Reading the numbers
What a limit does and does not tell you
Three questions to ask of any figure in the table.
A minimum return is a floor for the game, not for you
The minimum return to player is a design requirement on the game’s long-run ratio of wins to bets. A session is a short run: results scatter widely around the design figure, in both directions. A higher minimum lowers the most a game may be designed to keep per dollar bet; it does not make a session safe.
A maximum bet limits each game, not a session
Speed and bet size multiply. As arithmetic only, at Tasmania’s limits — a $5 maximum bet and at least three seconds per spinning-reel game — the ceiling is 1,200 games an hour and $6,000 bet in an hour. At exactly the 87% minimum return, the expected cost of that hour is $780. This is a ceiling the limits allow, not a description of how anyone plays.
What this means
1,200 games = 3,600 seconds ÷ 3 seconds; $6,000 = 1,200 × $5; $780 = $6,000 × (100% − 87%).
A cash limit is about inserting cash, not about the balance
The standard defines the note acceptor cut-off as the credit balance beyond which the note acceptor must be disabled. It limits putting more cash in, not the balance itself: Victoria’s appendix, for example, stops cash input once credits reach $100 but permits electronic transfers of prizes up to $1000 even when credits exceed $100.
If gambling is causing harm
Gambling Help Online offers free and confidential support: call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.