Pokie spend drops over year

Gaming machine expenditure in the country’s 1500 pubs and clubs in the year ended December 2009 decreased 5.2 per cent compared to 2008, according to figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs. Spending dropped from $912.6 million in 2008 to $865.5 million in 2009.

Spending in the fourth quarter of 2009 dropped almost 1 per cent on the September quarter and, at $218.8 million, was 5.2 per cent lower than the $230.7 million spent in the December 2008 quarter.

There were fewer licence holders, gambling venues and gaming machines at the end of 2009 compared with 12 months earlier although they were up slightly on the September quarter. Licence holders in the 12 months to December 2009 fell 5 per cent from 399 to 378, venues dropped 3 per cent from 1537 to 1491 and gaming machines were also 3 per cent down from 19,879 to 19,359.

The Department tracks and monitors non-casino gaming machine operations and captures spending through electronic monitoring (EMS), ensuring the integrity of games and the accurate accounting of money. EMS became fully operational in March 2007.

Non-casino GM spending by Society Type – September- December 2009
Society Type Total GMP Quarter % of Total
Non-Club $188,972,235.85 86.4%
Sports Clubs $ 4,422,322.64 2.0%
Chartered Clubs $ 16,904,056.47 7.7%
RSAs $ 8,468,560.49 3.9%
Total Club $ 29,794,939.60 13.6%
Total All $218,767,175.45 100.0%


Non-casino GM spending in quarter ended
31 December 2009 $218.8 m
30 September 2009 $220.7 m
30 June 2009 $217.3 m
31 March 2009 $208.7 m
31 December 2008 $230.7 m
30 September 2008 $232.3 m
30 June 2008 $231 m
31 March 2008 $218.5 m
31 December 2007 $245.3 m
30 September 2007 $243.5 m
30 June 2007 $237.7 m

Licensed gambling operations in pubs and clubs

Date Licence holders Venues Gaming machines
31 Dec 2009 378 1491 19,359
30 Sept 2009 377 1486 19,296
30 June 2009 384 1501 19,479
31 March 2009 394 1527 19,739
31 Dec 2008 399 1537 19,879
30 Sept 2008 405 1551 20,025
30 June 2008 415 1552 19,856
31 March 2008 421 1569 20,018
31 Dec 2007 428 1585 20,182
30 Sept 2007 435 1593 20,163
30 June 2007 439 1598 20,120
31 March 2007 444 1607 20,302

Further information, including numbers of venues, machines and expenditure by territorial authority and changes in the quarter, is available from the Department’s Gaming Statistics web page at: www.dia.govt.nz