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The Star Sydney Best things to do in Sydney

It features over 100,000 sqm of poker tables, table games, dice games, candy96.fun gaming machines and more spread over two expansive levels. The Star is a gigantic entertainment hub in Darling Harbour stacked with a selection of Sydney’s best restaurants, bars, hotels and events. Star Entertainment is falling into deeper financial trouble and its pockets are empty. "If the Queen's Wharf deal falls over, we will return to the situation of Star Entertainment having to fund 50 per cent of the completion of the Queen's Wharf complex.
Shares in struggling casino giant Star Entertainment have plummeted after a brief trading halt was lifted, as the company searches for a financial lifeline by the end of the day. The casino giant said it was anticipating a funding deal on Friday which it would consider, but again warned of the possibility of facing financial collapse. Star, which operates casinos in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney, entered a trading halt before the Australian share market opened on Friday after failing to post its half-year financial results. He said the public could have "no confidence" in a casino owner that had failed to disclose business dealings with organised crime figures. Embattled casino operator Star Entertainment confirmed its partners in the Queen's Wharf facility — Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTF) and Far East Consortium (FEC) — have offered to buy out its share.
For many people, it's the first place they think of when someone mentions casino nights in Sydney or the Gold Coast. It’s free to use, and racking up points and prizes is as easy as playing, dining and staying at one of the participating casinos, restaurants or hotels. Another random day during the week the casino offers $1,000 five different times in the Cash Draw.
Currently, Star and its Chinese venture partners pay a fee for Star to run the casino. The latest Chinese offer could involve CTF and FEC taking over almost $740 million in debt from Star and paying hundreds of millions to complete the Brisbane casino development. But the then-Miles government found CTF was still suitable to hold a casino licence, arguing its lack of "candour and fulsomeness" with the regulator was due to "differences in cultural and organisational expectations".
Mr Costello said the Queensland government "should be ruling out up-front, clearly" the prospect of Chow Tai Fook lifting its stake in the Brisbane casino. "As soon as the dirty money from the triads and the junkets in their whole high roller business was stopped because of the Royal Commission, their viability is very questionable," he said. Another source said Star's minimum fee was $40 million a year for 50 years, a "staggering amount of money for a second-tier city like Brisbane" but based on the idea the casino would lure wealthy Chinese gamblers. Star has been seeking a financial lifeline in recent months, after revealing its cash reserves sank to just $79 million at the end of 2024. Industry sources familiar with the talks told the ABC a sticking point was the fee that casino owners had to pay Star for running Queen's Wharf.
"Any deal that promises to keep venues in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney operating as a going concern is a good result for the Star workers, their families and the communities they live in," the union’s casino director Andrew Jones said. In April 2025, Bally’s will make its UK debut by opening its first-ever casino at The Gate, one of Newcastle’s premier entertainment hubs, according to their website. Owned by American financier Soo Kim, a self-described corporate fireman, Bally’s specializes in rescuing casinos from financial distress and turning them profitable. "We’re always looking at everything within the best interest of the staff certainly our shareholders," Daniel Finch, CEO The Star Brisbane, said 7NEWS on Monday. The embattled casino operator has signed a $300 million rescue package with Bally’s Corporation to save the business from administration.
Star has its flagship casino in Sydney — where it has already been forced to sell off sections of the complex to raise cash — and one on the Gold Coast. The Australian Financial Review said the two Hong Kong-based companies, which are joint investors in Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf precinct, are set to take control of Star’s casino there. The company said it could not sign off on the accounts without a bailout from a white knight investor to inject much-needed liquidity and warned it may not be able to remain a going concern.
The business partnership which saved Donald Trump's career was forged in a failed Australian casino bid. Star's now on the verge of losing its shirt, poised to unload its half of the gleaming new Brisbane casino to its Chinese partners in a bid to stave off financial ruin. Chau's celebrity image and movie star girlfriends belied a "substantial criminal history" that some in the casino industry, like Star's rival Crown, knew about from at least 2017, according to Austrac. The failed sale could open the door for Bally’s to reshape the struggling casino operator. The termination kicks in five business days after June 30 unless a new deal is struck.