Canberra allows fully automated table games

The Attorney General tabled a legislation that allows 200 poker machines and 60 fully automated table games.

Australia,- Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay, signed yesterday the legislation that allows Aquis Canberra casino to offer 200 poker machines as well as 60 fully automated table games. The decision ends the long-held monopoly that only allowed Canberra’s clubs to offer pokies.

As reported earlier this week, the legislation forces gamblers to decide upfront how much they will gamble. Despite the attempts at reducing the number of pokies in clubs, the government passed a legislation this week that cuts 50 percent the taxes that seven clubs pay for the machines. The government claims that the move is set to help clubs expand their activities outside gambling. Both clubs and anti-gambling activists are strongly opposed to the measure.

Gamblers will only be able to $5 a spin on the poker machines, half of what they’re allowed to bet in clubs. The Greens said that the measure would count with their support only if the spins were limited to $1, and the spokesman Shane Rattenbury said that he was open to a figure above $1 and below $5.

As the bill didn’t mention the tax rates, it is still uncertain if the casino will face the same tax regime as clubs, which pay the lowest gambling taxes in Australia. The measure also gives no details regarding the money that the gambling facility has to direct to the problem gambling fund.