NSW 2025 Pokies Losses Hit $9.3B as Government Pushes Facial Recognition Measures

A$9.3 billion sure sounds like much, but just how much? Well, based on official NSW data, total annual losses of around $9 billion translate to:

• Roughly A$25 million lost every day
• Over A$1 million lost every hour
• Around A$175 million lost every week

These figures are based on aggregated data from thousands of poker machines operating across pubs and clubs in New South Wales.

Quarterly reports show that losses regularly exceed A$2.4 billion in just three months, indicating that high spending levels are consistent throughout the year rather than concentrated in short spikes like the holiday or summer season.

For many observers, these breakdowns help explain why pokies remain at the centre of gambling reform discussions. While annual figures run into the billions, the hourly and daily numbers show just how constant the spending really is.

Alongside rising loss figures, the NSW government has begun introducing new harm-reduction measures, with facial recognition technology a key focus.

Under the new code of practice, some pubs and clubs across the state will begin using facial recognition systems to identify self-excluded players and prevent them from accessing gaming areas. The system is designed to support existing self-exclusion programs by automatically flagging individuals who have opted out of gambling.

For now, the code is voluntary, but a full rollout is planned for the future. The government has made it clear that facial recognition could become a standard requirement across venues as part of a wider push to reduce gambling-related harm.

Officials say the goal is not to shut down pokies or reduce the number of machines, but to introduce targeted measures to help players most at risk without affecting casual users.

While the headline numbers cover the entire state, gambling losses are not evenly distributed across New South Wales.

Areas in Western Sydney and several regional communities consistently report some of the highest pokies spending levels. These are often regions where clubs play a central role in the local economy and where access to gaming machines is widespread.

Some of these venues operate large gaming floors with hundreds of machines, making pokies one of the most accessible forms of gambling. This accessibility, combined with the speed and frequency of play, contributes to the high loss figures seen across the state.

The concentration of losses in specific areas has been a major part of the policy debate, with some arguing that reforms should focus more on location-based restrictions rather than measures that would apply across the entire state.

The rising year-on-year losses put the NSW government in a difficult spot. On the one hand, there is pressure from opponents to act as the losses keep mounting. On the other hand, clubs and pubs remain a major part of the economy, and any major changes to pokies would have wider consequences.

So far, the approach has been to introduce smaller measures like facial recognition and the national self-exclusion programme rather than make bigger changes to how many machines are in operation or how they are used.

At this stage, it remains unclear whether the government will decide to go beyond these measures and take stronger action.