW said.
Our take on mandatory cashless pokies:
We always read developments like cashless gambling with amusement given the lack of regulation surrounding online casinos and pokies in Australia.
While the government fiddles around the edges, major reform is required to bring Australia into the digital age when it comes to gambling and gambling harm.
By all means put pressure on these venues to do more for those struggling under the curse of addiction, however ignoring the fact you can sign up at and gamble with an offshore online pokies site within minutes is majorly hypocritical.
Yes, online casinos might be illegal in Australia, but that doesn’t change the fact we can readily play at them.
Getting the people with a gambling addiction in the system, via regulated online casinos, is much better than letting them continue down a destructive path via the comfort of their own home.
And don’t fall for Crown Melbourne pretending they care about gambling harm, it’s purely an attempt to knee cap their opposition and force them to operate under the same conditions.