Two Sydney hotels fined by L&GNSW for breaking gaming rules

Concourse Hotel at Wynyard and the Olympic Hotel at Paddington have been fined a combined total of AU$154,000.

Australia.- Two Sydney hotels have been fined by the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority a combined total of AU$154,000 (US$100,000) for breaches of gaming machine rules.

In the first case, the regulator fined the Concourse Hotel at Wynyard AU$110,000 (US$71,547) for repeatedly allowing patrons to play its 29 gaming machines between 8am and 10am from March to November 2023.

Although the hotel has 24-hour trading, it is required to comply with the 4am-10am gaming machine shutdown period. However, at 8.40am on November 28 2023, Liquor & Gaming NSW inspectors attended the venue and observed that all 29 gaming machines were switched on.

Dimitri Argeres, Liquor & Gaming NSW executive director of Regulatory Operations, said: “The frequent and repeated operation of gaming machines during the six-hour shutdown period over eight months is an extremely serious breach of laws aimed at reducing gambling harm,” Argeres explained and added: “Providing patrons with access to gaming machines during the shutdown period increases the risk of gambling harm by enabling gambling for longer hours of uninterrupted play.”

Caroline Lamb, chair of the regulator, said: “As this case shows, venues that fail to abide by gaming machine trading hours can expect to be caught and face significant penalties. The licensee is ultimately responsible for what goes on at their venue,” Lamb said.

In a separate case, the Olympic Hotel at Paddington was fined AU$44,000 (US$28,619) after officers found three gaming machines were not connected to the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), which monitors all gaming machine operations in New South Wales and calculates taxes.

The inspectors also found that an ATM on the premises had the ability to dispense cash from credit card accounts. Under the Gaming Machines Act 2001, hotels or clubs with gaming machines are not allowed to have ATMs with credit access in any part of the premises. The L&GNSW found that since 2021, more than AU$16,000 had been withdrawn from the ATM from credit card accounts.

See also:

See also: ACMA issues warning letters to unlicensed gambling operators

Concourse Hotel at Wynyard and the Olympic Hotel at Paddington have been fined a combined total of AU$154,000. Australia.- Two Sydney hotels have been fined by the NSW Independent Liquor…