Central Coast licensed clubs had a net profit of $61M from poker machines in the three months from December 1, 2024, to February 28 this year, making the region the fourth highest in the state for net profit from poker machines in 37 clubs.
Data from Liquor and Gaming NSW shows Fairfield local government area was first with $118M profit; Bankstown second at $109M and Cumberland third with $72M.
Tax paid on the Central Coast profits was almost $12M.
The number of electronic gaming machines in clubs on the Coast was 3812.
The only other local government area in the State with more was Canterbury Bankstown with 4001.
But wait, there’s more.
There was also another $23M net profit made from 627 gaming machines in 28 hotels operating on the Central Coast.
And just to confuse matters, these were the figures for hotels on the Central Coast from January 1, 2025 to 31 March 31, 2025 – a month later than the club figures.
“No need to wonder about the current state of small businesses in food, beverage and entertainment on the Central Coast, struggling to survive in a region fleeced by gambling,” a local businessman said.
“$61M dollars in 12 weeks hurts my heart.”
He said a hospitality worker told him some gamblers wear nappies to their club or pub so they don’t have to leave their poker machine to use the bathroom.
Gosford RSL Club topped the Central Coast being 65th in the State out of 996 clubs for profit from pokies.
It has 229 machines.
Wyong Rugby League Club, Kanwal, came 83rd in the state with 249 machines.
Doyalson Wyee RSL Club, Doyalson, came 84th with 224 machines.
Ettalong Diggers came 129th with 240 machines.
Central Coast Leagues Club came 174th with 275 machines.
Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi, came 198th and had the most machines with 418.
Bankstown Sports Club has 745 gaming machines, the largest number of any venue in NSW.
When it came to pubs, Gosford Hotel ranked 139th for net profit in the state with 28 pokies as of March 31 this year.
This was out of a total of 1147 pubs in NSW.
The Lakes Hotel, The Entrance, ranked 194th with 24 pokies.
Kincumber Hotel ranked 213th with 23 pokies.
The Dam Hotel, Hamlyn Terrace, ranked 216th with 26 pokies.
The Royal Hotel, Wyong, ranked 219 with 15 pokies.
Another 20 poker machines will come back on line when a pub re-opens on the site of the former Union Hotel in Gosford, now the Aland development.
In 2023–24, there were more than 2,000 clubs and hotels in NSW which operated a combined total of 87,749 gaming machines.
Gaming machine profits were $8.4B in 2023–24 and tax revenue to the NSW Government was $2.3B.
The NSW Audit Office released a performance audit into the regulation of gaming machines on June 12 and commented on the State legislation introduced some years ago to provide for ongoing reduction in the number of gaming machines in the state.
“At the time the Act was introduced, there were more than 100,000 gaming machines operating in clubs and hotels in NSW,” the report says.
“This number has reduced by 13,758 since 2001–02, which is an average of 598 machines per year.
“At this rate, it will take more than 55 years for NSW to reach parity with the national average for gaming machines per 1,000 adults.”
According to the most recent ABS Census data (2021), about 50,000 people are employed in clubs, hotels and gambling-related jobs in NSW.
A 2024 NSW Gambling Survey found that 20% of NSW residents surveyed reported having experienced some form of gambling harm.
This included experiencing harm as the result of someone else’s gambling.
The NSW Office of Responsible Gambling reported that gaming machines were the main form of gambling for 63% of people accessing GambleAware support services in 2023–24.
Research has shown that high levels of socio-economic disadvantage are a significant risk factor for gambling-related harm and that gaming machines are often concentrated in areas with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage.
NSW has more gaming machines than all other Australian states and territories combined.
Western Australia does not allow gaming machines in clubs or hotels.
While the State Department responsible for gambling has not monitored changes to the level of gambling harm caused by gaming machines, there are several indicators that harmful gambling behaviour is not reducing in NSW, the audit report said.
“In 2023–24, there were 20,875 calls from NSW residents to the GambleAware Helpline, an increase of 8.5% from the previous year.
“Gaming machine data also shows increased profits over this period.
“While this does not necessarily mean that gambling harm has increased, the increased gaming machine profits could indicate a potential increase in harmful gaming activity.”
The Alliance for Gambling Reform says the state needs to act quickly to introduce a mandatory pre-commitment cardless system of play for poker machines – as recommended by the NSW Crime Commission..
This would allow players to set a maximum they want to lose before they play and then the card would lock them out of playing for a period when they reach that limit.
“The NSW Crime Commission said such a system would dramatically reduce gambling harm as well as tackle the billions of dollars of criminal funds being laundered through poker machines across NSW pubs and clubs,” The Alliance CEO Martin Thomas said.
“It is tragic that $8.4B is ripped out of the community by gambling losses going to pubs and clubs – this financial loss mirrors social harm on an industrial scale with broken marriages, domestic violence, health and mental health issues and even suicides.”
Thomas said it was time for the Federal Government to act on the recommendations of a Parliamentary Inquiry into online gambling and create a national gambling regulator to provide greater protection to the public – protections that state regulators are failing to do.
Merilyn Vale
About time this state grew a pair and took WA’s approach: pokies allowed in casinos only. It’s a disgrace that we haven’t regulated them more already