The Ashes

The Australian poker machine debate has been resurrected from the back burner once again as passing of the proposed legislation should happen very soon. The Australian senator Andrew Wilkie has been pushing for introduction of mandatory betting limits on every single poker machine within the boundaries of the federation, however, this effort is not supported by all of the states. Some want to make the betting limits voluntary, giving the player a choice, arguing that this step will not help problem gamblers since there are ways to circumvent the limitation, for example by setting oneself an unreasonably high limit. If the limits are flat, on the other hand, it won’t be fair to gamblers who have no problems with gambling and enjoy a high stake game. At the moment, the High Court has a challenge filed by the state of Victoria on its table since the Victorian government wishes for a voluntary scheme.