Overview: Western Australia's Finest Slot Venue
The Empire Gaming Room in Burswood is the definitive pokies destination for Western Australians. Perth has historically had fewer large-scale gaming venues than Sydney and Melbourne — a function of both geography and regulation — but the Empire fills that gap comprehensively. This is a venue built to impress: two floors of premium slot machines, a restaurant that would hold its own in any capital city, and a cocktail bar that has won national industry awards in 2025 and 2026.
GamingHubs2026 visited the Empire twice in 2026 — in January and March — and came away deeply impressed by the quality of the overall operation. The venue is clearly run by people who understand that a great night out combines great gaming with great hospitality, and every element of the Empire has been designed with that philosophy in mind.
The two-floor layout is one of the venue's most distinctive features. Rather than spreading machines across a single wide floor (the most common approach in Australian venues), the Empire has created two distinct gaming environments stacked vertically — each with its own atmosphere, machine mix and service style. The result is a venue that can accommodate both casual players seeking a relaxed evening and dedicated slot enthusiasts hunting for high-variance jackpot titles.
🎰 Floor One & Floor Two: Two Distinct Experiences
Ground Floor: The Social Gaming Floor
The ground floor of Empire Gaming Room houses approximately 130 slot machines in an open, sociable layout. The machines here skew toward lower and mid-denomination titles — primarily Aristocrat and IGT pokies with bet sizes starting at one cent per spin. The floor has a central cocktail bar that serves players during their sessions, a strong sound system playing contemporary music, and table-service from attentive floor staff who check in regularly.
The ground floor's headline slot machine is Dragon Cash Emerald — the newest in Aristocrat's Dragon Cash series, installed at Empire in January 2026. The machine features an emerald-green visual theme, an expanded free-games multiplier system and a linked progressive that was sitting at $280,000 on our March visit. It's a compelling slot that combines beautiful visuals with a genuinely exciting bonus round.
Second Floor: The Empire High-Stakes Lounge
The second floor is a different proposition entirely. 80+ high-denomination slot machines fill a quieter, more intimate space with subdued lighting, plush seating and a dedicated bar. Minimum bets on the second floor begin at $1 per spin, with several high-limit machines accepting bets up to $20 per spin. The atmosphere up here is noticeably calmer — this is where serious pokies players come to focus.
The second floor's standout machine is the Empire-exclusive Gold Rush Western — a custom-designed slot with a Western Australian gold rush theme, featuring nugget symbols, prospector characters and a progressive jackpot network that links all machines on the floor. The jackpot resets at $50,000 and our March visit witnessed a trigger at $197,000 — the largest jackpot we personally observed during our 2026 review programme.
🍽️ Dining & Cocktail Bar
The Australian Table — Contemporary Restaurant
The Australian Table is Empire's flagship restaurant, offering a contemporary Australian menu with a significant focus on Western Australian produce. The Perth Hills wagyu beef, Shark Bay scallops and Margaret River truffles all feature prominently on a menu that changes quarterly. Our January visit produced a stand-out dish: hay-smoked WA marron with native lemon myrtle butter that drew considerable interest from adjacent tables. Empire Rewards members receive a complimentary entrée on every dining visit.
The Western Bar — Award-Winning Cocktails
The Western Bar won the Western Australian Venue Bar of the Year award in 2025. The bar's signature cocktail programme draws on Western Australian native ingredients — lemon aspen, quandong, wattleseed and Geraldton wax — to create cocktails that are genuinely unique in Australia. The Goldfields Sour (wattleseed whisky, quandong jam, lemon, egg white) has been described by hospitality media as one of Australia's best cocktails of 2025–2026.
How We Scored Empire Gaming Room
Pros & Cons
What We Loved
- Two-floor layout creates two distinct gaming atmospheres
- Gold Rush Western slot exclusive to Empire — $197K jackpot witnessed
- The Western Bar is Australia's best gaming venue cocktail bar
- The Australian Table uses outstanding WA produce
- Second floor provides a genuine premium slot lounge experience
- Strong, consistent service across both floors
What Could Be Better
- Total machine count smaller than Sydney/Melbourne venues
- Second floor is exclusive to Empire Premier members
- Perth's time zone difference affects opening-time strategies
- Burswood location requires taxi/rideshare for most visitors
🔥 GamingHubs2026 Final Verdict
The Empire Gaming Room is the best pokies venue in Western Australia by a substantial margin. The two-floor concept works brilliantly, the dining and cocktail offering is genuinely exceptional (The Western Bar alone is worth the visit), and the Gold Rush Western slot exclusive is a machine we'd make a special trip to play. Our 2026 score of 8.7/10 makes it the fourth-highest rated venue in our directory — a remarkable result for a venue operating outside Australia's most populated cities.