NSW residents have lost a record record $4.75 billion on poker machines in the first six months of 2026, more than $311 million above the same period last year, as losses remain above $1 million an hour for the eighth consecutive quarter – two straight years. The latest NSW Office of Liquor & Gaming figures show losses reach a record $2.38 billion in the June quarter alone, around $182 million a week, $26 million a day and almost $1.1 million every hour. Wesley Mission CEO, Rev Stu Cameron, says the figures should be a wake-up call for policymakers.

“For two straight years NSW has been losing more than $1 million an hour to poker machines. We are now heading towards $10 billion a year. The test of gambling reform is not how many announcements are made. The test is whether losses fall and fewer people experience harm. These figures tell us we are nowhere near there yet.” Rev Cameron commented.

Losses continue to rise despite NSW having fewer poker machine venues than a year ago. Hotel poker machine losses increased 6.1 per cent compared with the same quarter last year while club losses rose 3.6 per cent.

“Pubs have ruthlessly perfected a business model that extracts enormous sums from communities. Some Western Sydney pubs are making $18–20 million a year from just 30 poker machines. That is obscene,” Rev Cameron commented.

The burden falls hardest on communities that can least afford it, with Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland recording the highest poker machine losses across metropolitan Sydney while the Central Coast, Wollongong and Newcastle remain among the hardest-hit regional communities. One person who shares their story with Wesley Mission says their partner loses more than $4 million over six years, much of it at two Sydney pubs. During one six-month relapse alone around $600,000 is lost – often during a single night each week between 11pm and 4am.

“This is what $1 million an hour looks like in human terms. At three in the morning someone can be sitting alone at a poker machine, chasing losses and losing thousands of dollars while the rest of the city sleeps.  Why do we allow a product capable of causing this level of harm to keep operating through the night?” Rev Cameron commented. “Pull the plug from midnight to 10am. Give people a circuit breaker and a chance to walk away.”

The NSW Government’s recently announced gambling reform package includes steps towards account-based gambling and a review of poker machine shutdown periods. Rev Cameron says the package contains positive measures but falls well short of the protections needed.

“A review of poker machine shutdown periods is not a shutdown and a pathway towards account-based gambling is not a requirement nor a commitment.  The Government is kicking the can down the road again. We need a mandatory midnight-to-10am shutdown and mandatory account-based gambling with meaningful harm prevention measures built in.” Rev Cameron commented “When communities are consistently losing more than $1 million an hour and NSW is heading towards $10 billion in annual poker machine losses, the case for stronger reform only becomes more urgent.”