The unnamed person, referred to as Person One, even had an expensive cake in the shape of Rolex delivered to him on a milestone birthday because the watch was not ready. The watch was considered a reward and recognition for his years of loyalty.

There was also tickets to Village People, John Farnham concerts and “very many dinners” including one of a Patagonian Tooth Fish. Some came out of the gambler’s loyalty points

However, head of the casino’s sales team Chris Peasley said he was unaware that the gambler had been banned from Sydney until he saw a media article.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Jonathan Horton, QC, said there were 719 pages of history of ”comps” (complimentary travel etc) relating to the Person One but Peasley said that was probably not unusual for someone with a long history of gambling at the casino.

However, Person One had been banned from Sydney’s casino as far back as 2007 and continued to gamble at the Gold Coast until December 2021.

He said there was a conversation within his team in 2015-16 relating to a media article relating to the Sydney ban and how Person One, who played mostly blackjack, should be treated.

They concluded they would not pursue him or encourage him to use the casino.

Horton asked whether giving a $52,000 watch was, in fact, pursuing him?

Peasley said it was recognition of a milestone birthday and reward for loyalty and was within company policies. It was not to incentivise gambling.

He said other gamblers of Person One’s level of gambling would have received watches and there were probably only two or three in Queensland.

He added that his concern was the profit of the company and there were other teams, such as the risk team and the anti-money laundering team that would make decisions around other issues.

“Did you know in 2019 there was an exclusion order and did that concern you?” Horton asked.

“Person 1 was a very long-standing customer. The exclusion order went back to 2005 or 2007. He was regularly travelling and being treated as a customer on the Gold Coast. We became aware of the exclusion order in 2015-16 … it was a meeting on the back of a media article … the conversation was around how this should be treated,” Peasley said.

“The conclusion was they could go to the property, they could participate in the loyalty program, we are not to pursue them, we can receive their phone calls, make their bookings and they were to receive the same level of service of anyone at their play level.”

Peasley said there appeared to be failings on the exclusion policy from the get-go in relation to Person One.

Horton asked him if he was concerned about the Sydney ban and whether he was worried by it.

“It certainly raises a concern or red flags,” Peasley said.

He said the Queensland Police Commissioner was aware of Person One, who had one stage had losses of $450,000.

One of the flights on a private jet followed the deposit of $50,000 by Person One into a playing account.

In earlier evidence, Star admitted it was allowing people to gamble continuously for six hours in its Queensland casinos until the eve of a probe into its suitability to hold a licence.

Star’s manager for responsible gambling Junior Toleafoa says the company reviewed and slashed the limit on continuous gambling to three hours on Sunday, the day before the inquiry began.

Toleafoa said under the previous policy staff had to encourage patrons to take breaks after six and 10 hours of continuous gambling at Treasury Brisbane and The Star Gold Coast.

After patrons had gambled for 11 hours straight, staff had warn them they were nearing their time limit.

“At the 12-hour mark, we will be talking to them and expecting them to leave,” Toleafoa told the hearing on Wednesday.

However, he admitted only Star’s loyalty card holders were subjected to the policy, and the company had no accurate way to monitor the gambling time of people who didn’t hold the cards.

The policy also outlines red flags staff should look for when trying to identify potential problem gamblers, including patrons who leave their children unattended.

Other red flags include people who asked for exclusions or admitted having gambling issues, and patrons suffering emotional distress, suicidal ideations, depression, and anxiety.

Questioned whether the policy was adequate, Toleafoa said it had been designed to detect problem gamblers regardless of time they spent gambling.

He said almost 7000 people had been excluded from Star’s two Queensland casinos.

However, staff were expected to enforce those bans without the facial recognition technology the company had installed at its interstate venues.

Counsel assisting Angela Hellewell asked if facial recognition technology in Sydney casinos had helped staff identify between eight to 10 times as many banned patrons as Queensland.

“It’s a great improvement, yes,” Toleafoa admitted.

“I believe that technology is soon to be implemented … I believe it is on the brink of being implemented in the Gold Coast.

“It is technology I know that we want.”

The inquiry will probe money laundering allegations, particularly if Star’s Queensland venues had interactions with people excluded by police from its interstate casinos due to suspicions of their involvement in criminal activity.

Allegations Star allowed Chinese nationals to circumvent currency restrictions to gamble up to $55 million in its Queensland venues will also be aired at the inquiry.

Star Entertainment interim chief executive Geoff Hogg is expected to appear at the hearing on Friday.

The group’s $3.6 billion resort and casino development at Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane is expected to open in 2023.

The review before Judge Robert Gotterson will report to the attorney-general by September 30.

-with AAP