With South Australia starting to feel the crunch of dwindling poker machine spending, it’s only a matter of time before habitual gambling scold Nick Xenophon starts eating his words.

In fact, The Australian reported that Xenophon, who made a name in politics 20 years ago for his “No Pokies” battle cry, has already toned down his anti-gambling rhetoric after South Australia revised its gambling tax revenue forecast by AUD42 million ($33.09 million).

The report noted that Australia’s leading anti-pokies proponent appeared “to have backtracked from his position of wanting to eradicate poker machines” when he instead dangled a new policy that includes “a whole range of measures.”

“Reducing the harm caused by poker machines is ­pretty fundamental, but it would have to be a suite of measures, including more people getting assistance and reducing the number of people getting hurt in the first place, but most people just don’t get help when they have a serious gambling problem,” Xenophon told the news outlet.