While specific rules and guidelines may differ from state to state, essentially the changes at issue such as advertising and signage are a means to inform the poker machine player of the risks and possible harmful consequences associated with gambling.

For instance, hotels in NSW have had to display since mid-April, a notice with lettering at a minimum height, explaining the chances of winning a major prize on a gaming machine. For a maximum prize of up to $10,000, the odds are a lousy 1 in 1,000,000.

More recently, the Liquor Administration Board in NSW has recommended a number of additional gaming regulations that will also likely see their implementation in other states of Australia.
Gaming venues and machine manufacturers in the future will have to adopt a number of new changes if - or more likely, when - the new rules come into effect.

A poker machine player, whom we'll call "Mary", will find it quite different playing her favourite game of Chicken.

Mary, based in Sydney, will no longer be able to place $50 or $100 into the machine's note acceptor, as high value denominations are no longer acceptable (note acceptors in South Australia have always been banned, but this isn't the case in other Australian states).

Her $20 cash on the 5c machine will then be displayed as $20.00 rather than the existing 400 credit meter.

Mary then looks at the sign on the machine and wonders whether it's such a good idea to be playing Chicken. The odds show that the likelihood of a payout is less than the next machine. As the gaming manufacturer designs the games, they will no doubt be responsible for producing signage for every single machine, displaying the player return percentage.

After playing the machine for around 15 minutes, a screen appears on the machine asking "Do you want to continue? Press Yes or No." Mary hasn't seen this before, and presses Yes.

For her next game, she bets 10 credits and wins 100 credits. That sounds like a good win, but she notices through the new display that it is only $5.

Mary also observes that each game seems to be taking longer to play. Her perception is correct because the manufacturers are being told to slow down the speed of play by a few seconds for each game.

After an hour or so, Mary has managed to win $30.00 - which is a $10 profit. She decides to cash out and transfer her winnings onto her loyalty card.

Unlike a few months ago when she last won $50 and transferred it to her card, she is only allowed to place a maximum of $20 onto her card. The remaining $10 she decides to play, but now she must wait a while as every machine shuts down for 10 minutes every hour.

By all accounts, the process of playing a poker machine will never be as easy as it used to be.

Judi Kelly is a Sydney-based gaming consultant. She can be contacted via email on gaming@ozemail.com.au