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Filed under: Casinos, Sydney, The Star, Tourism

39 comments

Give The Star some credit. It does at least live up to its name, even if it has to fork out megabucks to get the stars to appear.

Another rockin' Saturday night out at The Star with those awesome fellas from the Police Riot Squad. Pic: Damian Baker.

When Star City opened in 1995, it reportedly paid Diana Ross a cool million to perform at the opening. That was a fun night. The free concert was dangerously crowded, and you had to queue for three hours to play blackjack tables with a minimum bet limit of $25.

When Star City rebranded as The Star last year, it again reportedly paid big bucks for the likes of Russell Crowe, Jen Hawkins and other big names to show up. Us star struck Sydneysiders were presumably meant to think that the casino was a fabulously exciting place to blow our money, not a depressing RSLy place to blow our money.

Didn’t work. Star power might cut it for nightclubs and fragrance launches, but there is nothing anyone can do to convince Sydneysiders that their city’s casino is a place worth visiting for any reason other than to take a free pee in the plentiful public toilets.

For better or worse, Melbourne’s Crown Casino has inculcated itself into the heart and soul of the city. It is a venue where average people meet to eat, socialise and maybe – but only maybe – blow all their money. Sydney’s casino has never come close to being a social hub. Star City, and now The Star, has always been more of a scar on the city’s landscape than a star.

Partly it’s the architecture. The thing is Travelodge ugly. It is three star tropical resort ugly, and no amount of refurbishment and reorientation to face the harbour can fix that. Though some dynamite might help.

It’s also in a weird place. Pyrmont is a peninsula cut off from the city proper. Since Star City’s opening in 1995, Pyrmont has come alive with new apartments, new major media tenants like Fairfax and Networks Seven and Ten, and cafés and Thai takeaways everywhere. It looks like a normal, vibrant part of inner Sydney, except for the giant Holiday Inn with fake palm trees in the middle of it.

Meanwhile, various internal casino machinations revealed in recent weeks have done little to make The Scar seem like the bastion of family entertainment it would have us perceive it as.

A public inquiry will be held next week. It will examine, among other things, a string of allegations related to the sacking of casino boss Sid Vaikunta. Mr Vaikunta was dismissed on February 2 following allegations from two Star employees that he sexually harassed them. He denies these claims.

The matter is further clouded by a great scoop in The Australian which revealed that NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s communications director Peter Grimshaw, and his girlfriend who worked as a senior manager at the casino, mounted a covert media campaign against Mr Vaikunta.

All of this comes not long after strong suggestions that staff at The Scar allowed overseas gamblers to play for more than the legal limit of 24 hours straight, and that those who leaked an email containing details of the practice to a whistleblower were sacked.

The Scar is no different from any casino in the world. The punters on the main gaming floor pay the bills, but the high-rollers build the fancy scmhancy extensions overlooking the harbour. Problem is, despite the rather large yachts out the front of the casino, Pyrmont is not Monte Carlo. It is a suburb in a city called Sydney in a country called Australia which happens to have some very sensible gambling laws which apply both to locals and visitors.

That’s the thing about The Scar. It’s technically in Sydney but it’s not part of Sydney’s consciousness. And its current troubles are just the latest blemishes on a place which has been cursed and unloved from day one. A magazine has a photo shoot at the casino, the magazine folds the next month. A poker show films in a private room, the show tanks on TV.

Everything goes wrong at The Scar, as surely as the house takes your money. Always has, always will. And frankly, if our tourism bosses need a place like this to sell a city with the Opera House and Bridge, they’re as useless as the casino itself.

The Punch welcomes your discussion on the Scar or the casino in your nearest city. Hate it? Love it? Why?

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39 comments

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- S.L says:
  
  06:10am | 28/03/12
  
  Well their publicity must be great. I don’t mind a punt but I’ve never even considered walking through the front door…............
  
  Reply
- MattC says:
  
  06:57am | 28/03/12
  
  Inculcate - to instill or ingrain. Save anyone else looking it up.
  
  Oh, and I agree, the Star is a dump.
  
  Reply
Mark says:

10:33am | 28/03/12

Thanks, should have checked the comment first
- stephen says:
  
  07:45am | 28/03/12
  
  I would have that a casino, inside, is indentical whether it be in Sydney or Istanbul, except ours have more Asian customers in white shirts, counting cards.
  
