History of Poker Machine Entitlements

Gaming History NSW HOTELS:

April 1984Hotels permitted 5 AAD's (Card Machines)

1988Hotels permitted 10 AAD's

1997Hotels allowed 15 poker machines entitlements and 15 card machines .

Successfully argued by the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) for the rejuvenation and long-term viability of the industry.

1998Hotels allowed 30 poker machinesentitlements

19^th April 2001Legislative "freeze". In the number of poker machines in hotels.

2^nd April 2002Commencement of the "Gaming Machine Act 2001"(GMA)

The GMA abolished the previous ability of hotels to install gaming machines. Current numbers were frozen with the intent that the only way that hotels would generally be able to acquire additional machines in the future would be to purchase the right (entitlement) to keep those machines from other hotels. A transferable entitlement scheme was established. Maximum number of poker machines entitlements for hotels is 25,980. The maximum number of approved gaming machines to be kept in one hotel was limited to 30.

31^st January 2009"Gaming Machines Amendment Act 2008"

The GMAA set up a new Gaming Machine Threshold Scheme to reduce red tape and facilitate the trading of PME's. This Act also classified Local Government Areas based on Gaming Machine density - restricting the increase in gaming machine numbers in high-risk LGA