Gambling with pokies: Melbourne gamblers plug $2.6bn into pokie machines amid record losses in the outer suburbs

VICTORIAN AFL clubs are continuing their love affair with poker machines with $94 million pouring in from the slots, as gambling also rises in outer suburbs.

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VICTORIAN AFL clubs are continuing their love affair with poker machines as punters lose $94 million down the slots.

New figures show 17 venues operated by AFL clubs were raking in a “disturbingly large” amount of money, according to the Alliance for Gambling Reform.

Hawthorn was the biggest winner with punters losing $23.29m, up from $22.58m last year.

Carlton was second with 290 machines raking in $17.6 million.

Essendon supporters lost $11.85 million but it was one of the only top poker machine profiting clubs to see a drop in slot revenue.

Collingwood, Melbourne, Geelong, Richmond and Western Bulldogs also made millions of dollars from poker machines.

Tim Costello with poker machines in Sydney.

Alliance for Gambling Reform Tim Costello urged clubs to dump the “addictive poker machines”.

“Hawthorn and all other AFL clubs should get out of the pokies misery business — football is a wealthy industry which does not need to prey on vulnerable people in parts of Melbourne suffering above average stress and hardship,” he said.

“Victorians concerned about gambling should think hard about taking out a second club membership with North Melbourne to voice their support for the Roos which have now been pokies-free for a decade without any other Victorian club following their honourable lead.”

The latest figures were released by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation and showed overall pokie losses had dropped to $2.61 billion last financial year in Victoria, as part of a five year trend.

However the gambling epidemic appears to be thriving in pockets of the state with suburban punters pouring a record amounts of money into machines at pubs and clubs in Melbourne’s growth corridors.

Losses rose in the City of Casey from $124 million to $127 million.

Dandenong, the City of Whittlesea and Greater Geelong were also among the top Local Government Areas impacted with players gambling away between $118 and $115 million.

Punters using machines in Darebin lost $81 million followed by Melbourne’s CBD, which clocked $80 million.

The City of Brimbank clocked the highest losses of $134 million put, which had dropped from $143m last year after the local council has attempted to address the crisis.

Last month the Andrews Government announced pokie machine reform saying they had put a freeze on the current state cap of 27,372 machines and 105 per venue until 2042.

However, they also doubled entitlements to 20 years and club venue operators had their maximum ­machine caps increased from 420 to 840.

Consumer ­Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Minister Marlene Kairouz spruiked the changes saying gambling harm was being addressed.

“Not a single extra gaming machine will be allowed in Victoria for the next 25 years, helping limit gambling-related harm in our community,’’ she said.

“These reforms also provide certainty to pubs, clubs and hotels across Victoria, and have been informed by an extensive review that included more than 200 public submissions.”

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