Japan to reduce pachinko winning limit

Pachinko winning limit could be reduced as slot machines and gaming services are arriving to Japan.

Japan.- The government of Japan is planning a reduction of gaming addiction by adding further control to current legal pachinko games. According to local newspapers, maximum winning limit of pachinko would be reduced under a comprehensive project by the National Police Agency (NPA).

As international companies and the Japanese government are investing all their efforts in the expected casino development, new measures to prevent gambling addiction have been proposed. The lower pachinko winning limit is set to combat gambling problem among Japanese residents. Furthermore, pachinko regulators could also be implemented to upcoming slot machines.

Currently, the maximum winning limit of a pachinko game is US$879k (¥100k), whilst the NPA project would reduce it to lower than US$439k (¥50k). The amount is calculated on an average of four-hour game.

Earlier this month, the Union Gaming stated that the pachinko industry could benefit from an IR-bill delay as it has experienced a decline due to the NPA “continuously stiffening regulations.” The gaming bill has taken “center stage” and Union Gaming thinks that it has put additional pressure on the NPA to make pachinko more restrictive.

“In the now-more-likely event that the IR bill doesn’t come to fruition this year (and possibly next year too) due to the LDP’s political fortunes, we would view this as a positive for the pachinko industry as it could result in a regulatory reprieve,” the analysts said.