Gamblers‘ $60m jackpot

Pokie, keno spending falls during COVID closures

QUEENSLAND gamblers have backed one winner with the tight coronavirus restrictions – they’ve saved $60 million on the punt.

State Government data for March shows gambling spending dropped 18 per cent ($60,723,123) on the same time last year.

Closures for licenced venues and casinos were introduced nationwide on March 23 as part of the COVID-19 restrictions, but many smaller venues chose to close earlier. In the past 12 months, Gold Coasters spent $344 million on gaming machines.

The latest figures show a 30-35 per cent drop in spending on keno, pokies and wagering while casino spending jumped by 45 per cent in March – the best intake for casinos for that month in five years.

Charles Livingstone, head of Gambling and Social Determinants Unit and senior lecturer of School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash, said a number of factors could be responsible for the casino spending increase.

“We could have seen a wave of people move from smaller venues into casinos as smaller venues closed earlier,” Dr Livingstone said. “It might be that people knew the lockdowns were coming and decided to go all out. There may also be an element of laundering.”

Former Clubs Queensland communications manager Laura Bos said community clubs noticed a customer decline in early March.

“Clubs are the hub of the local community, so when the community started social distancing it is easy to see how the numbers played out in March, before the total closures,” said Ms Bos, now managing director at Patrocinium. “In terms of the revenue going forward no doubt communities that rely on the support of their community club are going to suffer.”

Gambling rehab service Day Hab said more clients had come through the doors since restrictions began easing.

“People can’t believe how much money they have saved, but now want to keep their good habits going as restrictions ease,” a spokesman said.

Day Hab has a clinic in Melbourne and is waiting to reopen its outpatient clinic on the Gold Coast.

Alliance for Gambling Reform executive director Tony Mohr said while there had been a shift toward online gambling, it was not huge.

“Online gambling has increased by a smaller margin,” he said. “The online is nothing compared to pokie machines.

“Outlets to gamble aren't necessarily interchangeable for addicts. In all, the reaction has been a positive one. It can be a very good argument for gambling reform.”