Cairns bar owners are pulling back on poker machines and pouring money into craft cocktails and live entertainment instead. The shift marks the biggest shake-up in the city's drinking culture in a decade, driven partly by younger locals demanding something beyond the pokies-heavy RSA model that dominated for years.
The change matters now because hospitality venues across Queensland are rethinking their business model. Rising energy costs and tighter gaming regulations have made the pokies less profitable, while post-pandemic customers want experiences—not just places to lose money on machines. Cairns, with its tourism-dependent economy, has become a testing ground for what happens when a city stops treating bars as poker machine lounges and starts treating them as actual destinations.
Head to Abbott Street on a Friday night and you'll see the difference immediately. The Pier Bar & Grill dropped half its gaming machines in 2024 and upgraded to a 180-seat live music venue with a dedicated sound system. Three blocks south, Garage Bar on Lake Street ditched machines entirely and now runs ticketed DJ nights and local band showcases three nights a week. The owner, who requested anonymity, said foot traffic increased 40 percent in the first year after removing gaming.
From pokies to personalities
These aren't isolated moves. Between January 2025 and June 2026, seven bars in Cairns city centre reduced gaming machine numbers or removed them completely, according to data from the Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming. The trend accelerated after the state government's hospitality assistance grants ended in March 2025, forcing venues to choose between expensive machine maintenance and investing in staff, live performers, and better drinks.
Spice Bar on Shields Street offers a clearer picture of what's winning. They maintained just six poker machines but hired a full-time mixologist in early 2025. Average spend per customer rose from $28 to $41 within months. "People will spend more on a good cocktail and a conversation than they ever did standing at a machine," the venue's operations manager said in April.
The Cairns Hospitality Alliance, a network representing 34 bars and restaurants, released findings last month showing 68 percent of their members have expanded live entertainment programming since 2024. Most venues now feature live music at least twice weekly, compared to once monthly on average in 2022. Cover bands and local acts like The Cassowary Kings and Tropical Heat have gone from playing cramped corners to headlining proper stages with proper pay.
What you'll find when you go out now
The practical effect: Cairns nightlife is younger, louder, and more deliberate about who it attracts. Wednesday night trivia nights at venues like Prohibition Bar have waiting lists. Saturday live sets sell out weeks ahead. Cocktail prices have climbed—a craft negroni now runs $17–19, up from $12 two years ago—but the volume of customers has more than compensated.
Tourism Queensland figures show spending in hospitality venues jumped 23 percent in the past 18 months, though locals account for roughly half that growth. Young professionals aged 25–40, the cohort most affected by the property market freeze documented elsewhere in Australia, appear to be redirecting spare cash away from housing deposits and toward nights out. The Cairns accommodation authority hasn't commented on whether visitor patterns have shifted accordingly, but venue owners report locals now dominate midweek trade.
If you're planning your next night out, the smart move is booking ahead. Most venues with live entertainment require reservations now, particularly Thursday through Saturday. Early sets—usually 6 to 8 p.m.—are quieter and easier to access, while late slots cater to dedicated music fans willing to stay past midnight. The pokies are still there at most places, but they're no longer the main event. For the first time in years, Cairns bars have something worth staying for beyond the machines.
