New South Wales pokie cuts a hoax: opposition

Australia -- A surprise decision by the NSW government to cut the state's poker machine cap has been labelled a hoax, after it was claimed it would not lower the number of machines currently in use.

NSW Gaming Minister Graham West on Friday announced the government would cut the statewide cap on machines from 104,000 to 99,000 under reforms to the Gaming Machines Act.

Mr West said the 5,000-cut eradicated the forfeiture pool, created when pubs and clubs traded machines.

A further 3,000 machines would be cut from the current total over the next five years because of the forfeiture or buyback scheme, in which one poker machine is returned to the government for every three traded.

But opposition gaming spokesman George Souris said the cuts were a "hoax", given the current number of machines being used was just over 97,000.

Cutting the cap would not lead to one less machine being used in the state, he said.

"The 5,000 machines the Iemma government claims it will reduce have already been traded away by pubs and clubs over the last 10 years," he said.

"The cap has already been reduced and there will be no fewer poker machines out there tomorrow after this comes into practice than already is the case."

But the cuts were defended by Mr West, who said the machines in the forfeiture pool were just dormant, and had not been completely taken out of use.

"There's been a pool that sits there and this pool of forfeited machines has been lying dormant waiting for someone to tip their hands into it," Mr West said.

"(Now) the pool is extinct, they're gone, no one is able to dip into it and increase poker machines in NSW in the future."

Also announced under the raft of changes is a ban on credit card cash withdrawals from automatic tellers and EFTPOS facilities in poker machine venues.

A new Local Impact Assessment will also be introduced to restrict increases in high density gaming areas, such as Fairfield in Sydney's west, Wollongong and Newcastle.

The changes follow months of pressure on the government and revelations of the grip gambling has on the state, with more than $5 billion being poured into gaming machines in pubs and clubs every year.

Mr West said that by making the changes, the government had responded to community concerns about the impact of problem gambling.

"The community has been saying that they realise that most people gamble responsibly, but they're are concerned about too many poker machines in some areas," Mr West said.

"This is about getting rid of the poker machines in those areas, and also driving down the state cap overall."

The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) condemned the changes, saying it would be a blow to pubs who had already lost millions renovating premises to allow for new smoking bans.

"Over the last 12 months the hotel industry has spent more than $300 million renovating to comply with the smoking ban," AHA spokesman David Elliott told reporters.

"Those loans are taken out on the back of forecast revenue from gaming machines.

But the Salvation Army applauded the move, with the head of its gambling program, Gerard Byrne, saying it was a "pleasant surprise".

Mr Byrne said NSW still had too many poker machines, however.

"It will still leave us with 99,000 machines in NSW - we'll still maintain our mantle as the poker machine capital of the world," he said.

"The Salvation Army applauds this as what we hope will be the first step in a windback of machines."