In an attempt to moderate problem gambling, the Australian state government of Victoria has established new time and spending limits on poker gaming machines.

John Brumby, Victorian’s prime minister, said that the maximum betting limit on gaming machines will be reduced to its half, leaving it at the sum of A$5 per game, for all new machines starting on the 1st of July and for already existing machines from the 1st of January, 2010.

The new machines, which will be introduced in that year and that will eventually substitute existing machines, will give players the option to set the limits on the amount of time or money spent on the machines beforehand. Brumby said: “The new standard will reduce gambling-related harm by allowing players to decide how much they are willing to gamble, or how much time they want to spend on the machines before they begin playing.

The state government had already made the decision, earlier this month, to ban ATM bank machines from all of the gaming places in the second most heavily populated state of Australia.