The propensity for gambling in Australia is actually the highest in the world. More than eighty percent of adults in Australia take part in some kind of gambling, and it is often cited as a top leisure activity and one of the most prolific forms of entertainment on the continent. Slot machine, which are locally known as pokies, make up over sixty percent of the gambling spend in Australia and as much as four percent of the country’s population plays these games on a weekly basis.
The revenue generated from Australian casinos and gambling regularly tops twenty billion Australian dollars per year with contributors including poker machines and other forms of gambling. New South Wales in particular is probably the area of the country with the most history when it comes to gambling and Australian casinos. It was the site of the country’s first official horse race that took place in Hyde Park in eighteen ten. It is also the home of the first Australian lottery which was instated in eighteen eighty one as well as giving clubs the right to run poker machines. One could say this was the first instance of Australian casinos.
Gambling Regulatory Bodies in Australia
There are several regulatory authorities in the various territories that regulate all gambling in Australian casinos. These include the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission in the Australian Capital Territory, the New South Wales Office of Liquor, Racing and Gaming in New South Wales, the Licensing Commission in the Northern Territory, the Independent Gambling Authority in South Australia, the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation in Queensland, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation located in Victoria, the Tasmanian Gaming Commission in Tasmania and finally the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor that is located in Western Australia. Each of these offices is responsible for regulations in their territory and players will find that regulations can vary greatly from area to area.
Popular Games in Australian Casinos
One of the most popular forms of gambling in casinos located in Australia is slot machines. These slot machines, which are locally referred to as pokies or poker machines, are all type of gambling. They consist of three or more reels that will start to spin as soon as the player pushes a button. The object of the game is to get matching symbols across the reels once they have come to a complete stop. In Australia, it is most common for these machines to have a total of five reels with multiple paylines or multiple ways for the player to win. Some of theme also have bonus features and free games that can be played within the pokies should the player be lucky enough to activate them during the course of their play.
In recent times, there are over two hundred thousand of these pokies in operation all around the country which make up almost three percent of the seven million plus gaming machines that exist at casinos all over the world.
In addition to pokies, players will also find traditional table games such as blackjack, poker, best roulette games and more.