SLOTS SHOCKER

Geelong loses $21m in two months Venue wants to open until 3am Like heroin, says Costello

GEELONG’S pokies swallowed more than $21 million in just two months, with August the third worst month for losses on record.

The region’s gamblers pumped $10,469,521 into poker machines in July and $10,729,594 in August the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation’s latest electronic gaming expenditure statistics reveal.

Players only gambled away more cash in a single month in December 2008 and August 2018 — recording losses of $11,328,218 and $10,980,245 respectively.

The alarming results suggest Geelong could be on track to lose even more in 2019-20 than last financial year, which recorded a record-breaking loss of $120.4 million.

On average, gamblers lost more than $10 million to pokies every month for 2018-19 — or $329,823 every day of the year — bringing the region’s total pokies losses to $2.475 billion since the machines were introduced in 1992.

Meanwhile, the Fyansford Hotel has lodged an application with the City of Greater Geelong to amend its planning permit to extend its closing time to 3am.

Ahead of Gambling Harm Reduction Week, which starts today, Alliance for Gambling Reform spokesman Tim Costello said the State Government must take action against gambling harm.

Mr Costello likened gaming machines to heroin saying they were “built for addiction”.

“These machines come with great harm and the greater the losses the greater the harm,” Mr Costello said. “That is marriage stress, kids going hungry, bankruptcy and in some cases there will be suicide.”

Mr Costello praised Geelong Cats president Colin Carter and chief executive Brian Cook for its landmark ban on gambling advertisements at GMHBA Stadium and move to sell its remaining Point Cook gaming venue.

But he said the community also needed to take a stance against pokies venues trying to increase their opening hours.

“There’s been some reform … but our blind spot is pokies where America’s blind spot is guns,” Mr Costello said. “We have been told that this industry has matured. We know that we have the greatest gambling losses of any country in the world per head. It hasn’t matured, it’s got worse.”

Last financial year Fyansford Hotel gamers lost more than $1.6 million on the venue’s 27 machines.