While the decision to allow Canberra's casino to install 200 poker machines hardly comes as a surprise, it does mark a new era in the history of gaming in the ACT.
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When the federal government first floated a Canberra casino licence in the late 1980s it was bitterly opposed by the Residents Rally, a short-lived and uniquely Canberran political party.
The rally, which won four seats at the 1989 ACT election, went on to form power sharing agreements with both Labor and Liberal dominated governments over the next three years.
When the licence for Casino Canberra was approved in 1992, much against the wishes of the RR, it did not allow the then operators, Casinos Austria International, to install poker machines. This was despite having paid $19 million up front and committing to an annual licence fee of $500,000.
Both Casinos Australia and Aquis, which bought the casino in 2014, have been attempting to reverse this ever since, with Thursday's decision marking the culmination of the most recent efforts which date back to 2013.
That was when Casino Canberra management told The Canberra Times it would be willing to swap land needed for the extension of the National Convention Centre for poker machine licences.
This led to talks with the ACT government which took place against the backdrop of strong opposition from Canberra's clubs which have always feared pokies at the casino would undercut their revenue.
They also unfolded against ongoing community concerns over the negative impact of gambling, the perceived failure of some venue operators to accept a duty of care for their most at risk patrons and a need to restrict access to gaming machines.
As a result, the introduction of 200 poker machines plus 60 fully-automated table game terminals into the casino will actually cut the overall number of machines in the ACT by 130.
Canberra Casino will have to buy 390 licences from clubs and hand back one in three to the government.
Granting the casino the right to operate 200 additional machines on top of the 5000 already in clubs was never an option.
While gambling critics who supported the push to reduce poker machine numbers may welcome this outcome there is no doubt it will be viewed as just a start.
Many Canberrans, some of whom are problem gamblers or are in relationships with problem gamblers, would like to see every single machine gone.
While this is unlikely to happen, the government must realise that if its oft-repeated professions of concern about harm reduction in the gaming sector are to be believed then more needs to done.
This includes an ongoing reduction in the number of poker machines and a real commitment to ensuring venue operators do accept a duty of care for at-risk gamblers.
