Banning poker machine trickery
October 1st, 2008 by KrisI am currently drafting legislation that will address the design features of poker machines that falsely entice people into believing a win is not far away. From my extensive research I have found there is a pattern to many machines that have winning symbols coming up on four of the five reels, which lures players into believing the fifth symbol will soon come up, but it is could be only a one in 100 chance. This is a trick in the design of poker machines which has players parting with their hard earned personal and family dollars. My legislation will ban this kind of trickery in the design of poker machines. The cost on State social welfare, health and crime prevention resources far outweighs the revenue raised from these addictive machines … and that is before we talk about the human cost.
In response to a recent Senate Inquiry into poker machines, I made a submission outlining my concerns and providing some recommendations. To view see: Senate Inquiry Submission
Posted in The Big Picture, National Issues, State Issues |