  Actually, I’ve won money at the roulette table in Sydney’s casino, not much, but enough for a visit to Mama’s Flip Burgers, (and what they flip in non of your business) and I did not feel out of place in the bright lights, though I didn’t need my hush puppies ... that had carpet there.
  
  ps stand behind a circle of poker players on $25 limits and start counting cards yourself. You’d be amazed at those who cannot count.
  
  Reply
- MarkS says:
  
  07:46am | 28/03/12
  
  Don’t find gambling interesting & do not feel like being bashed to death. So avoid like the embola virus.
  
  Reply
- Onlooker says:
  
  07:47am | 28/03/12
  
  My husband and I drove down to Sydney for the weekend a few moths ago, did the Museums and the zoo ect and had a lovely time. We went to the casino, its a big barn of a place, when I went to the auto teller , it asked me did I want my currency in all these Asian currencies I thought I fell asleep and left the country by mistake. We are not big betters by any means $20 in the pokies is our limit but you have to go have a look while your there. We lost our $20 in about 3 minutes and we left. I have been to Jupiter’s for lunch, we have family on The Gold Coast and thought it was visually much better.
  
  Reply
- iansand says:
  
  07:56am | 28/03/12
  
  For “the Star” substitute “Darling Harbour” throughout. Change the date to 1992.
  
  For “the Star” substitute “Barangaroo” throughout. Change the date to 2032..
  
  I think that the place is a hole, and I have been there about 3 times to see shows (apart from visiting some Chinese business associates who have an inexplicable liking for the place). Sydney takes a while to come to terms with things.
  
  Reply
AFR says:

09:42am | 28/03/12

Funny you say that iansand. I think the place is a hole too, but a friend of mine is currently housesitting for some rich Chinese who, when in Sydney spend all their time there (and I mean every night). These are people who have millions to spend on whatever they want - their choice I guess.
- ibast says:
  
  07:57am | 28/03/12
  
  It’s a terrible place. It’s artificial reality puts people off. There’s better things to do in Sydney than to hang out in a movie set that you know is trying to take your money.
  
  Reply
- ShamWow says:
  
  08:10am | 28/03/12
  
  Anyone who has been to Vegas knows how bad The Star is. Any gambler who has half a brain is prepared to lose a set amount of money and should have fun doing it. The Star has so many rules and the staff are so strict that they rip all the fun out of playing.
  
  Reply
M says:

10:07am | 28/03/12

“It is a suburb in a city called Sydney in a country called Australia which happens to have some very sensible gambling laws which apply both to locals and visitors.”

So much for sensible gambling laws if they take the fun out of it.
- SM says:
  
  08:25am | 28/03/12
  
  Apart from the appalling layout one of the place’s biggest problems is the staff, esp the bar staff. You feel like you’re being served at KFC
  
  Reply
- nakayama says:
  
  08:39am | 28/03/12
  
  I think you may have inflated the allure of the Crown casino in Melbourne. Casinos are depressing venues catering largely for money-laundering criminals and the mathematically challenged. I have never wagered at Crown and aside from an annual business breakfast I would never dream of going there.
  
  Reply
Chris says:

06:14am | 29/03/12

You forgot to add how it’s manned by neanderthals for security and what a dump the place is.
Most of the place is cheap and tacky.
The Palladium being the biggest hole in the place.
The sooner they bulldoze the place the better.
But of course someone in government will always be on the take and never let it get shut down.
Can’t say much about the main Hotel areas all the Metropol was just ok.
- Kip says:
  
  08:41am | 28/03/12
  
  Boring place, far from everything, all the rooms are old and dated and the non-smoking floors all stink of smoke! Spent a night there for a conference, wouldnt go back and spend my own money.
  
  Reply
- Cynicised says:
  
  08:44am | 28/03/12
  
  One of my pet hates - “us Syneysiders” or “us women”, as in a currently running ad on the Telly. It is “WE Sydneysiders”. Please do try to use the Queen’s English, Ant! You are using the subjective case, not the objective.
  
