SEVERAL prominent South Australian hospitality venues have joined the growing list that have shunned poker machines, despite the state passing the $1billion mark in annual pokies turnover for the first time.
The increased pokies turnover in South Australia mirrors the national statistics that show Australians are the biggest gamblers in the world per capita, with an average of about $25billion lost on legal forms of gambling yearly.
But despite pokies clearly still being very popular in South Australia, venues including The Charleston Hotel (in Summertown) and the Maidstone Hotel, which are owned by the same company, removed their machines in the last few weeks.
Additionally, the “Golden Wattle Hotel” on Pirie Street had already removed 14 machines some 2½ years ago and repurposed the space for dining and event functions. These venues say the decision responds to both community sentiment and shifts in venue strategy
The Golden Wattle reports the gaming space is better utilised now through food and beverage operations. These moves are being welcomed by public-health advocates, who highlight the link between gaming machines and gambling-harm, and see venue-led removal as a positive step.
This has lead to some calls for poker machines to be restricted to casinos in South Australia, while less draconian measures being suggested include further regulation and spending limits.
Despite the positive take from The Golden Wattle, insiders say the venue has suffered from a revenue decline, and other venues fear they will become financially unviable without their poker machines.
South Australian Greens leader Robert Simms said the decision to remove poker machines from venues was a major positive for the community. ,
“This demonstrates that it can be done, and I hope that other SA pubs will follow suit,” he said.
“The Greens have been calling on the Malinauskas Government to commit to phasing out pokies by 2030 and set up a fund to support pubs and clubs in making this transition.”
While poker machines are legal in Australia, real money online pokies and casinos are unregulated and illegal, despite 100s of millions being bet via offshore sites yearly.
Our take on South Australian venues ditching pokies
While poker machines have undoubtedly claimed victims over the years, the moral clarity Australian politicians have on the matter appear to be grandstanding, when they fail to acknowledge or even attempt to make changes to online gambling.
While pokies in Australia are heavily regulated, the online pokies world is basically a free-for-all, with Aussies able to wager with offshore online casinos at any time on any given day, with zero checks or safety measures in place.
When the Australian Government push for a national gambling regulator we will begin to take their vows on poker machines seriously.