Three NSW independent MPs say a "moment of truth" has come for the major political parties as they push for a special commission of inquiry into the clubs and pubs industry.
Alex Greenwich, Joe McGirr and Greg Piper wrote to Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday urging an investigation into the harm brought by gambling, and the influence the sector holds over public policy.
It comes amid a split between Mr Perrottet and his deputy premier on whether cashless gaming cards are a way forward.
Mr Greenwich said the special commission of inquiry would have royal-commission-style powers and could probe the gaming lobby's influence over the formation of public policy, pointing to commitments by the coalition and Labor before the last state election to not change pokie laws.
"It is the moment of truth for the major parties," he told AAP on Thursday.
"Do they want to continue to pander to Clubs NSW, a mini casinos operator, or do they want to address gambling harm and address money laundering in clubs and pubs?"
Some 115,000 Australians were called problem gamblers in a 2010 Productivity Commission report, while the Crime Commission last week recommended introducing cashless gaming to stop criminals laundering money through poker machines.
The law enforcement agency says many billions of dollars in crime proceeds are part of the $95-million-a-year "information black hole" that exists in NSW pubs and clubs.
While the major parties say current technology for cashless gaming is not up to scratch, Mr Greenwich points to Tasmania where a scheme will be operational by 2024.
"So many people have stories of a loved one, a friend or a colleague who has poured their life savings into a poker machine in a club," the Sydney MP said.
"We now have irrefutable evidence from the NSW Crime Commission, from the Productivity Commission, from gambling harm experts that we have a serious problem in NSW."
While noting plenty of gamblers use pokies the right way every day, the premier on Thursday committed to working with industry and experts to build a cashless gaming card regime in NSW.
"Whether that is laundering money through poker machines or, from my perspective, ... profiting off people's misery - it's completely wrong," Mr Perrottet told reporters.
"That technology is not there immediately, we will need a staged approach; it will take time (but) we need to move in that direction."
Those comments came after his deputy, Nationals leader Paul Toole, said he didn't believe the technology was advanced enough to introduce cashless cards.
Labor leader Chris Minns on Thursday stopped short of supporting cashless gaming in NSW, pointing to differing opinions about the efficacy and practicality of switching everything digital.
A 2020 research paper from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation suggested a cashless card "could induce more gaming not less as a result of a disconnect between the gambler not realising how much there he or she is actually putting in", he said.
"I don't want to charge headlong into a reform that makes the situation worse and that's why we need to listen to experts about the best way of tackling organised crime and problem gambling," he said.
While both Mr Perrottet and Mr Minns agreed to speak with Mr Greenwich about his concerns, they both rejected the suggestion the clubs sector wielded undue influence on state politics.
The NSW branch of the Australian Hotels Association also dismissed the claim.
"The AHA NSW are banned political donors in NSW and have not donated to any state politician or party since Kristina Keneally was premier back in January 2011," a spokesperson from the AHA told AAP on Thursday.
AAP has contacted Clubs NSW for comment.
