Fears for gamblers as casino scales back
Much-heralded Queenstown gaming centre was billed as attracting overseas VIPS – but, writes Hamish McNeilly, it failed to fire.
CRITICS say a struggling SkyCity casino that opened to much fanfare in Queenstown is inching towards becoming a ‘‘pokie den’’.
An application to the Gambling Commission shows SkyCity Wharf Casino has been struggling financially since it acquired Otago Casinos Ltd in 2013 and has now successfully applied to relax the rule requiring it to have tables.
The company cited continual financial losses at the boutique casino – one of two the company operates in Queenstown – as one of the reasons for the move.
The application was opposed by The Problem Gambling Foundation and the Salvation Army, which feared that without blackjack, roulette and baccarat tables its gambling options would reduce to electronic gaming machines.
At the time of the acquisition then SkyCity chief executive Nigel Morrison said the casino would attract overseas VIP players.
However, as part of its submissions, SkyCity said that in an eight-month period only four at the Wharf Casino were profitable. ‘‘The inconsistent demand for table gaming at Wharf Casino means it is not practical to manage this activity in a manner which harnesses the profitable periods only.’’
SkyCity’s application said it needed to alleviate its continuing losses by reducing trading hours, opening at 5pm rather than 11am, and relaxing the requirement to have at least one table open for play by 5pm.
For a table to operate, three fulltime staff had to be rostered on, with the company arguing it should have more flexibility to offer table games when required.
The application was approved by the commission for a period of 12 months, after which it would be reviewed.
Andree Froude, of the Problem Gambling Foundation, said removing the requirement to operate at least one table game, ‘‘will effectively turn the Wharf from a casino into a pokie den with 74 machines’’.
Pokies in a casino environment with fewer staff around could lead to an increase in harmful gambling, she said.
Unlike pokie operators, casinos do not have a requirement to return 40 per cent of money from those machines to the community in the form of grants.
Froude believed SkyCity could be gearing toward a move to consolidate its two Queenstown casinos.
In its written submissions the Salvation Army cautioned against establishing an electronic gaming machine-only venue because pokie machines were the most harmful gambling product and added no value to the community.
It also argued reduced staffing could lower the standard of host responsibility. SkyCity Queenstown general manager Jonathan Browne said the venue remained ‘‘very much a casino’’ and that $122,000 was donated to its charitable trust, in turn going towards 52 community groups.
The dispensation from the Gambling Commission gave the Wharf casino a ‘‘level of operating flexibility over table games during extremely quiet trading periods such as shoulder seasons, where there is limited customer demand,’’ he said.
Although the commission approved a trial, tables were still operated at both SkyCity Queenstown casinos, he said.
Browne said the company’s Queenstown operations remained profitable but there was opportunity to grow the business and provide facilities more in keeping with the ‘‘town’s growing international stature’’.
However, in approving the application the commission noted that under SkyCity’s proposal the Queenstown casino might never deploy table games.
‘ This will effectively turn the Wharf from a casino into a pokie den with 74 machines.’ ANDREE FROUDE