Australians love to gamble! A recent survey revealed that more than 70% of them have done it in the last year alone. For context, in the United States, only about 55% of adults have participated in games of chance in the last year.
Are Australians simply desperate for any activity that will put them out of the path of venomous snakes, hungry sharks, and pinching/biting/stinging insects, or is there something deeper going on?
The Aussie casino industry is more complicated than that. Combining a unique cultural perception of gaming with a level of access that might seem strange to U.S. readers, Australians simply gamble differently.
How does this gaming culture play out in the land down under?
A Snapshot of Gaming In Australia
Welcome to New South Wales, where there is a gaming machine for every 88 people. The only community on the planet with more machines? Las Vegas Nevada. It’s a bit of an anomaly. Australia holds just 1% of the global population, but 18% of its slot machines (pokies as they are called there).
Here’s a more interesting---telling—statistic. More than 75% of the slot machines that aren’t in casinos are located in Australia.
Where Vegas has glitzy glowing buildings filled with glitzy glowing games, the people of New South Wales and other Australian communities head not to the casino, but to the local pub when they want to game.
Bars and local clubs are more remarkable for not having machines. This is admittedly, a development that may begin to feel more and more familiar for people living in the United States and other communities across the world.
Gambling, not as a regionalized activity you need to hop on an airplane for, but something that can be done anywhere, at any time. Online platforms, such as Joe Fortune online casino, allow you to play on a tablet, phone or computer with total comfort.
Does Australia Have Destination Gaming?
Australia does have large land-based casinos, but they attract tourists more than they do local Aussies. The most notable example would have to be the Crown Melbourne. A titanic hotel/casino/entertainment complex that would easily fit right in with the luxury accommodations that populate the Vegas Strip.
In fact, with more than 200,000 square feet of gaming space, the Crown is—at least at the time of writing—bigger than a casino you will find in Las Vegas.
Australia also has a major sports fixation. A survey taken several years ago revealed that more than half a million Australians bet regularly on sports in Australia.
This can happen from the comfort and convenience of an Australian home. For the most part, it probably does. However, there are special exceptions.
Horse Racing
Horse Racing is a big deal for the Australian economy. Responsible for tens of thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in revenue, professional horse racing touches countless lives in Australia. Not only is it a significant source of entertainment, but it also inspires many to make wagers.
The Melbourne Cup is the most culturally significant of these events. Known as “The race that stops a nation,” millions of people from all over the world tune in to watch.
Obviously, triple-A racing events of this kind do have a destination component to them. The Melbourne Cup is in—hold your surprise—Melbourne, and there are other popular, though not nation-shattering events that take place throughout the rest of the year.
Millions of people annually go to Australian horse tracks to watch the races, place bets, and also to simply be seen. There is major cross-pollination between horseracing and culture/high fashion that could be its own article.
But In Australia, Nothing Beats Convenience
That’s the truth. Crown Melbourne and the best horse racing in the world don’t distract from the fact that most Australians prioritize casual convenience over glitz and glam when it comes to their gaming. The “pokie bar,” has cornered the market on this experience for decades.
However, as online gambling becomes better and more accessible, there are even more ways for Australians to play.
A 2024 survey revealed that around 64% of Australians have gambled online in the last year. In other words, most people who gamble in Australia do so from their phones or computers—at least some of the time.
These figures speak to something that is intuitively obvious. Permissive cultures provide fertile grounds for the development of gaming. Australians want to gamble. They have easy access to gambling. And so—Australians gamble.
There is nothing otherwise inherently Australian about gaming. It’s simply a question of accessibility. It’s very easy in the Land Down Under to head to the pub and play some pokies, or download an awesome app and game from the comfort of your home.
In Australia, at least, it is easier than ever to game how, and where you want. Why not take advantage?