{"id":23107,"date":"2021-09-29T12:27:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T15:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=23107"},"modified":"2026-04-23T15:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:13:07","slug":"sydney-and-melbourne-see-record-spend-on-online-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/sydney-and-melbourne-see-record-spend-on-online-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Sydney and Melbourne see record spend on online gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A report has revealed that recent lockdowns in the states of Victoria and New South Wales led to a rise in the amount spent on online gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- A\u00a0record amount of money was spent on online gambling<\/strong>\u00a0in Sydney and Melbourne during recent Covid-19 lockdowns. According to a new report,\u00a0spending on gambling websites in both cities rose 329 per cent\u00a0<\/strong>above ordinary levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figure is even higher than that seen during lockdowns in 2020<\/strong>, when spending rose 215 per cent over pre-pandemic levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AlphaBeta and illion, two companies that track consumer spending in Australia, report that the\u00a0average weekly spend on gambling <\/strong>rose from a base record of 100 preceding the lockdowns to 384.3 for the week that finished on September 19, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEO of illion believes the rise was mostly due to the\u00a0closure of casinos<\/a>\u00a0and pubs, which led Australians to look for other gambling options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tasmania introduces loss limits on pokie loyalty programmes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Tasmania Liquor and Gaming Commission<\/strong> has introduced a new measure for members of slot loyalty programmes<\/a> at Tasmania\u2019s two land-based casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the new rules, players must set annual rather than daily limits for losses and must declare their capability to financially sustain their losses. When a player reaches an annual loss limit, casino operators must deny access to the loyalty schemes<\/strong> and their associated benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenny Cranston<\/strong>, who chairs Tasmania\u2019s Liquor and Gaming Commission, said pokie players in Tasmania usually underestimate their losses.<\/strong> The measure aims to prevent regular players from losing more than they can afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, MP Andrew Wilkie<\/strong>, an independent member of the Tasmanian House of Representatives, criticised the measure, arguing it instils an illusory sense of security<\/strong>. He said the limits would only help a small minority of gamblers and that the limit should be daily, not annual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Webb<\/strong>, an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, argued the measure should also cover pubs and the regular areas of the casino floor at land-based casinos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A report has revealed that recent lockdowns in the states of Victoria and New South Wales led to a rise in the amount spent on online gambling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":17661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Online gambling expenditure surged by 329% in Victoria and New South Wales during recent lockdowns, significantly surpassing previous pandemic-era increases, primarily attributed to the closure of land-based venues. Concurrently, Tasmania has implemented new annual loss limits for pokie loyalty programs in its land-based casinos, a measure drawing criticism for its scope and perceived effectiveness.","focusai_entities":"AlphaBeta, illion, Tasmania Liquor and Gaming Commission, Jenny Cranston, Andrew Wilkie, Megan Webb","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.95), affiliate_publisher (0.7), product_ux (0.75), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.75), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Online Growth Sustainability","query":"What long-term implications does the sustained 329% surge in online GGR during lockdowns have for the Australian iGaming market's structural shift post-pandemic, particularly concerning B2C operator investment and regulatory oversight?"},{"label":"Tasmania Policy Efficacy","query":"How do Tasmania's new annual loss limits for pokie loyalty programs align with best-practice responsible gambling governance frameworks, and what are the projected NGR impacts for land-based casino operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,28,158],"tags":[229,4138],"class_list":["post-23107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-casino-news","category-slider-home","tag-gambling","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23107","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=23107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23130,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23107\/revisions\/23130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}