Pokies hit the pause button

Feilding gaming venues are set to press pause on their pokies after gamblers spent nearly $1 million in the area in three months.

Three gaming venues in Feilding will shut down their pokie machines for two hours on Wednesday, between 3pm and 5pm, as part of the Problem Gambling Foundation’s Pause the Pokies event.

During the break, there will be family activities at the Feilding Civic Centre.

According to Department of Internal Affairs statistics, in the three months ending June 2019, more than $900,000 was spent across 78 gaming machines in five venues in Feilding and Rongotea.

Four of the venues are in Feilding, with one in Rongotea.

The figures show money being spent on gaming machines in the district is going up. In the three months to June last year, the spend was just over $760,000, while the same period the year prior was close to $745,000.

Empire Tavern, Feilding Hotel and Stockyard at Denbigh Hotel are participating in the event but The Drover’s Bar and Kitchen won’t be turning off its machines.

Its owner, Bill Mclean, said he didn’t feel the need to participate as the bar already closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Stockyard at Denbigh Hotel was the first venue to agree to turn the machines off. Owner Nick Naresh was happy to be involved but was concerned those wanting to gamble might just go to other venues.

Bonnie Lovich-howitt is the only gambling counsellor in the region and has clients in Palmerston North and Whanganui. Since moving to Manawatu¯ from Auckland at the start of the year, she has dealt with about 80 clients.

She said it was ‘‘absolutely amazing’’ to see three venues willing to participate in the pokies pause.

In other areas, it was hard to get buy-in from any venues.

The greatest impact gambling had on the people she worked with, aside from the cost, was how gamblers fixated on their addiction. ‘‘It is making people absent from their life and family, because mentally they are at the pokie machine.’’

Lovich-howitt, who is employed by the Problem Gambling Foundation and working with Whakapai Hauora, said one of the issues in Feilding was the proximity of the venues.

All were within easy walking distance of one another.

She said many of the people she worked with in the region were employed, contrary to what most people believed about gamblers.

Lovich-howitt said all gambling venues in the country were invited to participate in the pokies pause, but Rongotea Tavern owner Steve Boyens said he wasn’t aware of it so hadn’t considered taking part.

A Problem Gambling Foundation spokeswoman said the national spend on pokies to June this year was more than $920,000,000 and was increasing each year despite a reduction in the number of venues and pokies.

The national spend on pokies to June this year was more than $920,000,000. Problem Gambling Foundation