The Australian Gambling Research Center (AGRC) submitted a new paper for discussion where it was suggested that pre-commitment systems should be integrated into slot machines, known in the Land Down Under as “pokies”. The AGRC, which operates as a part of the Australian government’s Institute of Family Studies, recommends in its paper the introduction of a system that would enforce compulsory limits on the amounts of money players can spend on slot machines in landbased gambling establishments.
Doctor Angela Rintoul, a member of the AGRC team of researchers explained that the recommendation involves a system that would demand all players to insert a device that would further their identification, a card, for instance. Without doing so, the customers will not be able to play at a given slot machine at all.
The idea behind these compulsory pre-commitment systems is to restrict the amounts players lose on slots to specific, more acceptable sums. The said loss limits may be determined by the players themselves but the system can also be used to track how much time any given slot fan has spent spinning the machine’s reels.
Optional Pre-Commitment Systems Proved Inefficient
The AGRC researcher specified that three of the country’s states have already put these pre-commitment schemes to the test in order to evaluate their efficiency. The three states in question are South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland. According to the researchers, Victoria, the most densely populated state in the country, introduced a similar spending-limit system for slot machines back in 2015, but only it was optional instead of compulsory.
The system proved to be inefficient as only 1% of the slot machine players agreed to use it voluntarily as became evident by a research conducted by the AGRC itself. According to Dr. Rintoul, the inefficiency of the optional system resulted from the fact that players were able to continue gambling after reaching their loss limit by simply choosing not to insert their identifiable cards. Hence, the researchers believe that enforcing a compulsory card system for spendings will render greater efficiency. Slot fans will have no other option but to quit playing after they reach their binding loss limit. It makes sense that this approach would significantly reduce the amounts they lose.
Compulsory Limit Systems May Help Problem Gamblers
The researcher also commented that some Australian players wish to restrict the sums they spend on the slots but many are unable to do it on their own amid the growing compulsive gambling problem in the country. These identifiable devices will allow players who find it difficult to control themselves to limit their gambling expenditures and determine what loss amount they are comfortable with.
Needless to say, the introduction of such pre-commitment systems will work to the disadvantage of brick-and-mortar gambling operators in Australia, which is why many of them showed no interest in using such loss-limit schemes back in 2010. At the time, the growing number of compulsive slot players in the country sparked heated debates as to the necessity of introducing limit systems in gambling venues. Dr. Rintoul explained the gambling operators’ reluctance to enforce such measures with the potential decrease in revenue these systems were likely to cause.
Of course, many Australian residents speak in favor of the pre-commitment systems, especially those who have battled or are still suffering from the consequences of compulsive gambling. Some people end up losing immense amounts of money unable to control themselves or their pokies spendings. As a result, they gamble on a daily basis, end up in debts, and lose their ability to lead normal lives because they are completely engulfed in their obsession.
Many of these players comment that if such spending-limit systems were in place when they were battling with compulsive gambling, their problem would not have escalated to such massive proportions. Some are even certain they would have opted in for using the system from the moment they sensed their problem was escalating if only such features had been available on slot machines. Because of this, the researchers at the AGRC call for the system’s introduction and insist the government needs to recognize the issue and enforce the necessary level of restrictions and regulations.
