Australia’s Casinos, TABs, and Pokies Hard Six Month Closure Hits Hard

9.04.2020, 23:22

Now that “The Land Down Under” has been hit by the coronavirus, nearly 30 years of economic growth is coming to an end. Australian citizens are having a hard time adjusting to this fact, as many adults have never had to live through an economic recession.

On Sunday, March 22nd, Scott Morrison (Australian Prime Minister) gave the order that all restaurants, bars, casinos, and gaming clubs must suspend their services. This order went into effect at noon the next day. The suspension will last for a minimum of six months.

This has caused a big kerfuffle among Australia’s gambling operators, as they scramble to comply with the mandate.

SkyCity Entertainment Group, a corporation that is based in New Zealand but has an Adelaide casino, has announced the venue’s closure. However, its casinos on the domestic front will remain open for the time being. The corporation warned its customers that it is preparing to potentially close the New Zealand venues as well, depending on what the government decides to do. Currently, the country is at a level 2 alert.

Crown Resorts also had to shut its doors after losing its virus-containment exemption. The hotel portion of the resort will function in a limited capacity, but all gambling-related facilities are suspended.

Both Crown Resorts and The Star Entertainment Group have suspended share tradings. Speaking of The Star; on the weekend of March 21st-22nd, reports were released that customers at their Sydney venue were not following social distancing measures.

Tabcorp Holdings (a corporation with lottery and betting services) recently announced that the hotel and club shutdowns will affect its self-service betting terminals (also known as TABs) in those facilities. However, TABs are still available at convenience stores and other establishments that sell essential goods.

Tabcorp is hopeful that customers will place bets on their digital venues, now that their access to terminals has been mostly restricted. However, sports events have been shut down, which will reduce the number of matches that can even be bet on.

It is possible that horse racing and dog racing will continue behind closed doors throughout the pandemic. So, at the very least, people can bet on those events for now.

Pokies (video poker) machines have also been feeling the hit of the coronavirus. These machines are situated in many clubs and pubs throughout Tasmania. The venue owners are expected to continue paying rent for the machines, even though the facilities are closed to customers. The owners are unsure how they are supposed to afford the rent payments now that nobody can access the machines.