Australia: new owners of Lasseters Casino add extra pokies

The number of poker machines in the Northern Territory has risen more than two-fold since Lasseters Casino changed hands.

Australia.- Quilter Assets has sold its Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs, and the new owner has added 132 new pokies, more than doubling the casino’s number of slot machines.

Quilter sold the casino to Iris Capital for AU$105m after operating the casino for 24 years. The Lasseters casino now has 320 pokies, which makes Australia’s Northern Territory the state with the second-largest number of machines per resident.

According to local media, the Northern Territory has nearly one machine for every 94 individuals. Only New South Wales surpasses the number, with one machine for every 88 people.

Current laws do not require casinos in the Northern Territory to submit an application for an increase in the number of pokies.

In April, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade revealed slot machine player losses had reached AU$25m (US$19.03m) in July 2020, up 52 per cent year-on-year.

Although other jurisdictions in Australia also reported increased player losses on slot machines, none were close to that of the Northern Territory.

However, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) said compliance officers in the Northern Territory have to complete compliance checks regarding responsible gambling, gaming equipment and the conduct of gaming.

As regards other Australian states, Tasmania has a slot machine for every 150 people while the state of Victoria has one for every 228 people.

In Western Australia, only Crown Perth is allowed to have slot machines. The state has just poker machine for every 1,069 people.