Wrest Point Casino. Sandy Bay, October 2011. Wrest Point Casino was Australia's first legal casino – but by no means the first Australian gambling den – opening for business in Sandy Bay in February 1973. Now I’m no wowser , square , straight , puritan roundhead ; but I’m not a fan of casinos. The house always wins, and most of the punters really can’t afford to lose. If you could somehow ensure that losses only cost the mug punter I might not mind so much, but they don’t. They affect their partners, their kids and eventually you and me and everyone we know.