Operator News
Australia – Crown fined $300,000 for using blanking buttons
By Phil - 30 April 2018
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) has fined Crown Resorts, operator of Crown Melbourne, Victoria’s only casino, AU$300,000 for using blanking plates on slot machines at Crown Melbourne.
The blanking buttons removed gambling options, including the disabling of lower bet provisions and the modifying of buttons to allow prohibited autoplay, on 17 of its slot machines in what Crown said was part of a ‘three week trial.’
One observer said: “They got rid of the five, 10, 20 options, so your options were one, which is betting two cents on the middle line, or 40, which is all the combinations.”
Crown confirmed “blanking buttons” took place on 17 of its 2,627 machines at the Southbank, Melbourne casino, but added that it did not need approval for the trial, conducted between March and April 2017, and did not breach the gambling act.
The VCGLR ruled that the manner in which Crown used the blanking plates required prior approval.
The operator will also need to draft updates to its compliance framework detailing how the updated framework will prevent a re-occurrence.
Crown said: “The Commission accepted that the contravention was not deliberate and that the gaming machine trial did not impact on the return to player ratio. While Crown Melbourne’s position throughout this process was that the gaming machine trial did not require the prior approval of the Commission, Crown Melbourne respects the Commission’s decision, which brings this process to a close.”
