Also on Friday, it emerged the casino's sponsorship of the Brumbies could have been in trouble if the ACT government had not given the green light to the redevelopment by September this year.

The Brumbies have a six-year deal with casino owners Aquis Entertainment, worth about $1 million a year initially. But Aquis is believed to have an exit option in September, the date having been set (and extended from September last year) to allow Aquis to take account of the government's pokies decision.

The Brumbies denied any threat to the sponsorship deal on Friday and general manager Simon Chester said there was no clause allowing Aquis to abandon its sponsorship if it didn't get poker machines.

If there was a threat, it was averted by this week's announcement by Chief Minister Andrew Barr that the government would allow poker machines, subject to Aquis submitting a new proposal.

The move ends the monopoly Canberra's clubs have on poker machines and puts a big hole in their business model, given most clubs base their businesses around pokie revenue.

Aquis said the news that its bid had passed the first stage provided the certainty needed to finalise a business case.

"The government response to our bid is extremely encouraging, providing the ACT an opportunity to compete with other Australian cities actively pursuing integrated resort development," Aquis said in a statement.

Asked about the link between the Brumbies sponsorship and the bid, a spokesman said: "All of our major sponsorship arrangements are reviewed regularly in line with market conditions and our business priorities in those markets. We are extremely happy with our partnership with the Brumbies and no threat exists to our partnership at this time."

Clubs ACT will meet next week to decide its next step. Meantime club lobbyist, Richard Farmer, has launched a new front in his campaign, directly targeting Mr Barr, with slogans such as: "Cheap meals? Barred. Kids sport? Barred. Community support? Barred. Overseas casino instead of local clubs? Don't want a Barr of it."

Vikings chief executive Anthony Hill said he couldn't believe such a "dramatic" change of heart by the government in just 14 months. But he said the Greens Shane Rattenbury's position was "most perplexing of all", given his concern about gambling harm.

Aquis had increased maximum bet amounts on baccarat and roulette tables and increased operating hours, and for Mr Rattenbury to support giving it poker machines was "at best hypocritical", Mr Hill said.

The Vikings is the biggest pokie owner in Canberra. Mr Hill said the club employed 200 staff and had ageing infrastructure and would have to structure its business "so that the revenue lost to the casino doesn't impact on what we do in the community".

"I can't help but think eventually something will have to give," he said.

Aquis Entertainment is owned by Hong Kong businessman Tony Fung, for whom Canberra is his entry to Australia. He has a much bigger plan for Cairns, where he wants to build an $8 billion casino.

Aquis plans a significant expansion of gambling in Canberra, including fully automated table games and VIP facilities, and a five-star hotel and "six-star villas", restaurants and shopping.

When asked for hotel room numbers and gaming table details on Friday, a spokesman said details were "entirely dependent on the modelling for the ... detailed business case".

Mr Barr's decision to support poker machines in the casino puts him at odds with sections of his own party, as Labor owns one of the city's biggest clubs and the Labor Club board is controlled by party members.

But it is the Liberals who are taking the side of clubs, opposing pokies in casino. Mr Barr's decision was "an act of betrayal" of not-for-profit community-based clubs and threatened their viability, gaming spokesman Brendan Smyth said.

But Aquis said its development would help clubs diversify, giving them a chance to sell machines.

To get 200 machines, Aquis will need to buy 267 from clubs, because the pokies trading scheme requires one in every four machines to be forfeited.

Aquis said its development would be a "beacon" for domestic and international visitors and a "gathering place" for Canberrans.