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.