Casey gamblers lose $12.63m in poker machines in August
THE City of Casey has called for a citywide cap on gaming machine numbers as gambling losses spiral across the region.
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THE City of Casey has called for a citywide cap on gaming machine numbers.
The move comes as new figures show gamblers lost a staggering $12.63 million in Casey in August this year on 913 pokie machines at 13 venues — up more than $700,000 on July losses.
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The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation’s statistics reveal pokie losses in Casey in August were up more than $1.17 million on the same period last year.
Casey council’s acting manager of city planning Kathryn Seirlis said while many of the disadvantaged communities were in areas with a cap limiting the number of pokie machines, other areas of Casey were not. The council was lobbying to have the partial cap extended across the whole municipality, especially “given the enormous growth Casey has experienced since the (partial) cap was introduced in 2006”, she said.
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“A citywide cap would provide certainty to the remaining parts of Casey to keep the EGM (electronic gaming machine) density consistent across the municipality,” she said.
“It is significant to note that the council was recently successful in opposing an application by the Lynbrook Hotel, which is in the capped area, for an additional 20 EGMs.”
The director of Alliance for Gambling Reform Tim Costello said Victorians lost a record $246.2 million on the pokies in August 2018, a 5.3 per cent increase on the losses in August 2017.
“Casey suffered the biggest nominal increase with losses jumping from $11.46 million in August, 2017 to a record $12.64 million in August, 2017 — a gain of 10.3 per cent,” he said.
He said losses in Casey could top $140 million in 2018-2019 if the August trend continued during the year.
He urged Casey Council to join the alliance, which has 19 council members, to advocate for gambling reform before the November State election.
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