An inevitable outcome !

The great " Poker machine debate " is headed towards an inevitable outcome.   The plan to make players register and receive a " license " to play the machines in exchange for making a pre-commitment on how much they were prepared to lose is simply dead in the water.  It will not pass the lower house of parliament.

Independent Andrew Wilkie made support for the Labor government of Julia Gillard conditional on his plan to curb problem gambling becoming reality.   A " smoke and mirrors " deal in the selection of the house speaker has given the government a small degree of latitude in the numbers game - and now Wilkie has to bow to the inevitable.

A one dollar limit on each bet allowed on poker machines will probably appease all the combatants.  The clubs will still grumble that it is an unnecessary imposition, but it will impose a minor adjustment to each machine compared to the bureaucratic nightmare of setting up player registration and the army of people needed to enforce playing conditions.

Wilkie will be able to claim that he has fulfilled his promise to stop punters from gambling away their family fortune in just a few wheel spins.   Julia Gillard will pass a sigh of relief that a damaging crisis has been averted, and Tony Abbot will be able to claim victory in saving the junior sporting bodies that the clubs support.

In some ways, a one dollar per spin gambling limit has merit in that it curbs enthusiasm for increasing the bet size after each loss - on the basis that a winning combination must surely follow,  but it does nothing to address the gambling options that are opening in Australia.

A small percentage of gamblers are drawn to ever bigger wagers - and we still have casinos to service that urge.    There are no limits on the size of bets that can be wagered at the TAB - or with bookmakers, and now the internet is providing " virtual casinos " that can be accessed by sitting at home in front of our computers.

The obvious answer would be to ban all forms of betting, but fortunately nobody has been so stupid as to suggest that course of action.   It is in the Australian psyche to have a bet - and a ban would simply drive the industry underground, just as SP bookmakers flourished in every pub before the time of the TAB.

The " Wowsers " would probably like to ban alcohol - along with gambling - but then the Americans tried that way back in the 1920's - with disastrous results.

Be thankful for small mercies.    A year after it comes into effect, few will remember anything different when poker machines limit play to just one dollar !