Victoria’s regulator continues its tight rein on gambling activities in the state, but concedes that marketing material on pubs advertised for sale must be able to detail their gaming assets.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has taken a proactive approach to regulation and enforcement this year.
This has been seen in a series of penalties for operators and companies, beginning in January with a $480K fine for national pub group ALH for operating machines outside of hours, and a directive that Tabcorp must make most of its betting terminals cashless.
The following month owner Peter Houghton was ordered to sell his Rye Hotel, pay $80K in fines and exit the business of gambling.
Last month ALH was fined again, this time for inspectors finding underage gambling took place on multiple occasions at five venues.
And in August the Commission’s new rule commenced, requiring a mandatory 4am-10am closure period for all gaming rooms.
PubTIC recently learned real estate agents in Victoria have been asked to remove any references to gaming from marketing material on pubs for sale, and a formal explanation was requested from the regulator.
In response it was noted that the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 (Section 3.5.34AA) prohibits publishing any poker machine advertising outside the designated area of an approved venue. This applies to the operator or a person acting on their behalf.
“The promotion in real estate marketing material of poker machines and their profitability, as opposed to technical or operational information, may be in breach of the legislation,” stated a VGCCC spokesperson.
Asked for clarification how it might apply to potential buyers exposed to pub sale marketing, the Commission stipulated that direct reference to the business’ details is permissible, with the relevant disclaimer.
“It is reasonable for real estate ads to contain some detail about a venue’s poker machine area provided it also makes clear that the venue is subject to VGCCC approvals.”
Separately, 31 October marked ‘YourPlay’ day, when venue operators had to ensure any and all poker machines available for use were properly connected to the YourPlay system.
Any machines not connected to YourPlay must not be available for play until YourPlay is (re)connected. The only exception is during a scheduled outage of the YourPlay system across all venues.
The VGCCC recommends best practice is for venues to check the YourPlay connection on their poker machines daily. A guidance sheet on this is provided for assistance.
The regulator bodes it will have zero tolerance for operators who knowingly operate poker machines without YourPlay.
In October Rumotel P/L, operator of the Tower Hotel in Hawthorn East, was fined $25K in the Magistrates Court for 37 charges, which included allowing patrons to use EGMs while YourPlay wasn’t functioning.
