Does Casino Carded Play Increase Gambling in Neighboring Uncarded Hotels and Clubs? Evidence from Australia

Session Title

Casino Industry: Operations & Tourism

Presenters

• Mark Tremblay, UNLV; CESifoFollow

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Start Date

27-5-2026 12:00 AM

Abstract

The Melbourne Crown Casino mandated carded play, which requires all guests to obtain a player card to be able to play gaming machines, in December 2023 to help meet anti-money laundering obligations as well as identifying and intervening with patrons who may be at a potential risk of experiencing gambling related harms. To date, non-casino EGM venues like pokies do not have any requirements for customers to obtain and use cards to gamble on EGMs. Consequently, whether carded play benefits outweigh the costs for gamblers will naturally impact competition between the casino and non-casino EGM options. If benefits (costs) outweigh, then we would expect to see gambling revenues decrease (increase) in non-casino EGM venues near the Crown Casino following the implementation of carded play. To determine which outcome occurs, we use publicly available data from the state of Victoria, Australia, on gambling player losses from clubs and hotels at the local government area (LGA)-month level across the state. Using a difference-in-difference approach with twelve month pre- and post- periods and the LGAs close to the Crown Casino as the treated group, we find that pokies close to the Crown Casino experience a 2.1-2.3% increase in activity per month following carded play at the Crown. Overall, these results suggests that, on average, gamblers find carded play costly and at least some will seek none carded play options if they are available.

Author Bios

Mark Tremblay is an assistant professor of economics in UNLV's Lee Business School. He's an expert on the digital economy and its impact on traditional markets.Many of his studies analyze the effects of recent policy measures targeting digital platforms (e.g., sales tax collection, fee transparency, or allowing surge pricing). His research includes ongoing projects on homesharing (Airbnb), ridesharing (Uber and Lyft), content creation (YouTube and Patreon), and marketplace platforms (Amazon).Tremblay has consulted with the City of Oxford, Ohio in revising their short-term rental policies. He additional serves as a research affiliate at the CESifo Research Network, a global consortium of leading economists who study and contribute to advancements in the field and related policy.