The Star (casino)

The Star Sydney Casino
The Star Sydney Casino Logo
Location	Pyrmont, Sydney, New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	33°52.1′S 151°11.7′E
Opening date	13 September 1995
Management	Echo Entertainment Group
Rooms	351
Suites	130
Restaurants	12 + 8 bars
Floors	17
Website	Official site

The Star Sydney Casino & Hotel (formerly Star City Casino and prior to that, Sydney Harbour Casino) in Pyrmont, Sydney, is the second largest casino in Australia after rival Melbourne's Crown Casino. Overlooking Darling Harbour, The Star Sydney Casino features two gaming floors, eight bars, seven restaurants, 351 hotel rooms and 130 serviced and privately owned apartments.^{[citation needed]} It also includes the 2,000 seat Lyric Theatre. Its gaming operations are overseen and controlled by the New South Wales Casino Control Authority and is licensed to be the only legal casino in New South Wales, in late 2008, it was granted a 12 year extension of its exclusivity and licence.

In 2009, Tabcorp, the owners of The Star, announced a $475 million refurbishment and expansion program called Project Star which involved the re-orientation of the casino towards Sydney Harbour, including a new "iconic" entrance and drop-off zone on the harbour side of the casino site. Work began in late 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2012. The program - originally quoted as A$475 million - is just short of $1 billion. According to Echo Entertainment CEO, Larry Mullin costs are estimated to be around A$961 million. On 16 September 2011, the casino reopened under the name "The Star".

In June 2011, Tabcorp split into two separate divisions, Tabcorp and Echo Entertainment. Echo Entertainment is in charge of Tabcorp's casino and hotel division to allow for better infrastructure for both companies to flourish.

Gaming

The harbour side of The Star

The harbour side of Star City Casino prior to expansion

Public transport facilities located below The Star provide direct access

The casino features two gaming floors — the main gaming floor on level one for general entry and the Sovereign Room on level three. The Sovereign Room table bet ranges from $25 to $75,000 and also contains the Inner Sanctum, with table bet ranges of $100 to $500,000.^{[citation needed]} The two areas are only available to high rollers and international guests following an application for membership and review by The Star's management.^{[citation needed]} The Inner Sanctum pits are frequently used for junket players. Star City returned to junket play in 2005 after taking a number of large losses in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Recent rebuilding works have added extra gaming areas for the main gaming floor with the addition of the Oasis Lounge and the 36 Degrees Bar although these new areas have not increased the amount of tables or machines available in total. The main gaming floor is divided into three major parts — Table Games, Electronic Gaming, and Poker. The amount of poker tables has been steadily increased and now stands at 30 tables.^{[citation needed]}

The Sovereign Room has been upgraded and now includes four additional private gaming rooms and extra dining and lounge amenities. These extensions have an estimated cost of $7,000,000.^{[citation needed]}. Another recent upgrade is the addition of a new "ultra exclusive" area directly above the Sovereign Room called the Vermilion Room.^{[citation needed]} This is accessed by invitation only^{[citation needed]}, and there are currently fewer than 100 Vermilion Card Members that are entitled to use the Vermilion Room.^{[citation needed]} Star City has recently opened the sports bar as well.

Table games

Star City provides many traditional casino games, including Mini Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud, Craps, Pai Gow, Poker, Pontoon, Roulette, Rapid(semi-electronic) Roulette, Sic Bo, Three card poker, and Four-Card Poker^{[citation needed]}.

Two-Up was available at Star City but was removed at the end of October 2003 as the game was not considered to be economically viable.^{[citation needed]} The pit typically required three dealers and two games supervisors, consequently management felt that returns were not as high as they could be and with Tabcorp insisting on large reductions in overheads and increased profit^{[citation needed]}, this iconic game was closed.^{[citation needed]}

In December 2005, a new game Double-Chance was trialed but was discontinued soon after; Players, referring to the games high house advantage, dubbed the game 'No-Chance'.^{[citation needed]}

At the end of 2006, Star City introduced a new game, three card baccarat, following minor reorganization of its main gaming floor in preparation for the smoking ban in July 2007 and planned extensions to its gaming floors. This game was also removed from the floor shortly after due to lack of interest from players.

Electronic gaming

The Star provides a selection of electronic gaming machines, including slot machines, bingo, rapid roulette and video poker machines. Rapid Big Wheel was introduced in early 2006 to replace the often slow paced table game version, which has now been reintroduced, and the Rapid Big Wheel removed in August 2007. The Star has just over 1490 electronic gaming machines but is limited to a maximum 1500.^{[citation needed]}

Security

As in most casinos, the gaming floors of the venue are constantly monitored by a security camera system.^{[citation needed]} Cameras mounted on the roof and in the table signs are used to ensure that all actions are logged. The footage can be used to settle player disputes, identify cheating, and be used in the Australian court system for prosecution.

In 2000 the $500 chips were removed from the casino after fraudulent chips were found. Some chips did make their way into the bank due to limited security features on the chips.^{[citation needed]}

Restaurants and bars

Star City, view from west

The Star has a large variety of restaurants including five star fine dining. Not all the restaurants are managed by The Star with a number of outlets being privately managed^{[citation needed]}. The Star's Garden Buffet is known for its all you can eat prawn buffet.

The Star operates eight bars within the complex with a further two outlets designated as bars and another two external independent outlets able to serve alcohol. Bars within the gaming area are not accessible to minors (persons under 18). Some bars have live entertainment, mostly on weekends^{[citation needed]}. The Lagoon Bar and Glo Bar closed in 2009 as part of the refurbishment project.

Pop culture

The first 12 episodes of Australian TV Series Joker Poker was filmed in a private gaming room at the casino. The game was dealt by experienced Star City croupiers; however, it was not a success. Also filmed several episodes of the Australian version of Beauty and the Geek. The now defunct Ralph magazine shot its swimsuit model of the year competition at Turbines Health Club (Pool and gym for the hotel and apartments).

External links

• Official site
• NSW Casino Control Authority