Geelong pokies machines revenue from player losses revealed

Geelong’s pokies machines have continued to net record losses from users. See which five venues saw the largest revenue gain.

Geelong’s pokies machines are continuing to rake in record losses from gamblers, with four of the city’s six worst-ever months of losses having occurred since January 2021.

The city’s 1349 electronic gaming machines across 26 venues – including one venue in the Borough of Queenscliffe – swallowed $10.956m in player losses last month, in the city’s fourth-worst ever month of losses, new data from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has revealed.

Four of the city’s six worst ever months of losses have now occurred since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The city’s worst months for losses now include December 2008 ($11.328m), March 2021 ($11.056m) and August 2018 ($10.98m), March 2022 ($10.956m), December 2021 ($10.883m) and January 2021 ($10.866m).

Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello this week warned the industry was “exploiting the most vulnerable” in the community.

More than $10 million has been lost in the last month alone in the Bourough of Queenslcliffe. Picture: iStock

“Since the start of the year over $30 million has been lost to poker machines in the Geelong LGA alone,” Mr Costello said.

“That works out to roughly $120 lost to the poker machines in Geelong per person in just three months.

Figures released by the VGCCC in February revealed more money was lost to Geelong’s pokies machines in the final half of 2021 than in any other Victorian municipality – largely due to the region’s size and escape from metropolitan Covid-19 restrictions.

The top five Geelong venues for player losses during the six-month period included The Grovedale Hotel ($3,567,621), Sphinx Entertainment Centre ($3,345,118), Lord of the Isles Tavern ($2,942,653), Geelong Combined Leagues Club, which is also known as Buckley’s, ($2,752,899) and the Norlane Hotel ($2,673,045).

The Alliance for Gambling Reform on Tuesday warned Victorians had lost almost $1b to pokies in the past four months.

“It’s staggering that the Victorian Labor Government continues to allow this predatory industry to operate with such reckless disregard for our wellbeing when it is causing so much harm to communities across the state,” Mr Costello said.

“Many of the LGAs with the highest losses are also some of the most stressed communities. It’s clear that the industry’s business model is built upon exploiting the most vulnerable among us to inflate their profits.

“It’s high time we tackled this crisis head-on with measures like universal precommitment, significantly reduced opening hours and abolishing losses disguised as wins.

“We also need well-resourced educational campaigns aimed at bringing awareness to this ongoing crisis. If we are to successfully reduce the harm being caused by poker machines we need to bring the community along with us.”

Originally published as Geelong pokies machines revenue from player losses revealed