$1 Poker Limit
Introduction
Many rookie internet poker players will also enjoy playing poker machines; however that enjoyment could soon take a dive for the worse if US gambling legislators are watching developments down under, in Australia; where moves are afoot to limit bets on poker machines to $1. A report on Australian gambling claims that of the $18 billion spent on gambling in Australia, $12billion of that is estimated to be annually played on poker, with anything up to $5 billion being fed into poker machines themselves.
Limiting poker player’s winnings
That news seems to have given rise to the concern that Australians are simply spending too much on their poker machines. Whilst, unwelcome as it may be, imposing a limit of $1 per bet on the machines would be workable some of their other proposals for limiting poker playing on machines seems more problematic. One suggestion is that ATMs located near, or in, places where poker machines can be played should limit cash withdrawals to $200 per card per day – easily circumvented with more than one card. Another idea is to limit the cash a player can win from a poker machine to $20 for any one game – this can, of course, be easily incorporated into the machines program, but it could pretty well pour cold water on the enjoyment of playing machine poker as poker jackpot opportunities would be few and far between.
Killing the joy of playing poker
Look, there he is - the Wizard of Oz has appeared to deliver a poker machine's winning check for $20- you lucky lady!
However, the report has two recommendations that just don’t make any sense at all, in terms of the feasibility of making them work. First up is the idea of limiting the amount an individual can lose on poker machines to $120 an hour – so how are they going to work that, have all the poker machines linked to a facial recognition system that then bars them from playing? However, the final idea could surely only have been dreamt up by the Wizard of Oz! It is that all prize money should only be paid by check. So, is each machine going to have its own wizard that pops out after you’ve won, guesses your name and writes you a check or, more likely, would it print out a chit to take to a desk somewhere to be given your winning check? Either way, imagine the excitement of getting a check for your $20 winnings!