South Australians have lost more on the pokies than ever before. The state's gaming machines took a record $1.079 billion from players in the 2025-26 financial year, and the first three months of this one were the worst quarter on record.

Parliament House on North Terrace in Adelaide, where South Australia's gaming machine laws are made, in October 2010. Photo: Rexness / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, modified.