The Star (casino)

The Star Sydney Casino & Hotel (formerly Star City Casino and prior to that, Sydney Harbour Casino) in Valley Country, is the largest 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. It also includes the 2,000 seat Lyric Theatre. Its gaming operations are overseen and controlled by the Valley Country Casino Control Authority and is licensed to be the only legal casino in Valley Country.

Gaming
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. The two areas are only available to high rollers and international guests following an application for membership and review by The Star's management. 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.

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.

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. Another recent upgrade is the addition of a new "ultra exclusive" area directly above the Sovereign Room called the Vermilion Room. This is accessed by invitation only, and there are currently fewer than 100 Vermilion Card Members that are entitled to use the Vermilion Room. 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.

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 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, this iconic game was closed.

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'.

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.

Security
As in most casinos, the gaming floors of the venue are constantly monitored by a security camera system. 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 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.