The majority of the city is classified as a high-risk area, meaning pubs and clubs wouldn’t be able to increase the number of gaming machines.

However one venue in north Orange, Waratah Sports Club, falls in a low-risk area.

The anomaly comes because the state government will work off Australian Bureau of Statistics statistical zones in the future, rather than local government areas, allowing them to focus on “vulnerable” locations.

They have been ranked according to the likely risk of gambling-related harm in the community from additional gaming machines, the government said. 

“Local community caps are an appropriate response to concerns that some areas have too many gaming machines,” Minister for Racing Paul Toole said.

“These areas will be capped at their current number, ensuring no additional machines can move into these areas.

“A number of councils and community groups suggested caps and the NSW government agrees this is the right thing to do in higher-risk areas.”

Other areas across the Central West considered high risk included Lithgow, Cowra and Wellington.

Dubbo, Bathurst and Mudgee have been classified medium risk, while most other regions were classified as a low or medium risk.

The government has also proposed a leasing agreement for gaming machines held by small pubs and clubs that were looking to go pokie free.

In addition, there will be a tenfold increase in fines for wagering operators offering illegal inducements.

However the Greens spokesperson for gambling harm Justin Field said the cap didn’t go far enough.

“Any pokies plan that fails to rapidly reduce the total number of machines in NSW continues to lock in increasing harm to people and communities,” Mr Field said.

“These measures don’t stop the addictive features that exploit people, they don’t rein in predatory behaviour from clubs and hotels to maximise profits and they don’t keep people and communities safe.”

However Mr Toole said the reforms were the “most significant changes to gambling regulation in NSW for a decade”.

The move comes after poker machine wagering in NSW in 2017 increased by $1.3 billion.

AHA NSW liquor and policing director John Green said he expected small hotels in regional areas would benefit from the introduction of leasing arrangements.

“Over recent years many country pubs have been forced to sell off their gaming assets when times got tough,” he said. 

“Of course, they were only able to do this for as long as they had assets to sell. After the assets were sold, many were forced to close their doors.”

Clubs NSW CEO Anthony Ball said he was satisfied with the government’s review process.

“Ultimately, it needed to weigh up the interests of the industry against any potential for community harm and on that score the government has got the balance about right,” he said.