Casinos and Gambling Facts

Lying southeast of Asia, between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the Commonwealth of Australia is an island nation, and the world's smallest continent. Australia also happens to be by far the biggest gambling nation on the planet, with an annual per capita US$866*. The good news is that gambling in this country is a legal pastime.

Australia is divided into the five mainland states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia, along with the island state of Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. Each of these states and territories permit various forms of gambling, and there are currently a total of 17 legal gambling facilities operating across Australia of varying sizes.

Australians enjoy having a punt on just about anything, and their love affair with gambling shows no signs of levelling off. The nation's top gambling spend is on three main areas within the regulated gambling industry: casinos, horseracing, and sportsbetting, with the largest chunk of money being wagered on the "Pokies".

Queensland is the largest state in Australia, housing no less than four licensed, operating casinos (Jupiters Hotel & Casino - Gold Coast, Jupiters Townsville Hotel & Casino – Townsville, The Reef Hotel Casino – Cairns, and Treasury Casino – Brisbane) two entertainment and casino complexes currently in development (Aquis Great Barrier Reef Casino – Yorkeys Knob Sept 2018, and The Star – Brisbane Jan 2022) and one additional proposed location (ASF Gold Coast – Broadbeach). The state currently has 3,713 slot machines (Pokies), 219 table games, and 78 poker tables, which will swell to 9,813 slots, 359 tables, and 80 poker tables by the beginning of 2022.

New South Wales also boasts four casino venues, but offers marginally fewer table games than its neighbouring state of Queensland at 200, 29 poker tables, and 3,012 gaming machines, dolly casino Sydney is the largest contributor to this total, with 1500 slots, 200 table games and the full 29 poker tables all on site.

The largest single casino venue in the entire country (as of July 2026) is Crown Melbourne, located at Southbank in the heart of the city of Melbourne. First opened in 1997, it is a large integrated gaming entertainment resort and casino, with 2,628 gaming machines and 540 table games, including over 50 poker tables on site. Its casino licence extends to 2050, and while its hold on the most Pokies available in one venue will be pipped by the new Aquis Great Barrier Reef Casino come September 2018 (2,628 versus 3,600), it will still have a clear stronghold on the number of table games (540 versus 140).

Visit Pagat to view a complete list of card games played in Australia.

Australia's penchant for gambling carries over to the Internet as well, with a growing popularity of online gaming amongst residents. Easy access and mobility of online gaming literally has put sportsbetting, poker and casino at the fingertips of every adult of legal gaming age.

Brit brands Paddy Power, William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Bet 365 have all been quick to recognise the potential for growth, and have licensed their business in Australia to take sports bets. Many leading online casino sites have also been quick to jump on the bandwagon Down Under, directly targeting the Aussie market, giving a wide variety of choice to Australian gamblers when it comes to their online casino site of preference.

With such a selection of real money online casino sites available, we highly recommend using an online casino review portal such as 22ricky casino.

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