Australian Gamers Can Now Ban Themselves From Casinos

Gamers that face problems when gambling, or that fear they may be suffering the oncomings of addiction, will be able to have themselves barred and blocked from poker clubs and casinos in New South Wales, if the latest Australian gambling news is to be believed.

Wednesday saw the introduction of the new technology, launched by Clubs NSW, which is rumored to be the very first of its kind to be implemented in Australia.

The move comes after a six month trial that began in mid 2011, in fifty one gambling clubs on the Central Coast and Broken Hill. Anthony Ball, who is the CEO of Clubs NSW, had the following to say: “During the six month trial, 136 problem gamblers chose to ban themselves from a combined 569 clubs. Under the previous system, it could have taken weeks or even months for a problem gambler to visit each of those clubs and inform the staff they wanted to be banned from gambling.”

It is believed that the new system would allow gamers the right to exercise a clause in their agreement with the clubs, by having a counselor or facilitator present, and the ban would begin immediately. Unlike previously, where blocking oneself from a “pokies” club would take considerable time, due to the often slow process of filling out paperwork in each individual club, and the time it may take to process said paperwork.

As far as can be understood, the move will not be significant or available to gamers who play online poker in Australia.

“For some people, the time, effort and emotional investment needed to make multiple visits to a club is overwhelming or just too difficult to go through with. This scheme eliminates those barriers.” Mr. Ball continued in his comments about the move.

The new system also requires that people set limits on the amount of cash they can really afford to lose on the machines, before they do it. This believed to be very significant to those playing the high stakes machine, where loses could potentially hit $1,200 an hour. Although again, it is widely reported that online casinos in Australia will not be affected by this new move.

This new method is expected to be tested throughout the New South Wales state over the coming year, with possible changes to the Australian gambling laws, not an unrealistic possibility should it prove to be a success.