Gambling supervisor to inspect slot machines

The NSW Gaming Authority is examining the legality of “study trips” offered by slot manufacturers to club managers and directors who purchase a minimum number of poker machines for their venues.

Aristocrat Leisure is offering club managers a trip to the G2E gaming conference in Las Vegas and Nashville if they buy four poker machines this year herald unveiled on Monday. If you buy 40 poker machines, you get 10 tickets. There is a separate home state ticket offer for club managers who purchase three poker machines.

Game makers Light and Wonder and IGT offer similar promotions. There are tickets for the Darwin Cup, the Melbourne Cup and gaming conferences in London and Macau.

It is illegal for manufacturers to offer club managers a benefit as an inducement to purchase goods or services, or for club managers to accept any such benefit, unless this is clearly set out in a written agreement and includes adequate training of an employee in the operation and maintenance of approved slot machines. There is an exception if the performance is predominantly educational in nature and relates to “concrete and genuine” study.

Liquor and Gaming NSW said in a statement it was evaluating whether the practice was compatible with the Registered Clubs Act. “This will depend on the specific arrangements made between each club and the kit supplier,” read the statement. “Any complaints regarding these agreements can be lodged with the regulator by visiting www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au.”

Poker machine tour junket promotions are an open secret in the gaming industry, and club executives have posted about such trips on their social media accounts. Nick Brabham, executive director of the Burpengary Community Club, gushed that in the United States he learned to order everything small except for his beers. “Now off to educate myself in a few bars!” he wrote.

Another club manager reported on the 2017 G2E Tour, which included New York, Las Vegas and Honolulu. On the final day of the tour, he detailed scootcouping around the island, visiting a giant volcanic crater, snorkeling in Hanuama Bay, and ending the day with a slice of cheesecake.

Most of the study tours are operated by CCM Travel, whose managing director Catherine Mancuso said about half of the participants were self-funded, while the rest were paid for by gambling companies, although the proportion has fluctuated from year to year. She did research, including site visits, to ensure guests took home strategies they could implement in their businesses back home.