Pokie expenditure down

Gaming machine expenditure in the country’s 1470 pubs and clubs in the first three months of the year continued the trend of previous years with a drop of almost nine per cent on the previous quarter. It was also four per cent down on the same period last year and five per cent down on an annual basis.

Figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs show that spending dropped from $218.8 million in the December 09 quarter to $199.9 million at 31 March 2010 and was $208.7 m at 31 March 2009. The first quarter drop is similar to last year’s of 9.5 per cent and 11 per cent in the first quarter of 2008.

There were fewer licence holders, gambling venues and gaming machines at the end March 2010 compared with the December quarter. Licence holders dropped from 378 to 374, venues dropped from 1491 to 1470 and gaming machines were down from 19,359 to 19,115.

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 – January-March 2010
Society Type Total GMP Quarter % of Total
Non-Club $173,162,412.26 86.6%
Sports Clubs $ 4,078,419.89 2.0%
Chartered Clubs $ 15,042,517.47 7.5%
RSAs $ 7,576,308.44 3.8%
Total Club $ 26,697,245.80 13.4%
Total All $199,859,658.06 100.0%

Non-casino GM spending in quarter ended
31 March 2010 $199.9 m
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 March 2010 374 1470 19,115
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