In Australia and New Zealand, all casinos and gambling venues must offer exclusion programs. Whether banned by the casino operator or by themselves, operators must agree to keep problem gamblers off their premises. However, Sky City has had problems keeping its end of the bargain, allowing over 250 excluded gamblers play casino games.
Over the course of 2011, 265 banned gamblers have been allowed to play at Sky City Casinos across New Zealand. 201 had been banned by the casino operator while 64 had taken part in a self-exclusion program. Regardless of how the bans had been enacted, Sky City sill had a responsibility to keep the gamblers out, but ultimately failed to do so.
With this news reaching the public, critics of the Sky City conference centre deal have more reason to complain. They believe that the city should not agree to relax gambling laws if the casino operator cannot deal with problem gamblers. It will be an unhealthy move for the city at large, and critics believe that Sky City should correct its problem gambling tactics before it is allowed more table games and pokies.
