Hot summer helps to cool pokies spend

Gaming machine expenditure dipped in Wanganui in the year to March - with local punters spending about 3 per cent less compared to the previous 12 months.

Figures from the Department of Internal Affairs show Wanganui's gaming machine expenditure totalled just over $10 million in the year to March, about $290,000 less than the previous year.

Wanganui East Club manager Allan Wakeling said policies tackling problem gambling were a top priority for the organisation.

The club, which had 18 pokie machines, also distributed a proportion of the profits through its gaming trust.

According to the Gambling Act, 37 per cent of gaming machine proceeds must be returned to the community.

Mr Wakeling said staff received special training in "harm-minimisation and problem gaming issues". Some patrons had also chosen to exclude themselves from the club's gaming room, he said.

The total number of gaming machines and venues in Wanganui also dropped in the last year, figures showed.

Nationally, an overall decline in pokie machine expenditure, licence holders, gambling venues and gaming machines is being applauded by New Zealand's anti-gambling foundation.

Pokie spending dropped 4 per cent in the year to March, from $865.4 million to $828.7 million. Licence holder numbers fell from 359 to 353, venue numbers dropped from 1403 to 1367, and the number of gaming machines declined from 18,001 to 17,542.

Problem Gambling Foundation chief executive Graeme Ramsey believed the decline was largely due to people's growing awareness of the harm caused by pokies.

"What it's telling us is that the trend that we've seen for some time - albeit with a couple of minor blips - is still continuing," he said.

"That's good news and I think it's indicative that people are more aware of the dangers that pokie machines pose."

The foundation's communications manager Andree Froude said New Zealand's stellar summer was likely to have contributed to a quarterly decline in pokie expenditure.

In the three months to March, national pokie spending was down 10 per cent compared to the previous three-month period, from $214.6 million to $192.7 million.

"We would expect to see spending go down - particularly as we have had a long, hot summer and people are more likely to be doing summer, outdoor activities rather than spending time in a pub or club using pokie machines," Ms Froude said.

However, pokie addiction among young New Zealanders was an increasing concern for the foundation, she said.

"Younger people can think that because they are good at [computer] gaming they will also be good at gambling on pokies, especially where these have similar graphics to the games they are used to playing."

A "big win" was also likely to draw a young player in, making them more susceptible to addiction, she warned.

Figures from the foundation showed at least 40 per cent of money dropped into gaming machines came from problem gamblers. additional reporting Matthew Theunissen