Alexandra Humphries | ABC News Online | 14 August 2021   

— but experts see too many loopholes  

Eleven years ago, Robert Kreshl was living on the streets of Hobart, sick with pneumonia and pleurisy, $17,000 in debt and addicted to poker machines.

“It was pretty rough, I was hanging onto this delusional belief that I could win big and that would solve all my financial problems,” Mr Kreshl said.

“My weekly wage was just disappearing down the machines. As soon as I got paid, [I’d go] straight to a gaming venue, and — gone.”

Mr Kreshl estimated his losses over his gambling career were close to $450,000.

He is now a recovering gambler and believes poker machines should come with warning labels.

In an Australian first, Tasmania’s Liquor and Gaming Commission announced the introduction of a mandatory pre-commitment scheme for pokies players, applying to members of premium player programs in the state’s two casinos from next month.

The commission said it would create the strongest harm minimisation environment for members of pokies loyalty programs in the nation.

Players would be required to set a limit on the amount of money they would be prepared to lose over a 12-month period and declare that the amount would be financially sustainable.

If they reached that limit inside the time period, they would be denied access to the loyalty program and any benefits but could gamble elsewhere.

As of June last year, there were 996 loyalty program members in Tasmania.

Victoria already operates a voluntary pre-commitment scheme, but the mandatory nature of Tasmania’s scheme would make it the first of its kind in the country, the commission said.

“We know that people generally underestimate the amount of money they lose when gambling, so having actual data on losses should assist players to set realistic gambling limits,” commission chairwoman Jenny Cranston said.

“Spending up to a realistic limit set by players in a rational and conscious manner before they start to gamble will assist them to avoid chasing losses and spending more than they can afford.”

But Mr Kreshl is sceptical the scheme will do much to prevent problem gambling.

“A compulsive gambler, someone who’s been bitten by the gambling bug, they won’t stop. They don’t think there’s a problem and you can’t convince them,” he said.

“They’ll deceive, they’ll lie, they’ll cheat their way around whatever rules or regulations there are.”

Independent Clark MHR Andrew Wilkie pushed for a mandatory pre-commitment system as part of his agreement with the Gillard government in 2010, and withdrew his support for the government when the gaming reforms announced in 2012 did not include such a system.

He said the scheme announced by Tasmanian authorities was deeply misleading and would give people a false sense of security.

“It’s an entirely unsatisfactory system and why the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission is crowing about it today, I don’t know.”

Mr Wilkie said the scheme would help a small minority of players but did not go nearly far enough.

“If we’re going to have a mandatory pre-commitment system, then it must apply to all players on all machines and it must be a daily limit,” he said.

Independent Nelson MLC Meg Webb said the scheme was positive, but a “baby step” for harm reduction.

“It won’t apply to the vast majority of pokies use in Tasmania, which occurs in pubs and in the normal pokies areas of the casinos,” Ms Webb said.

“This is not an industry-wide measure and will likely remain limited in scope and limited in its usefulness tackling overall levels of pokies addiction in Tasmania.”

She said other measures should be introduced, such as $1 bet limits, slower spin speeds and lower maximum jackpots.

The owner of Tasmania’s two casinos, Federal Group, said it was working with players to implement the changes.

If you or a family member are dealing with gambling addiction, you can contact the National Gambling Help Line on 1800 858 858.