Record $3bn lost: Victoria’s worst pokie hotspots revealed

A record-breaking $3.02 billion was lost on Victorian pub and club pokies last financial year, with these areas the hardest hit.

A record-breaking $3.02 billion was lost on Victorian pub and club pokies last financial year, with Brimbank and Casey punters taking the biggest hits.

New data from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) reveals about $175.9 million was lost in the City of Brimbank alone, up 21 per cent on 2018-19, before the pandemic.

It was followed by the City of Casey at $159,240,363, up 20 per cent.

And the startling state figures do not include casino pokies as they do not have to report in the same way – a fact Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello called “extraordinary” given recent royal commissions investigating casinos and money laundering.

This month, the Victorian Government introduced planned reforms to reduce gambling harm, including forcing all players to use a dedicated card rather than cash and set loss limits, slowing down the speed of games by increasing the time between spins, reducing the amount of money that can be loaded onto cards, and standardising opening and closing hours so gamblers cannot hop between venues for uninterrupted play.

VGCCC chair Fran Thorn said the commission would closely monitor the implementation of these measures once they were introduced into law.

“Mandatory carded play, which will link play to patrons’ identities, and reducing the amount of money that can be loaded into an electronic gaming machine are also key anti-money laundering measures that will contribute to ensuring the integrity of Victoria’s gambling industry,” she said.

Tim Costello says gambling remains popular even during tough economic times. Picture: Alan Barber

Rev Costello said the Alliance also recommended restricted advertising, and changes to “deceptive” gaming machine tactics – specifically “losses disguised as wins” with celebratory lights and music, and the illusion of “near misses” in the way the symbols presented on the screen.

The VGCCC data showed the amount of money spent on pokies had continued to increase despite cost of living pressures.

Rev Costello said gambling was “cost of living proof” and always did well in “tough times”.

“It is because you feel hopeless already. You don’t know how you are going to pay the rent or mortgage and the promise of maybe a win at the pokies is hope,” he said.

“We know it particularly targets those feeling hopeless or lonely and we see that particularly if you are a woman and middle aged.”

Nationally, the pubs and clubs landscape is slowly moving away from pokies, as hoteliers prioritise people over profits.

Alliance for Gambling Reform chief executive Carol Bennett said pokie dens had increasingly become culturally and socially unacceptable.

“New and innovative business models are being embraced by many venues which find that they are receiving positive public support,” she said.

“Of course, state governments want to be seen to be reducing poker machine caps but their reliance on pokies revenue has resulted in a slow pace of change.”

“It’s like heroin – unless you get help, you can’t stop.”

Carolyn Crawford had never had so much as a parking ticket before stealing $400,000 from her employer over seven years to fund her gambling addiction.

At age 64, she was sentenced to 18 months jail.

Now 71, she has paid back all the money but has been left with nothing – no property, no superannuation, no inheritance, and nothing to leave her two sons.

Still, Ms Crawford considers herself lucky.

“I can’t believe a little coloured machine has done so much damage to my brain,” she said.

“Some people have taken their lives because of them.”

Two-thirds of the women in prison with her were there because of gambling, according to Ms Crawford, and many were disowned by their families.

“That’s sad because it’s not the person, it’s the brain being taken over by this horrible predatory industry,” she said.

“I am one of the lucky ones because I still have my family.”

Carolyn Crawford is a reformed gambler who now helps problem gamblers recover from their addiction. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Ms Crawford’s habit began when her husband left her and a man she was interested in romantically began inviting her to play pokies.

She was lonely and wanted to spend time with him but was soon addicted to the dopamine hit that came with the colours, lights, music and spins of the machines.

“Once I was addicted, time didn’t matter, winning didn’t matter – it was about being in front of that machine,” she said.

“I used to get p*ssed off when I got free spins because I wasn’t the one pushing the button.

“I went most days and most weekends and wouldn’t wake up thinking ‘How is my dad, who was dying with cancer?’ or ‘How are my grandkids?’. I’d be thinking, ‘Where am I going tonight?’.

“In my mind, addiction was a needle in your arm or something you swallowed, not a light in front of your eyes.

“It’s like heroin – unless you get help, you can’t stop.”

Ms Crawford has been out of prison for about seven years and sworn herself off pokies.

But last month she lapsed for the first time and sat down at a machine.

“I’d had a bad day,” she said.

“Luckily I was on the self-exclusion list and they asked me to leave.”

A national self-exclusion register, BetStop, is set to launch August 21, allowing people to ban themselves from betting and gambling across the country for at least three months and as long as a lifetime.

For people who opt in, wagering providers will be required to close all betting accounts and must not let them place a bet, let them open a new account, or send them marketing messages.