At a Melbourne gaming establishment, a visitor wagered for more than 34 consecutive hours before being prompted to pause. This disclosure arises amid a regal inquiry into Crown Resorts, which aims to ascertain if the corporation is fit to maintain its authorization to manage its Southbank location.
Sonia Bauer, Crown’s head of ethical gaming, lately gave evidence before the commission, now in its third week. She affirmed that while Crown personnel suggest intervals for registered players (those whose activity is digitally monitored) every 12, 15, and 17 hours via a notification system, there are no proactive assessments of unregistered players (those whose activity is not monitored).
While employees are anticipated to conduct general observations, assisting counsel Adrian Finanzio highlighted a 2019 case where a high-roller client played for over 34 hours before being approached for a respite.
The investigation has learned that individuals who gamble at the Southbank casino are three times more prone to encounter compulsive gambling than those who gamble at other establishments in Victoria. Moreover, the inquiry has disclosed that while Crown Melbourne accommodated roughly 64,000 guests daily between 2016 and 2019, it employed a mere 12 staff members committed to supervising responsible gaming protocols.
“The framework is structured in a manner that makes it highly probable for certain individuals to gamble for numerous hours without a single staff engagement,” Finanzio stated.