{"id":20639,"date":"2021-07-23T14:47:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T14:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=20639"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:19:12","slug":"south-australia-reports-record-player-losses-on-pokies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/south-australia-reports-record-player-losses-on-pokies","title":{"rendered":"South Australia reports record player losses on &#8220;pokies&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Player losses on South Australian slot machines reached AU$769.87bn for the year to July, the highest figure in 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australia.- The South Australian regulator has reported that\u00a0<strong>player losses on slots reached AU$769.87bn<\/strong>\u00a0between January and July of the current year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The record amount represents\u00a0<strong>a 13 per cent increase when compared to pre-pandemic levels<\/strong>. It comes despite a <strong>reduction in the number of machines<\/strong>, which are gradually being retired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to ABC,<strong>\u00a0there are currently 11,697 active machines in 486 venues in the state<\/strong>, but that doesn&#8217;t include Adelaide Casino, which has more than 1,000 gaming machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slot revenue was<strong> seriously affected by Covid-19 countermeasures\u00a0<\/strong>and lockdowns but rebounded when venues reopened. Players lost more than AU$70m in July and August 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anti-gambling campaigners have expressed concerns. Authorities have been working to increase the use of gambling harm reduction tools, including the introduction of\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/south-australia-gaming-rooms-to-test-facial-recognition-technology\">facial recognition technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elsewhere, Australia is working on proposals to\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/australia-cashless-gambling-proposal-gains-support\">control gambling behaviour<\/a>. The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority\u2019s (ILGA) has told Crown Resorts to implement\u00a0<strong>cashless casino gaming.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, a study by the\u00a0<strong>University of Sydney\u2019s Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic (GTRC)<\/strong>\u00a0has reported that\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/study-finds-australians-dont-use-gambling-harm-reduction-tools\">gambling harm minimisation tools<\/a>\u00a0implemented by the government have had little impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The research focused on&nbsp;<strong>self-exclusion<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>deposit limit tools<\/strong>. It found that the first tool affected online gambling behaviour but that players don\u2019t use the tool if it\u2019s voluntary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for deposit limits,\u00a0<strong>6,000 people who used the tool stuck to the limits\u00a0<\/strong>for about a year, while one in four decided to change their betting limits to make them less restrictive. One in eight gamblers unsubscribed from the programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Player losses on South Australian slot machines reached AU$769.87bn for the year to July, the highest figure in 15 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":18603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South Australian slot machine player losses reached a 15-year high of AU$769.87bn for January-July, a 13% increase over pre-pandemic levels, despite a reduction in active machines. This surge in GGR highlights regulatory challenges, with recent research indicating limited efficacy of current harm minimisation tools like voluntary self-exclusion and deposit limits. Authorities are exploring new measures, including facial recognition and cashless gaming mandates for operators.","focusai_entities":"South Australian regulator, ABC, Adelaide Casino, Anti-gambling campaigners, New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, ILGA, Crown Resorts, University of Sydney\u2019s Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, GTRC","focusai_location":"South Australia, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney, Adelaide","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), product_ux (0.75), tech_data (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Efficacy Assessment","query":"Given the record GGR and the University of Sydney's findings on the limited impact of current harm minimisation tools, what specific policy adjustments are the South Australian regulator and ILGA considering to enhance responsible gambling outcomes and mitigate systemic risks?"},{"label":"Operator Tech Investment","query":"How will the mandate for cashless gaming and the introduction of facial recognition technology impact the CapEx and OpEx for major land-based operators like Crown Resorts, and what are the projected timelines for full implementation across their Australian portfolios?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-finance-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20645,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20639\/revisions\/20645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}