Australia Casinos

Gambling in Australia

Australia is the only country that is also its own continent. The country is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans and all major cities except the inland capital, Canberra, are coastal. There are casinos in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and the capital.

Gambling is very popular in Australia with well over 80% of all adults taking part in the pastime - the highest gambling rate on the planet. In 2015, Australians left some $17.5 billion ($949 per adult) in the machines and on the books. About 10% of all state revenues ($3.65 billion per year) comes from gambling. Sports betting, casino gaming, horse and dog racing, lotteries and of course "pokies" all draw significant interest. "Pokie" is short for Poker Machine and refers to slot machines and video poker consoles.

New Casino Development in Australia

With all the interest and money to be made it's no wonder that multi-billion dollar ventures have been planned for Australia. The Aquis Casino in Cairns was an $8b development under planning for almost a decade that died on the vine in 2016. Another smaller proposal is the A$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) waterfront Gold Coast Integrated Resort planned for Broadbeach in Queensland between Sea World and the Gold Coast Fishermen’s Co-op. That project is not without controversy and neither are the two that are more certain to come to fruition.

Crown Sydney at Barangaroo in Sydney, New South Wales will cost some $1.5 billion. With 75 hotel floors and a height of 271m (890 ft), it will become the tallest building in Sydney. The original plan was presented in 2012 and the facility is expected to open in 2020.

The Star Brisbane Casino will be located at Queen's Wharf on the Brisbane River in Queensland after demolition or gentrification of existing buildings on 10 city blocks. The $2b casino resort will hold more than 25,000 people with four, five and six-star hotel accommodations. The casino will host between 1,500 and 2,500 pokies. The government has not limited the number of live and/or electronic tables the casino will be allowed to offer.

The Casinos of Australia Today

There are more than 20 full-scale casinos in Australia spread over all eight states. There are also hundreds of small venues that offer pokie machines. Crown Casino Melbourne has over 220,000 sq ft of gaming space inside the nearly 5 1/2 million sq ft complex. Treasury Casino and Hotel in Brisbane is housed in a 19th-century building, but that casino license will be transferred to Star Brisbane when the new mega-facility opens by 2022. The Star Sydney in New South Wales offers over 100,000 sq ft of gaming space on the first and third floors of the building with the upper floor reserved for VIP players and guests.

The Star Gold Coast (formerly Jupiters Hotel and Casino) was the first to open in Queensland when it debuted in 1986 as Conrad Jupiters. The seven-acre complex has 15 bars and restaurants, a ballroom, theater, health spa, and gym, as well as conference facilities. Gaming space was doubled to 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m2) in 2006, and in 2017, a $345 million redevelopment of the casino was completed which includes a new 17 story tower.

The Tasmanian casinos shouldn't be overlooked. Wrest Point in Hobart was the very first casino to open in Australia back in 1973. The original hotel there opened in 1939. The Federal Group also opened the Country Club Casino in Launceston in 1982 giving Tasmania 2 casinos alongside two racetracks, including Longford Racecourse the oldest continuously operating racecourse in Australia.

Other Gambling in Australia

Australians are big lottery consumers too, with players spending more on the games than they spend on pokies. Lotteries are owned by state governments, non-profits, and private sector companies and licensed by Lott and Lotterywest. Most lottery products have also moved into the online space.

Sportsbetting is allowed online and on-land by the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). There are about 3,000 retail outlets in Australia offering fixed odds and tote wagers.

Online gambling operators are licensed in Australia but they are not allowed to offer their games to residents according to the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act. The government doesn't prohibit players from accessing offshore gambling sites.

Bingo, or "housie" as it's known in Australia is a popular game online and in bingo halls throughout the country. The game is mostly played with 90 balls there. Bingo is a game for all ages in Australia with games found at local sports clubs, RSL clubs (Legion halls) and bowling clubs.

Australians wager over A$15b each year on thoroughbred races. With an attendance of more than two million admissions per year, racing is behind only football and rugby matches in popularity. There are about 350 registered racecourses in Australia, more than in any other country.

Australians gamble about A$4 billion each year on greyhound races too with over 40,000 contests held annually. The practice is monitored and regulated by state authorities. The Melbourne Cup for greyhounds is the richest known dog race in the world with a purse of over of A$600,000.

Online gambling is also very popular in Australia with many of the top online casino sites having taken notice and directly targeting the AU population, resulting in a huge choice of pokies and casino sites available to Australians.