NSW gambling laws: pokies rules, casinos, betting tax and the 2023 to 2026 reforms

NSW gambling laws at a glance

NSW gambling laws are made and enforced by the state, inside limits set by federal law. The state decides how many poker machines can operate in pubs and clubs, when they must switch off, how casinos are supervised and how much tax bookmakers pay. Canberra decides what can be offered online, which is why NSW can license a TAB account but not an online pokies site. For the national picture, start with our gambling laws in Australia overview.

Who regulates gambling in NSW

Three bodies share the work. Liquor & Gaming NSW is the department that licenses venues, inspects them and runs compliance campaigns. The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority decides the bigger licensing questions, such as whether a venue can keep an exemption. The NSW Independent Casino Commission was created in 2022 under amendments to the Casino Control Act 1992 to supervise casinos after the inquiries into The Star and Crown, and it is funded by a supervisory levy that both casinos pay.

The main Acts are the Gaming Machines Act 2001 (pubs and clubs), the Casino Control Act 1992, the Betting and Racing Act 1998 (bookmakers and betting advertising) and the Gambling (Two-up) Act 1998, which is why two-up is legal on Anzac Day and all year in Broken Hill. Our two-up rules guide covers that law in detail.

Poker machines in NSW: the numbers

NSW has more poker machines than any other state. The latest Liquor & Gaming NSW quarterly reports counted 65,553 machines in clubs (31 May 2026) and 22,486 in hotels (30 June 2026), a combined 88,039. That is about 92% of the 95,739 entitlement cap in the regulation, in our calculation.

Adding up the four most recent quarters of net gaming profit gives about $5.39 billion for clubs and $4.28 billion for hotels, or roughly $9.66 billion lost by players in a year. Per machine, that works out to about $82,100 a year in a club and $190,100 in a hotel, in our calculation. A hotel machine takes more than twice as much as a club machine, on average.

The machines are not more generous for it. The regulation sets the floor at an 85% return, and GambleAware NSW says machines return 85% to 92% of all money bet over their lifetime, with each spin independent of the last. To see what that return means for a night out, try the pokies calculator.

What changed in NSW from 2023 to 2026

NSW has tightened its pokies rules in steps. Each change below came from an official NSW Government release.

The shutdown change was large. In March 2026 the government said 672 venues had varied shutdown periods, usually three hours instead of six, and that 649 exemptions had been revoked by Liquor & Gaming NSW and 10 by ILGA. The reason it gave: a 2023 report found 70.5% of people playing machines between 4am and 10am were at high or moderate risk of harm.

Venues with more than 20 machine entitlements must also have Responsible Gambling Officers. If you are setting your own limits, our gambling limits guide explains the tools that exist.

Casinos in NSW

NSW has two casinos, both in Sydney, and both supervised by the NICC rather than Liquor & Gaming NSW directly.

• The Star Sydney holds a full casino licence. The NICC publishes two independent inquiries into The Star, from 2022 and 2024, and in September 2026 it announced that the term of The Star's manager had been extended into 2027.
• Crown Sydney operates under a restricted gaming licence rather than a full casino licence; the current licence document published by the NICC is dated October 2025.

The NICC also publishes a disciplinary outcomes register, so fines against either casino are on the public record.

Betting in NSW

Bookmakers that take bets from NSW residents pay the NSW point of consumption tax wherever they are licensed. It started on 1 January 2019 at 10% and rose to 15% on 1 July 2022. It applies to net NSW wagering revenue above $1,000,000 a financial year. The tax is paid by the bookmaker, not by you; for how wins are treated for punters, see our gambling tax guide.

Online betting rules are national. A licensed bookmaker cannot take an in-play sports bet online, cannot accept a credit card or crypto deposit, and must be part of BetStop, the national self-exclusion register.

Online pokies and NSW law

NSW cannot license an online casino, because the federal Interactive Gambling Act 2001 bans offering online pokies and casino games to anyone in Australia. Sites that do so are offshore and outside NSW consumer protections: no 85% minimum return, no shutdown hours, no cash limit and no NSW body to complain to. Our guide to whether online pokies are legal in Australia explains who the law targets.

Help in NSW

Gambling Help is free, confidential and available 24/7 on 1800 858 858, and GambleAware NSW publishes plain-English information on how NSW machines work. For venue and national exclusion options, including BetStop for online betting, see our self-exclusion guide.

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