Aussie court junks landmark pokies case vs. Crown, Aristocrat

Australian casino mogul James Packer can now sleep soundly after a federal court cleared Crown Resorts Ltd. and slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. of misleading gamblers on their chances of winning.

On Friday, Federal Court Judge Debra Mortimer threw out the landmark case that Shonica Guy filed against Crown and Aristocrat on grounds that the former gambler failed to prove the defendant’s misleading or unconscionable conduct, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

In her lawsuit, Guy said she suffered significant financial losses playing the “Dolphin Treasure” poker machine over the past 14 years because the machines “deliberately give people false hope that they have a chance of winning to keep them playing.”

Law firm Maurice Blackburn, which represented Guy, particularly blamed the pokies machine’s oversized fifth reel, which contains 44 symbols rather than the 30 featured on the first four reels. They argued that the design features amounted to deception that no reasonable player would be aware of.