Pubs, clubs turn software on problem gamblers
Facial recognition could soon be used as a matter of course in pubs and clubs to prevent problem gamblers using pokies.
Gaming Machine Association chairman Bruce Robertson said cloud technology was making it viable for its members to use facial recognition.
Robertson said a system called The Guardian, developed by Kiwi companies Torutek and Coms Systems, was being trialled in 10 pubs and clubs and would be extended to another 10 venues soon.
The Guardian scans people entering gaming rooms and checks their images against photographs that problem gamblers have voluntarily submitted and which are stored in the cloud.
If there is a match, staff members can be alerted ‘‘within seconds’’ to check the person’s identity and ask them to leave.
Andrew envisaged the trial could pave the way for a ‘‘national database’’ of photographs of problem gamblers that would make it possible to exclude people from multiple pubs and clubs in one step.
Pubs and clubs are regulated separately from casinos, which have also tested similar technology.
SkyCity Entertainment Group trialled facial recognition to block problem gamblers from using its pokies in 2013 and spokeswoman Rebecca Foote said it was preparing to carry out another trial.
Coms Systems director Paul Andrew said The Guardian would be built into gaming management systems in ‘‘venues across the country in the coming year’’ and forecast it would be a game changer.
Coms Systems managed about half of New Zealand’s 1200 gaming venues, he said.
Robertson said a full rollout would depend on the Health Ministry ‘‘coming on board’’ with the proposed national database. ‘‘But we are proving the technology, and that is looking very promising.’’
The focus would initially be on larger pubs and clubs, he said.
‘‘It is probably going to be less necessary in a small country pub, where they have got two or three machines and every customer is known.’’ A bankrupt Auckland developer who left creditors millions of dollars out of pocket has a Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and property in some of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs to his name. Stephen Robert Kelly was made bankrupt in October – the second time since 2011. Earlier this month his business, Chelsea View Estate, was put into liquidation. Liquidator Paul Vlasic said creditors were owed millions of dollars. One contractor who was owed $800,000 said he had had to close his business and work as a carpenter. Kelly said he had no comment. He was first made bankrupt in 2008 with personal debts exceeding $28 million. Assets of bankrupts, including property, transfer to an official assignee so that they can be sold to help repay debts. A Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment spokesman said the official assignee was not previously aware of Kelly owning property in Australia.