Spare me celebrations over a supposed major change in the hold of Big Gaming over New South Wales politics – the pokies industry’s fingerprints are all over the deal Cabinet agreed to on Sunday night.

For a start, it claims to phase in cashless gaming over five years. The end of 2028 is more like six years to me.

Most obviously, Labor is not on board and the polls suggest it will be Chris Minns, not Dominic Perrottet, deciding legislation after March 25.

And whatever the case, there will be another election two years before the supposed cashless deadline, an eternity in politics.

That leaves plenty of time for ClubsNSW and the Australian Hotels Association to do what they do best in service of the pokies’ rivers of gold – bully, threaten, “donate” and pressure.

In the meantime, consider the window dressing Premier Perrottet used to get the alleged policy past his National colleagues.

No risk, nothing to lose

There’s a $50,000 gift for pokies parlours to “help fund new income streams, such as live music and food to reduce their reliance on gambling revenue”.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (left) and NSW Crime Commissioner Michael Barnes address the media about poker machines on Monday. Photo: AAP

For heaven’s sakes, NSW’s 90,000 electronic gaming machines (EGMs) were a windfall gift from stupid and/or compromised Labor and Liberal governments.

If a fraction of the multibillion-dollar profits is reduced the owners – who have been enjoying billions of dollars in proceeds of crime flowing through their machines and profiting from the misery of problem gamblers – don’t need Christmas presents towards a change that is a long way from actually happening.

The average NSW pokie “wins” $100,000 a year for its owners.

The National Party dopes fall for the line that smaller regional clubs and pubs don’t make enough from their machines to be able to afford the cost of upgrading to cashless machines in six years’ time.

So, have an interest-free loan and maybe an extension beyond the end of 2028.

And if you believe regional EGMs are not gold mines, you’ll believe anything.

If the residents of a country town are smart enough not to blow their money on EGMs, the local publican can sell the machine at a very rich price to any of the casinos always wanting more.

Profits remain in place

What else? Oh, the government promising to buy back 2000 machines over the six years is supposed to mean something.

That’s 2000 out of 90,000 EGMs. In technical terms, bugger all.

The net impact will be to increase the capital value of the machine licences freely traded between the big businesses that are the EGM palaces.

The mug NSW taxpayer will hand over top money for a right given free to clubs and pubs.

And when judging the credibility of an election policy, it’s wise to also consider what is not there if the government or opposition was serious about NSW’s appalling pokies addiction.

Never mind the suggestion of somewhere-over-the-rainbow reform, it is open for the government or opposition to immediately ban ATMs in gaming establishments and within, say, 200 metres of any pokies palace.

COVID has shown we rarely need cash. The ATMs in the two official casinos and the multiple unofficial casinos in clubs and pubs serve only one purpose – emptying gamblers’ bank accounts.

Neither party is promising that. Labor is so weak it is still running with ClubsNSW’s joke cashless gaming “trial” in 500 machines.

So, no, I’m not taking the Coalition’s pokies policy seriously.

The hold of ClubsNSW and the AHA over NSW politics remains in place.