The Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) share price is lifting off today, up 5% in early afternoon trading.
This comes as the New South Wales government is set to debate a potential increase in the number of poker machines for Sydney's Star casino.
Why the extra pokies for the Sydney Star casino?
Star's share price bump could be aligned with the news that up to 1,000 extra pokies may soon be given the green light for its Sydney asset.
But these won't be new pokies. Meaning they'll be moved from smaller, regional gambling outlets in other parts of New South Wales.
That's because the government remains concerned about money laundering issues tied to gambling in general and Crown specifically.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reports:
The NSW government is likely to support the transfer of poker machines licences to the Star because it believes the casino can be more highly regulated than some smaller venues in regional NSW.
The New South Wales government is scheduled to debate the proposal on Monday.
Of the 96,000 registered poker machines spread over 4,000 locations in New South Wales, the Star currently has only 1,500. Should the proposal pass on Monday, that figure could almost double to 2,500.
Star share price snapshot
Star's share price has managed to navigate around the wider issues of money laundering plaguing the gambling industry over the past year. In the past 12 months Star's share have gained 29%, surpassing the 25% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Year-to-date the Star share price has struggled, down 6% in 2021.
Star pays a 2.7% dividend yield, fully franked.
