Gambling is a very popular activity in Australia. In fact, it’s estimated that some 80% of Aussies regularly partake in some kind of gambling. The country’s gambling rate is the highest in the world, believe it or not. If you’re looking to gamble in Australia, whether online or offline, there are a few things you should know before you get started. Have a read of this article to find out more about gambling in Australia.

Winnings Aren’t Taxed

If you’re physically in Australia, you won’t ever be taxed on any winnings that you earn from gambling. In other words, all money that you win from any type of gambling, you get to keep for yourself.

There are a few key reasons why the Australian government has decided against taxing gambling winnings:

• The winnings aren’t obtained from work, they’re obtained by luck. You have to be lucky to earn winnings from gambling, whatever type of gambling you’re practising.
• Gambling isn’t considered to be a form of work. The money you get paid from doing work is taxed, but since gambling isn’t taken as work, you don’t get taxed on any money earned from it.
• The government prefers to tax the companies that run gambling sites and venues.

Since the government takes tax money from gambling operators, it’s still able to generate at least some revenue from gambling. The rate varies depending on the state and the activity.

Tips Aren’t Necessary For Gambling in Australia

In some countries, tipping is a big part of the hospitality industry. At many casinos, especially in the US, it’s customary to give the dealer tips. Dealers can be found at tables and oversee a variety of games such as roulette, blackjack and poker. The servers who bring you drinks also expect tips.

In Australia, tipping isn’t as common as it is elsewhere. Hospitality staff are quite well paid and therefore don’t have to rely on tips. Therefore, they don’t expect to be tipped and people don’t feel the need to tip them. It’s perfectly acceptable to still give tips for good service, but you don’t have to feel pressured to give them if you don’t want to. With tipping not necessary, you have a little bit more money to gamble with.

Casinos Are Incredibly Popular

Since gambling is such a big thing in Australia, it should come as no surprise that the country’s casinos are very popular indeed. In fact, three of them attract more people than some of the best-known Australian tourist attractions. These are:

• Jupiter’s Casino Gold Coast;
• The Star Sydney;
• Crown Casino Melbourne.

Each one of these welcomed more visitors than the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef. This just goes to show how big gambling really is in Australia. Of the country’s top casinos, the Crown Casino Melbourne is the biggest, pulling in over 10 million visitors annually. Below is a summary of it:

The reasons casinos pull in such high visitor numbers is because they offer so much more than gambling. Most of the big Australian casinos are more like resorts than anything, offering a wide variety of entertainment, not to mention bars, restaurants, cafes, clubs and more. Many of them also have hotels and more often than not, the accommodation is on the luxury side.

If you want to gamble at an Australian casino, make a night or even a weekend of it. Book a stay at one of the country’s top casino resorts and enjoy a gambling experience like no other. Casinos typically offer all sorts of gambling opportunities, from slot machines (known as ‘pokies’ in Australia) and roulette, to poker, blackjack, baccarat, craps and many more.

You Don’t Just Have to Visit Casinos to Gamble

It’s reasonable to assume that casino games are only available to play at casinos. However, this isn’t entirely true for Australia. Certain games are pretty much only found in proper casino establishments, but others – pokies, for example – can be found at all sorts of other venues. Pokies are well-known for being easily accessible: you can find them in many pubs and clubs, and even in some restaurants. It’s estimated that there are close to 200,000 pokies throughout Australia, with nearly half of them located in the state of New South Wales alone.

Online Casino Games Have Better Payout Rates

Gambling at casinos and other places in Australia can be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. Having said that, many keen players prefer to do their gambling online. This is because online casino games tend to have better return rates than their real-life counterparts.

Each and every casino game has something called RTP. This stands for ‘return to player’ and it’s a figure that shows roughly how much of each bet gets paid back to the player over long-term play. There are two types of RTP: theoretical and actual. When you look for a game’s RTP, it’s the theoretical one you’ll see. This is what the average payout is expected to be.

Many online pokies have an RTP of 96%, for example. If you have, let’s say, ten spins of a pokie spending AUD 1 per spin. You would expect to receive 96% of your money back: with a total investment of AUD 10.00, this would mean a return of AUD 9.60. However, you’re unlike to hit the theoretical RTP after a small number of spins – you could have a losing streak that would give you no returns, or you could land a big win and make a hefty profit. So when you play a casino game, the actual RTP is the RTP for your own set of bets. It should get closer to the theoretical RTP the more bets are placed.

Online casino games tend to have better RTPs than real-life games because of the fact that they’re much cheaper to run. Land-based casinos and other venues with casino games have a number of different costs to stay on top of, including rent, bills, machine maintenance and so on. With online casinos, the overheads are much less; it’s considerably cheaper to run an online casino game than a real-life one. The games you find at online casinos can therefore afford to give more money away to players, hence their higher RTP. If you’re looking to make some money from playing casino games, online ones are recommended.

The laws to do with online gambling in Australia are very relaxed. As a player, you’re permitted to spend money at online casinos and other gambling sites based in other countries. You can gamble online as much as you like and you won’t be breaking any laws.

Online Casinos Have Better Bonuses

One of the best things about online casinos is the bonuses they have to offer. These are nearly always much better than the perks you get from becoming a member of a land-based casino. The online gambling industry is considerably more competitive than the land-based one, mainly because all you need is an internet-enabled device and you can access countless casinos and other gambling sites in just a few clicks. Since there are so many places to gamble online, competition can be fierce and to stay ahead of the game, casinos have to give out bonuses. These are special rewards that let you play games for free.

There are two main types of online casino bonuses: bonus money and free spins. Bonus money is free casino credit that can be used on most of a casino’s games. Free spins, on the other hand, are for pokies only. Other casino promotions award things such as cashback and entires to prize giveaways.

Some bonuses require you to make a deposit. Some Australian online casinos, however, offer no deposit bonuses. These are special deals you can claim without having to make a deposit. Simply sign up to a casino offering this type of deal and as soon as you’ve registered, you’ll find the free bonus money and/or free spins in your account ready to be used. If you’re after a no deposit bonus casino Australia, there are plenty to choose from. Among them, there are real money no deposit bonus, free spins on registration, Australian online casino no deposit sign up bonus, no deposit bonus codes and so on.

Summary

Australia has a thriving gambling culture. If you’re looking to do some gambling in the country, there’s no shortage of opportunities. The country is home to many casinos and other gambling venues, while there are loads of online casinos that people can legally access and play at. Remember the points we’ve made in this post the next time you do some gambling.