Some Startling Facts about Australia’s Love Affair with Pokies

Online pokies in Australia have been growing like hot cake in popularity with most of the Australian casinos; offering real money pokies games to attract the players. Moreover, there are some very amazing and interesting facts about Australia’s love affair with pokies; that will help you understand why pokies are so popular in Australia. Here are some startling facts about Australia’s love affair with pokies.

Legalization of Pokies in Australia

In 1956 Poker machines were allowed to be installed in New South Wales; Victoria and Queensland it was legalized in 1991; Tasmania in 1997; South Australia was introduced in 1992, and the Northern Territory got an entry in 1998. In Western, Australia Pokies are banned, but in the casino.

To clarify, Australia have the most poker machines per person of any country across the globe; except for gambling destinations like Monaco; and Macau where the ratio is one machine for every 114 people.

In the year 2013–14, Australians lost A$11 billion on poker machines that were available in hotels and clubs.  In addition, a further A$1.5 billion is expected to have been lost on poker machines that are installed in casinos. A total of nearly A$700 per adult per year in the calculation.

Number of Poker Machines in Australia

As per estimation, there are 196,900 poker machines in Australia. Of these 95,012 are in NSW, 46,663 in Queensland and 28,860 in Victoria. But there are just 16,440 pokies in New Zealand and 97,161 in Canada compared to Australia.

Australians lose more on gambling compared to any other country, in poker. As per the report, Australians lost more than US$1100 per capita in 2014; compared with US$600 in New Zealand and the US, and US$500 in Canada and Britain.

Moreover, in the year 2013–14; state and territory governments earned A$3.2 billion in tax on poker machines in clubs and hotels; which accounts for – that’s 5% of state-levied tax revenue.

Almost 30% of Australian adults play poker machines at least once a year except in Western Australia.  Nearly, four per cent of people play weekly and lose an average of A$7000 to A$8000 every year.

As per estimation Australian lose A$1500 every hour playing poker machines at their maximum bet amount and maximum speed. As poker machines’ returns are not predictable over the short term; players playing for a short while lose a big or lesser amount easily.

Massive Revenue from Poker

Every year the average poker machine in hotels and clubs generates A$56,000. There are some machines much more profitable, with pokies in many venues in Victoria are able to make more than A$200,000 each. This is one of the some startling Facts about Australia’s Love Affair with Pokies.

Poker machines mostly serve Australia’s poorest suburbs. In addition, in Western Sydney’s relatively impoverished Fairfield; each adult has lost an average of A$2340 on the pokies in the year 2010-11. Finally, in the relatively affluent popular of Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby, poker machine losses were just A$270 for each adult.

Millionaires Made from Poker

Poker machines have made some people rich like James Packer (net worth A$6,080 million); Bruce Mathieson (net worth A$1,160 million), Arthur Laundy (net worth A$310 million); Len Ainsworth (net worth A$1,840 million); and the Farrell family (net worth A$275 million).

It has been reported in 2010 by the Productivity Commission that there were around 115,000 “problem gamblers” in Australia, who account for 40% of losses on poker machines. Above all, people living in the close vicinity of poker machine venues are more usually experiencing gambling problems.

In conclusion, 30% of people who play poker machines every week are problem gamblers or are “at-risk” of becoming problem gamblers.

In addition to banning poker machines outside casinos, the most remarkable harm-reducing measures include reducing maximum bet limits and requiring gamblers to set a set limit before they start playing.

Meanwhile, reform in poker machines is popular in Australia. Moreover, about 70% of people agree that gambling must restrict and 74% agree that people should be restricted to spending an amount they decide before they start gambling.