New Analysis Finds $24M Lost To NSW Poker Machines Every Day

Recent findings show $2.17 billion was lost to New South Wales poker machines in the first 90 days of this year.

An analysis of state government data by Wesley Mission has found an increase of 5.7% in money lost to poker machines in the first quarter of 2025 when compared to the same period the previous year.

They claim NSW residents are losing an average of $1 million an hour to poker machines across the state.

Losses were the highest in the Western Suburbs, with more than $186 million lost in only 90 days- more than $2 million daily. More than $766 million was lost across the local government areas of Fairfield, Cumberland, Blacktown, Parramatta, Penrith and Campbelltown and Canterbury-Bankstown.

Wesley Mission says residents in the city’s west are now losing an average of about $3,200 a year.

“The government has implemented limited reforms, but they clearly aren’t having a material impact,” chief executive, Stu Cameron told the Guardian.

“The losses continue to be massive, the poker machines keep multiplying and their devastating impact deepens every day.

“If the goal was to reduce gambling harm, then these reforms have failed. What we need now is courage – not more delays.”

Cameron urges action: “these are not radical ideas”

The charity is also calling on the state government to introduce a cashless gaming card with enforceable harm reduction limits, mandatory shutdowns of poker machines betweenmidnight and 10am, and tighter caps on the number of machines in high-risk communities.

“These are not radical ideas – they are basic public health protections,” Cameron said.

“If people were being harmed this severely by alcohol, drugs, or unsafe roads, the government would act.

“Gambling should be no different. Instead, the government does little while the industry rakes in billions.”

A spokesperson for the NSW minister for gaming and racing, David Harris, said the government was committed to “evidence-based gaming reform.”

“Our gaming reforms are about changing people’s behaviour which takes time,” they said.

“The government is reducing the overall number of gaming machines in NSW by reducing the gaming machine entitlement cap by over 3,000 since this Government was elected in 2023.

“Our government has also committed $100m to harm minimisation, introduced more responsible gambling officers, and have slashed cash limits on new machines.”

Data from Liquor and Gaming NSW earlier this year showed pubs and clubs raked in $8.64 billion in revenue over 2024, a 6.3 per cent increase since 2023, and the steepest increase outside of the COVID rebound in at least six years.

In January, the government banned gambling advertisements on public transport, following the earlier establishment of an Independent Panel to conduct a trial of cashless gaming in pubs and clubs throughout 2024, and the 2023 commitment of $100 million to invest in harm minimisation strategies such as research, treatment, services and reform.