REMOVING 165 poker machines last year from venues in the municipality of Monash has put the brakes on the amount gamblers are spending on pokies, Victorian Commission of Gambling Regulation figures show.
But groups worried about problem gambling doubt whether the slowdown will stop compulsive gambling. The State Government in 2006 ordered
poker machine venues in Chadstone, Mulgrave, Oakleigh and Clayton to reduce their pokies by December 18 last year. As a result, the number of machines in Monash municipality dropped by 165, from 1150 to 985.
In January-April, poker machine spending dropped by 7per cent compared with the same time last year - halting a steady rise in spending by gamblers over the past five years. The Matthew Flinders Taverner in Chadstone bore a quarter of the Monash area poker machine cuts, removing 46 of its 105 machines.
The venue has applied to the VCGR to boost its poker machine numbers to 80, a move that Monash Council opposes.
Ross Blair-Holt, director of the ALH Group which manages the venue, wouldn't reveal how much revenue the business had lost, but said the losses didn't threaten it.
"We're hurt, but all the venues are affected out there. If people can't get on their favourite machine, they will go somewhere else.''
Monash Electronic Gaming Taskforce chairwoman Joy Banerji said it was "more than a coincidence'' that there was an impact on gaming revenue
since the Matthew Flinders Taverner's poker machine numbers were nearly halved.
"From what I gather, that particular venue was generating quite an amount of revenue.''
But Cr Banerji didn't think regional caps were curbing problem gambling.
"I'm still a bit sceptical about caps.
"People who have control of their [gambling] behaviour will find something else to do, but someone who's really hooked on it will find somewhere else to gamble.''
Gambler's Help Eastern manager Bernie Durkin said the spending drop wasn't significant.
"What we know is that roughly 50per cent of people gambling around poker machines at any one time have a problem with their gambling.
"About a 5 per cent drop doesn't feel like enough.''
Interchurch Gambling Taskforce spokesman Mark Zirnsak said factors such as rising petrol prices could be having an effect on pokies spending.
Government spokesman Michael Sinclair said regional caps were an important part of the Government's overall strategy to combat problem gambling.
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