  However, I’m not one of you, but I loathe casinos per se, except for the occasional show in the performance spaces. In general, they are places that are by definition peopled by gamblers and the paraphernalia of same, which are both on my “avoid like the plague” list. An occasional flutter isn’t the end of the world, but the milieu is so depressingly desperate and corrupt it makes my skin crawl.
  
  Reply
- Bill says:
  
  09:03am | 28/03/12
  
  “Russell Crowe, Jen Hawkins and other big names”...
  
  Slaps hand to forehead and shakes head.
  
  Reply
Miles Heffernan says:

09:25am | 28/03/12

Oh Bill, I pictured that with a McCauley Culkin like expression in Home Alone and LOLd.

I hear the perks for staff are good if you are high enough up the food chain not to be sexually harassed by “dignitaries” (that could be truly example of irony - let me call Alanis Morrisette and check).
Jeremy says:

09:27am | 28/03/12

If an Oscar winning (3 noms) actor isn’t a big name in your books, I’d like to know who you would count? Buddha, or Jesus, maybe? They don’t do casino launches, Bill.

p.s. Ant, shouldn’t you be worried about a libel suit, the way things are of late?
Fezzbo says:

09:44am | 28/03/12

@ Jeremy

Jeebus, I hope it’s not against the law to have an opinion then post said opinion on an opinion site…

Otherwise I am well up the creek…
- MDMConnell says:
  
  09:15am | 28/03/12
  
  You’ve got it right with the location issue.
  
  Crown is very central, so it’s the kind of place you might wander over to for a coffee or a meal, or just walk through on your way to somewhere else. So it does have quite a good “Place To Just Meet Up” feel, and attracts a range of people apart from just the gambling crowd.
  
  Star City is much more out of the way, so it’s not the sort of place you’d visit unless you really really wanted to.
  
  Reply
- Gavin says:
  
  09:17am | 28/03/12
  
  The biggest problem with the place is the original design, the currunt management and staff can’t be blamed for that.
  Are there any Puncher’s that move in architecture circles that know who is responsible for signing off on the original design?
  They realy need to be named and shamed.
  
  Reply
- Sarah says:
  
  09:18am | 28/03/12
  
  I’ve got to say, as much as Star City is a dive, it is heads and tails above (IMO) Jupiters on the Gold Coast and Treasury in Brisbane.
  
  Both suck badly. Star City is far better than those two.
  
  But Crown in my view, beats them all in the shade.
  
  Reply
- Punters Pal says:
  
  09:46am | 28/03/12
  
  It may look uglier than Crown from outside, but inside it looks like any other casino, which is my idea of hell on earth. Most people wear polyester and the carpets are ugliest in the world. Where casinos in Vegas are full of trailer park Americans, in Australia they are full of people who look like dishwashers in Chinese restaurant but somehow have bundles of $100 notes in their pocket. Totally depressing places, ugly interior, ugly people, ugly buzz about the place.
  
  Although I live in Sydney I have not been there for many years and have no desire to ever go again, regardless whether they are called Star City, The Star, The Starship or The Fallen Star.
  
  Reply
Shiralee says:

06:45pm | 28/03/12

Star City looks nothing like other Casino’s. I went there once. Was only able to get onto one floor (I found out there was more than one floor by someone I know who gaes there when in Sydney). It was like walking into someone’s house. Very boring. The weird thing was that I gotthere around 7pm on a Friday night and had the choice of any 1cent machine infact most machines were empty. I’ve never seen that in any gambling venue anywhere before. Nice to see Sydney isn’t good at everything.
- Pot Stirrer says:
  
  09:47am | 28/03/12
  
  A couple of things I hate about this dive.
  
  Firstly, it’s almost too far to walk from the city, and forget driving there.
  Secondly, it’s $25 minimum on colours at roulette, should be $5 min and double green - better for students
  Thirdly, they got rid of the only good thing - the mega sports screen tv. That old sport’s bar was unreal, even though the meals were probably over priced.
  
