The Pokies Play You campaign is an alliance of Church groups, academics, local governments, and other civil society groups that is seeking to raise awareness of the damaging impact of poker machines in our communities and to call for measures that minimise the risk of gaming. We’re not calling for the abolition of poker machines, but rather for a series of simple reforms, including:
- Design controls on poker machine so that they cannot mislead people into thinking they are winning when in fact they are losing;
- Maximum bets of $1. At present the maximum bet in New South Wales, for example, is $10, which can see gamblers losing up to $1200 an hour;
- Giving local communities a say in where poker machines are located within their community.
To find out more about the Alliance for Gambling Reform, please visit their website.