The Wisdom of Loss Limits

Canadian pokies scheme offers lessons for Australia
Kalvin Ng reported this story

BRENDAN TREMBATH: There's a town called Sydney in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. And just like the one in Australia, it's grappling with poker machine addiction.

The government there has installed a pre-commitment card system on every machine, allowing players to set things like spending limits and track how long they've played.

Australian supporters of pre-commitment spending, such as the Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie, point to Nova Scotia as an example.

Kalvin Ng went to Canada to see if it works.

(Sound of pokies)

KALVIN NG: The pokies industry in Nova Scotia is tiny when compared to Australia. There are 2,800 poker machines, known locally as video lottery terminals or VLTs, in a province with fewer than a million people. By contrast Australia has almost 200,000, according to the Productivity Commission.

Almost all of the money made on the Nova Scotian machines comes from a few regular players, and gambling researchers say one in four of them can't control their play.

Debbie Langille was one of them.

DEBBIE LANGILLE: I had an affair and because of this affair I had lost everything and ended up going bankrupt. But the affair that I had was with a VLT.

KALVIN NG: Her two-year affair cost her $180,000.

DEBBIE LANGILLE: I was so ashamed. My family did not know that I had been gambling because this is an addiction that is so invisible. You don't see it in your eyes. You don't smell it on your breath. You can hide it so well.

KALVIN NG: She now wants to see the machines removed. Since 2010 the provincial government has installed a pre-commitment system on every machine. The minister responsible for gaming, David Wilson, concedes the card may further reduce the government's gambling revenues.

DAVID WILSON: And we're prepared to deal with that. I think the benefits of ensuring that we introduce responsible gaming initiatives outweigh any reduction in revenue that we might bring in when it comes to gambling.

KALVIN NG: John McMullan from St Mary's University in Halifax reviewed the early studies into the card.

JOHN MCMULLAN: I think the research did not demonstrate, to me anyway, very convincingly that it had great benefit to problem players. That was an issue that was really not, I think, researched to a clear and obvious conclusion.

KALVIN NG: Tony Schellinck from Focal Research agrees not enough is known about the effects of pre-commitment limits. But his latest study found most problem gamblers supported the card and two-thirds of them would use it.

TONY SCHELLINCK: One of the things we know from all of our past research is that the people who are at-risk and problem gamblers are constantly trying to find ways to help themselves.

KALVIN NG: From April everyone in Nova Scotia will need a pre-commitment card to play a machine but they can still decide whether or not to set limits. That's angered addiction counsellors like Mike Buckley.

MIKE BUCKLEY: For a number of years there was a commitment to moving ahead for it being mandatory and universal. And when we explained how the card system would work, I didn't have a single client who didn't say, I need that.

KALVIN NG: Former gambling addict Debbie Langille doubts she would have used the card if given a choice.

DEBBIE LANGILLE: But if it was mandatory I probably would have but I would have, again, manipulated it in a way that I would be able to continue gambling and not have to stop.

KALVIN NG: Under the current system, there's no upper limit. Gamblers can set whatever amount they want. One study found players would be happy with a spending cap, for example a $100 a day.

John Xidos heads the local company Techlink Entertainment, which developed the card and retrofitted the machines.

JOHN XIDOS: It was probably in the approximation of about $2000 a terminal. Now it's half of that. So it's down, you know, below $1000 a terminal.

KALVIN NG: He says each poker machine has a lifespan of seven to 10 years, so he says a $1000 is really a small price to pay to make them less addictive.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Kalvin Ng with that report from Nova Scotia.