  = Virtually no reason to go
  
  Reply
Anthony Sharwood says:

10:11am | 28/03/12

I agree about the minimum bet thing. I am partial to a game of blackjack but last time I went, which was a year or two ago, the min on a blackjack table was $20. And that’s not on a busy weekend night. When I go these places, I want to play with $100. On a $5 or $10 table you can do that and last a while, maybe even win a little, but not at the ripoff tables they have at The Scar
Bill says:

10:24am | 28/03/12

@ Pot - are you serious? $25 minimum on roulette? At Crown the lowest table minimum is $2.50 on roulette and $5 on blackjack. You can even play $10 baccarat. No wonder the tables are always full here.
Zopo says:

10:28am | 28/03/12

In vegas if you play say a $10 minimum table you can spread your chips across the numbers as long as you have the minimum $20 worth on the table. Thats how it should be played. So you can spread $10 worth of chips across the numbers. The outside is the usual 2-1 or 3-1 bet.

And not to say the complimentary drinks are great also, no one tapping you on the shoulder if you’ve had a few drinks, service is always great.

The Marquee will just be a try-hard version of the one in Vegas. That club rocked in Vegas.

The Star needs to learn what makes Vegas work, and that is freedom to Party,
- Peter says:
  
  09:54am | 28/03/12
  
  Can anyone tell me why we actually need a casino? Friends who visit Sydney from interstate and overseas never ever say “Hey, let’s go to the casino!”
  Perhaps I need to broaden my horizons and get some friends from Macau or China or bikie clubs?
  
  Reply
M says:

10:11am | 28/03/12

Yes, you should totally sign up to your local Hell’s Angels Chapter. You’ll have a blast.

I like casinos. But that’s more to do with the fact that I like playing poker than anything else.
SimonFromLakemba says:

10:22am | 28/03/12

I heard Notorious are recruiting, wanna give them a try.
- FWg says:
  
  10:20am | 28/03/12
  
  As seen at the Crown casino, staff falling over themselves to welcome a well known criminal, just great
  
  Reply
M says:

10:36am | 28/03/12

Well known criminals tend to have lots of cash.
Peter says:

12:09pm | 28/03/12

Everyone has to do laundry. i hear they do a great wash at Star City.
- che says:
  
  02:41pm | 28/03/12
  
  Wow is it possible that here in Adelaide we have something which is better than Sydney? Cos our casino is pretty good (for a casino). This must be a first!
  
  Reply
- Troy Flynn says:
  
  03:52pm | 28/03/12
  
  I’ve only been to the casino once and that was enough. Miserable place. What got me though is the stories of former employee’s who tell of some patrons ACTUALLY wearing diapers so they wouldn’t have to leave their machine/table. How much more revolting can you get. Even if by some chance I came into the sort of money you need to frequent these places, I never would.
  
  Reply
- fedup labourvoter says:
  
  08:20am | 29/03/12
  
  Nothing good ever happens at cashinos? you are wrong, Money gets laundered and comes out clean.
  
  Reply
- AG says:
  
  10:47pm | 29/03/12
  
  I don’t mind spending time in casinos, but I wouldn’t call myself a regular gambler. In recent months I have visted both Sydney and Melbourne casinos, and would have to agree with your description of The Star and Crown in relation to the location in relation to the CBD, and the acceptance by the locals. Where I differ in opinion is about the actual venues themselves. On the inside, Crown appears tired, with tables games much more in favour of the house than anywhere I’ve ever seen. It’s more concerned with ripping money out of your pockets, whether it be via gambling, dining, drinking, or parking! The Star on the other hand, would appear to be spacious, well-maintained, and with a good range of table games and reasonably-priced dining options. They don’t seem to want to take any more money than normal from you at the tables! I used to really love Crown, but it’s gone to the dogs. I used to dislike Star City immensly, but it’s really sharpened up it’s act now!
  
  Reply

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Nothing good ever happened at a Sydney casino

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39 comments

S.L says:

MattC says:

Mark says:

stephen says:

MarkS says:

Onlooker says:

iansand says:

AFR says:

ibast says:

ShamWow says:

M says:

SM says:

nakayama says:

Chris says:

Kip says:

Cynicised says:

Bill says:

Miles Heffernan says:

Jeremy says:

Fezzbo says:

MDMConnell says:

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Sarah says:

Punters Pal says:

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Pot Stirrer says:

Anthony Sharwood says:

Bill says:

Zopo says:

Peter says:

M says:

SimonFromLakemba says:

FWg says:

M says:

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