The Raiders are the biggest players in the new poker machine market so far, buying 60 of the 80 pokies traded since the scheme began at the beginning of September.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fifteen of the 60 must be forfeited under the ACT Government scheme, leaving the Raiders with 45 new machines, adding to their total of 481. It also pushes the Raiders into the position of third biggest poker machine owner in the territory, behind the Tuggeranong Rugby Union Club (704 machines) and the Southern Cross Club (680), and now ahead of the Labor Party-owned Canberra Labor Club (488).
The Raiders have spread the new machines across their clubs in Gungahlin (18), Belconnen (15) and Weston (12), according to figures provided by Access Canberra.
The Raiders are one of only two clubs to buy machines since the scheme began. The other club in the market is the Mawson Club, which has bought 20 machines, and ended up with 15 after forfeiting one in four of them.
And there was only one seller – the Tradesmen's Union Club, affiliated with the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union.
The Tradies sold 60 from its Dickson venue and 20 from its Woden venue, reducing its total numbers from 540 to 460.
Club chief executive Rob Docker did not want to discuss the sales, saying they were commercial in confidence, but when the scheme began he said the market was oversupplied, and he would be happier with 300 machines than 400 at the Dickson venue. He said then he was not actively trying to sell, but was open to offers.
The Raiders could not be reached for comment.
Since the beginning of September, clubs have been allowed to buy and sell poker machines for the first time. The government says it allows clubs to reduce poker machine numbers and so reduce their reliance on gambling. It is also a way of reducing overall numbers, with clubs required to forfeit one in four licences that they buy. With 5022 machines in circulation when the scheme began, the gambling commissioner is preparing a new notice to reduce the cap now to 5002, given the 20 forfeited.
One aim of the trading scheme was to offer pubs and clubs a way of selling their old-style poker machines, by allowing clubs to buy them and convert them to modern machines. But no pubs and clubs have sold to date.
The trading scheme also allows clubs to boost numbers to shield their businesses against the impact of a new cap that will come into effect in three years – of 15 machines for every 1000 adults, a ratio that the government estimates to mean 4785 machines in 2018.
Also to help clubs adjust, the government is allowing them to put machines into storage without losing them. Previously, if machines weren't used they must be forfeited. So far, three venues have put 29 machines into storage for up to 12 months, and two clubs have quarantined 118 machines for between one and three years.
The Southern Cross Club quarantined 100 machines across its venues, and the Raiders Gungahlin 18, indicating perhaps that the Raiders are buying partly as a strategic move to give business flexibility in years to come.
This week, an ACT Assembly committee will table the results of a wide-ranging inquiry into the clubs industry.
The inquiry was launched in March following weeks of controversy over poker machine law.
The inquiry is made up of two Liberals, including chairman Brendan Smyth, two Labor members, and the Greens' Shane Rattenbury, and has investigated profitability, gambling taxes, problem gambling, poker machines and attempts by clubs to diversify and redevelop their valuable land to reduce their reliance on gambling.
Despite the inquiry, the government has pushed ahead with a number of changes, not only the trading scheme but also a new tax regime from July, which cut gambling taxes for most clubs.
