Casino Canberra has renewed his call to 200 poker machines, with the Director of Marketing Peter Cursley saying the territory should stop being ”hung up” on numbers. ACT has more poker machines per capita than any other Australian state or territory.

A recent report from the Racing Commission is gambling and the number of adults ACT participation in the game had fallen from 72.9 percent in 2001 to 69.8per cent in 2009. The number of people who played poker machines fell 38.1per cent in 2001 to 30.2 percent.

But poker machines were the game of choice for problem gamblers, with more than 90 per cent of ”moderate risk/problem gamblers” playing electronic gaming machines in the past year. When the casino opened 20 years ago, it did so on the proviso that it operate no machines, and be the only casino in Australia not to operate them.

Mr Cursley said this provision became redundant ”from day one”. In its submission to the ACT Government’s tax review, the casino said it wanted to use machine licences held by the Government in surplus.

But three weeks ago, Gaming and Racing Minister Andrew Barr announced he would remove those licences from circulation in a bid to further curb problem gambling. ”The bottom line is we want 200 machines and we’re prepared to pay,” Mr Cursley said. ”We don’t care where they come from.” He said valuable business opportunities were being lost by the long-term ban on poker machines at the venue.

In the move will inflame anti-gambling groups, the casino, said the agreement would benefit the community, to promote the 10, 000 thousand dollars non-recurring charge to the council. It would also contribute 30 percent of tax gross gaming revenue, which would give an annual income stream of approximately $ 4,000,000 for the ACT Government.