On July 24th, 2008, Tasmanians are spending more for lottery products, particularly in TasKeno, compared with other parts of Australia. The Social and Economic Impact Study made for gaming in Tasmania points to electronic gambling machines as main reason of gambling addiction. The study shows Tasmania residents spends a considerable amount of cash in Keno.
Tasmania residents had a considerable amount of average expenditure on lottery products at $134 per person annually-eleven percent bigger than the national average of $121 per person. The report made by the South Australian Center for Economic Studies, stated that difference is mainly caused by the big expenditure on Keno games, which is at $55 per person, compared with the usual $13.50 that people spent all over the country.
The Federal Group corporate affairs manager Brendan Blomeley commented that TasKeno had captured a significant part of the market because of the good timing of its implementation. Blomeley commented that in Victoria and South Australia, keno was well-liked by gamers because it was launched after electronic gambling machines. Gamblers said that they do not consider keno as gambling but just a fun way to pass time. The gaming report was released as pressure continues to pile on the state Government to do something about the growing gambling addiction in the state.
Treasurer Michael Aird is standing firm on the issue of the cap on the number of machines in the state. He is focusing on minimizing gaming addiction like the implementation of Smart Card Technology that limits how much a player can wager and the frequency of gambling.
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John Sullivan
