NZ Introduces Gambling Reforms

The New Zealand government has introduced new gambling reforms that will encourage gaming operators to return more pokie machine profit back into the community. The new laws will greatly benefit community organizations, providing them with more funding.

Currently, gaming machine operators are required to provide 37% of their profits to community groups. Internal Affairs Minister Chris Tremain states that the new reforms will ensure that pokies donate at least 40% of their profits. In the future, he would like to see this increase to 45%.

“I know it’s possible because many societies are already exceeding this amount,” Tremain says. “The top six societies average 40.5 per cent pay-out, with one of the top societies paying out 46 per cent.’

According to the New Zealand Herald, for every 1% increase, the gambling market will donate an additional $7 million in profits to local sports, education, arts and culture initiatives. This will greatly benefit the local community, and remove some of the stigma that gaming machines do more harm than good.

The new reforms will also ensure transparency when it comes to pokie grants. This will prevent gaming trusts from misappropriate funds and providing grants to organizations that are in eligible.

New Pokie Grant Reforms Introduced

In New Zealand, local politicians have introduced new reforms that will change the way pokie grants are distributed. For the past few years, several pokie trusts and pub owners have been caught misappropriating funds, and local politicians want to cut back on these crimes.

“We have examples of conflicts of interest that are at the root of some of the current investigations that are going on so there’s many examples without specifically naming individual ones,” says Chris Tremain, Minister of Internal Affairs.

Many different types of pokie grant fraud have taken place over the years. Many clubs and trusts provide pokie funds to individuals that are not eligible for grants while other organizations withhold their funding altogether. The goal of the new reform will prevent this from happening by making the system more transparent. Since more information about these transactions will be made public, pub owners and trusts will be more reluctant to circumvent the system.

At the moment, few details have been revealed – but we do know that these reforms will be implemented along with the Harm Reduction Bill. As more details about the legislation are introduced, we will keep you updated.

New Zealand Gambling Spending Expected to Increase

In New Zealand, health experts are concerned that gambling spending will continue to increase over the course of the next few years. Despite politicians’ efforts to reduce the potential harms of gambling, experts believe that Kiwis will continue to spend more money on betting, pokies and the lottery.

The experts believe that lottery spending will increase by 8% from now until 2016. The expansion of the local lottery has encouraged more players to spend more money on tickets for draws as well as instant win games, and that trend will continue in the future. The offer of bigger and better jackpots worth multimillions will also ensure that lottery spending continues to rise.

Casino gambling is another major concern, with the team of researchers expecting spending to increase by 2.3% from now until 2016. There is an increasing number of gambling opportunities for players, especially with the news that SkyCity Auckland will be receiving 230 new poker machines as part of its convention centre deal. This will result in an increase of 8% on the number of pokies in New Zealand casinos, which is expected to lead to a rise in gambling spending as well as problem gambling rates.

Auckland Researchers Conduct World’s Largest Problem Gambling Trial

In New Zealand, problem gambling rates are on the rise. Local researchers want to determine the best possible way to treat gambling addiction, so they are currently studying the epidemic. AUT University has recently published a study called ‘The Effectiveness of Problem Gambling Brief Telephone Interventions: A Randomised Controlled Trial’, which involved over 400 gambling addicts.

This is one of the first studies of its kind to involve real problem gamblers rather than volunteers. Problem gamblers who called into a local helpline were provided with one of four options, and the research team followed up with the individuals afterwards. The options were:

(1) the helpline standard treatment
(2) a single motivational interview
(3) a single motivational interview plus a cognitive behavioural self-help book
(4) the interview plus the workbook plus four follow-up motivational telephone interviews

While the research team expected the recipients of the more intensive treatment to fare better, all participants experienced similar results. According to Professor Max Abbott, who lead the study, all forms of problem gambling intervention are effective.

So, the key is for problem gamblers to seek help. With some assistance, they can overcome their issues – but they have to be presented with treatment options from friends, family members or even casino staff.

100 Billionth Hand Promotion at Poker Stars

Yet another milestone is coming up at PokerStars, as the renowned online poker room prepares to deal its 100 billionth hand. Leading up to the milestone hand, PokerStars will be providing players with the chance to take part in a wide range of promotions that offer up generous prizes.

As was the case with all other milestone hands at PokerStars, the company will be awarding promotional prizes to players involved in every millionth hand leading up to the milestone – starting at 99,700,000,000. Every player that takes part in these hands will earn a generous prize, and Poker Stars is ready to hand out $1 million.

An additional $1 million will be split among the players in the 100 billionth hand. The winner of the hand will earn at least $100 000 while the remaining players will earn $10 000 and additional cash for their VPPs.

Players can increase their chances of taking part in a milestone hand simply by playing more hands and multi-tabling. It may take some dedication, but if you end up in a milestone hand, it will certainly be worth the hard work.