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Bigger Poker Machine Bets Feared
The minimum amount gamblers can put into some poker machines in Australia could rise to $10 under a plan to modify machines so they no longer accept $5 notes.
The idea, in an effort to avoid the high cost of enabling the machines to accept the new Federation $5 note, has outraged antigambling advocates, who said it could increase the amount of money lost by gamblers.
In a report by the Sydney Morning Herald it is understood Canterbury Bankstown Leagues Club has no gaming machines that accept coins. A Uniting Church leader, Rev Harry Herbert, said the move came as the government was trying to stop people being forced to put large amounts of money into poker machines. "It simply means that people spend their money more quickly".
It would reportedly take several months to change the software of New South Wales 100,728 gaming machines. Mr Herbert said that there was a danger that the block on $5 notes could become permanent. A spokesman for the Gaming Minister, Richard Face, said the technical standards and the use of note acceptors were under review, and the proposal would be investigated.
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