Media have suggested that stricter regulations may be pushing gamblers to illegal casinos.
Australia.- It’s been suggested that stricter regulations may be pushing gamblers to illegal casinos in Sydney as media report that police raided five venues in 2024. Australia’s The Daily Telegraph suggests an increase in illegal gambling may be linked to the new cash limit at Crown and Star casinos.
There have been reports of a rise in illegal gaming venues in suburbs like Hurstville, Campsie, and Eastwood. There are also non-specified claims of high-stakes poker games happening in homes and luxury hotel rooms, with buy-ins starting at AU$50,000 and hostesses providing free food and drinks.
Meanwhile, Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) aims to introduce further reforms to address gambling ham and money laundering. The proposals include a third-party exclusion scheme and mandatory facial recognition technology for NSW hotels and clubs with gaming machines. L&GNSW says facial recognition technology would help reduce gambling harm by making it easier for staff to identify people who are banned from a venue, especially in crowded places.
The NSW government has implemented a series of major reforms, including capping the number of gaming machine entitlements, banning political donations from clubs and reducing the cash input limit on new gaming machines from AU$5,000 to AU$500.
