Revealed: red-tape quietly cut for Sydney’s Crown Casino

One of the biggest restrictions preventing Crown Sydney from allowing members to play table games at the casino has been quietly removed. Find out what it is.

Crown Sydney is no longer being forced to treat NSW residents as second-class citizens after the casino watchdog finally removed a decade’s old restriction on the Barangaroo casino.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Crown Sydney is no longer required to impose a mandatory 24 hour “cooling off period” until new members can play table games at the casino which opened in 2022.

The rule, which dated back to 2013, meant that NSW residents who joined Crown Casino needed to wait 24 hours before entering the gaming floor, unless they were a VIP member at another casino.

The rule was not imposed on those from interstate or overseas.

That mean that people could fly in from Victoria to stay for a weekend and start playing table games straight away, but NSW residents booking a staycation would have to wait a day after signing up.

NSW residents can now play at Crown Casino as soon as they have signed up as a member. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

The cooling off period was one of the biggest handbrakes on Crown Casino’s operations, the other being rules which prevent it from operating poker machines.

Former Crown bosses asked the NSW government for permission to buy poker machines for its Sydney casino earlier this year, but were knocked back, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review this month.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) confirmed the watchdog removed the restriction in July, after an application from Crown Sydney.

Previously, NSW residents had to serve out a 24 hour “cooling off period” before being allowed on to the gaming floor. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

“Previously, under the condition, NSW residents who couldn’t demonstrate VIP membership of another casino were required to apply for membership at Crown Sydney, and to wait 24 hours before membership was confirmed,” the NICC spokeswoman said.

Now, would-be members can sign up and start playing in as little as five minutes.

Anyone over 18 is eligible to apply for membership. When they apply, the casino runs a background checks, including to prevent self-excluded gamblers signing up, which takes a matter of minutes.

The restrictions dated back to 2013 but have been removed following action to combat money laundering and other gambling harm. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

The 24 hour cooling off period was first imposed in 2013 as part of the rules governing the “restricted” casino for high-rollers.

But after casino “junkets” to bring in high-value gamblers from overseas were banned, the watchdog considered removing the cooling off period was a common sense move to reorient the casino for locals.

The NICC has sole control of licence conditions, but this matter also involved Gaming Minister David Harris, because the cooling off period was contained in commercial agreements between Crown, the NICC, and the state government.

Crown offers table gaming but no poker machines. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

The decision has been welcomed by industry working to reinvigorate Sydney’s nightlife.

“Given the considerable investment into the Metro at Barangaroo, it makes complete sense that we are trying to attract locals to the area, as well as people from abroad,” Night-time Industries Association CEO Mick Gibb said.

“Crown welcomes the removal of the 24-hour rule, recognising the success of its world-leading gambling harm minimisation program, Crown PlaySafe,” a Crown Resorts spokesman said.

“Crown Sydney is proud to be the safest place for gaming in NSW”.

Originally published as Revealed: red-tape quietly cut for Sydney’s Crown Casino