Punters hit record losses as SA pokies cash in
New data shows SA pokie players are losing money in record amounts but one hospitality chief says the machines are “integral” to businesses. See the suburbs amassing the most revenue.
The state’s annual pokies revenue has exceeded $1 billion for the second time in a row, breaking South Australia’s record set a year ago – with South Australians losing $286.3 million from July to September this year.
This is the highest figure in history for a three-month period and was described as “shocking” to see in a cost-of-living crisis by SA Greens Leader Robert Simms.
Latest Consumer and Business Services data showed a total of $1.079 billion was lost by punters in the past financial year, an increase of more than $71 million from the previous year.
The state government took out $494.37 million in tax and SA venues shared the remaining $585.23 million in revenue.
Salisbury Council was the local government area that recorded the highest amount of pokies revenue at more than $109 million, with Port Adelaide Enfield close behind with more than $106 million in revenue. Playford Council had the highest average revenue per venue at $6.1 million across its 10 venues.
Last year, the state government made a commitment to reduce the number of pokies machines in SA after revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever.
But instead the number of pokies machines in operation across the state has increased with a total of 11,810 active poker machines across 461 SA venues, not including the Adelaide Casino, an increase from 11,735 at the end of last financial year.
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“The Malinauskas Government says it wants fewer pokies but the latest figures show we’re going in the other direction. Maybe they’re addicted to the gambling revenue?” Simms said.
“Pokies destroy lives, and it’s time we get them out of our pubs and clubs for good.
“If the Malinauskas Government is serious about reducing gambling harm, they can start by backing our plan to put an end to pokies in SA.”
The new figures come on Melbourne Cup day, Australia’s biggest day on the horse racing calendar, which is expected to see more than three million Australians spend an estimated $351 million dollars on betting according to Finder.
Australian Hotels Association SA CEO Anna Moeller told InDaily that pokies were an “integral part of the business model” for many SA venues.
“Having poker machines is no guarantee of success, it’s actually quite expensive to have them in your venue, but certainly it’s a very viable part of a large number of hotels businesses, and in fact, is the reason that many of them haven’t gone under,” Moeller said.
“[Without pokies] you would see a lot less upgrades to facilities. You would see some closures of hotels, particularly in regional areas, which would be catastrophic for those regions.”
Moeller said that SA has some of the strictest gambling rules in the country and that hospitality venues were the safest place to gamble.
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“I think days like Melbourne Cup, whilst yes, it does involve putting on a bet or two and gambling in the strict sense, I think it’s also a very healthy social mechanism,” Moeller said.
“Bricks and mortar gambling, such as poker machines, occurs in a highly regulated and highly supported environment. When you compare it to online, and often offshore gambling, bricks and mortar gambling is the equivalent of swimming between the flags.
“In South Australia, we’re the pin-up state in terms of harm minimisation measures. We have the greatest and the strongest suite of minimisation resources and tools in place, and in fact, we have things that no other state has.
“The danger in removing Poker machines is that people won’t stop gambling; they will simply go to another unregulated, unsupported platform, and that would be worse.”
Government measures introduced to minimise gambling related harm include mandated facial recognition and automated risk monitoring of each session of play, and the ‘Take a Break’ advertising campaign.
But concerns have been raised over increased gambling harm risks, with research from The Australia Institute showing Australians lose more to gambling than any other country in the world per capita, with a total loss of $36 billion to all forms of gambling in the 12 months to March 2026.
Since 2020, gambling losses have increased by 75 per cent for a total loss of $15.3 billion.
Last year, Simms announced the Greens wanted to phase out pokies machines in pubs and clubs by 2030, with a $400 million transition fund to support venues to invest in other income streams.
“On Melbourne Cup Day, when gambling is front and centre, these figures are a sobering reminder of how much South Australians are losing to the industry,” Simms said.
A state government spokesperson said the government “remains committed to reducing the number of poker machines in SA”, and that the state remains “well below” the maximum number of machines permitted.
“Just last week, the government announced that it is making our ‘Take a Break’ QR code that allows people to bar themselves from gaming venues in just a few minutes permanent and we continue to support people struggling with gambling related harm,” the spokesperson said.
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