Financial Information for Guarantor Subsidiaries and Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries - Supplemental Condensed Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2018
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	$ 262	$ 132
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(132)	(200)
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired	0	(274)
Distributions of capital from equity investments	18	23
Additions to equity method investments	1	75
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		75
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(115)	(526)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	(253)	93
Repayment of assumed NYX debt	0	(288)
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	(15)	(39)
Payments on license obligations	(13)	(14)
Sale of future revenue	11
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	342
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	(8)	0
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	(7)	(21)
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	57	(269)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	1	(3)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	205	(666)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	220	834
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	425	168
Reportable Legal Entities | SGI (Issuer)
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	55	(59)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(16)	(46)
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired		0
Distributions of capital from equity investments	0	0
Additions to equity method investments	1
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		1
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	228	48
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	211	1
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	(251)	97
Repayment of assumed NYX debt		0
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	(14)	(39)
Payments on license obligations	0	0
Sale of future revenue	0
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	0
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	0
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	(2)	0
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(267)	58
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(1)	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	2	0
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	1	0
Reportable Legal Entities | SGC (Parent)
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(35)	(51)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(9)	(22)
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired		0
Distributions of capital from equity investments	0	0
Additions to equity method investments	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		0
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(9)	(22)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	0	0
Repayment of assumed NYX debt		0
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	0	0
Payments on license obligations	(13)	(14)
Sale of future revenue	0
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	0
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	0
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	(1)	(19)
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	219	(581)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	205	(614)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	161	(687)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	74	733
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	235	46
Reportable Legal Entities | Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	101	85
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(56)	(89)
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired		(10)
Distributions of capital from equity investments	0	0
Additions to equity method investments	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		0
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	(52)	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(108)	(99)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	0	0
Repayment of assumed NYX debt		0
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	0	0
Payments on license obligations	0	0
Sale of future revenue	11
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	0
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	0
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	(2)	(2)
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	0	15
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	9	13
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	2	(1)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	44	44
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	46	43
Reportable Legal Entities | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	147	164
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(51)	(43)
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired		(264)
Distributions of capital from equity investments	18	23
Additions to equity method investments	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		74
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(33)	(358)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	(2)	(4)
Repayment of assumed NYX debt		(288)
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	(1)	0
Payments on license obligations	0	0
Sale of future revenue	0
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	342
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	(8)
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	(2)	0
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	(395)	518
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(66)	226
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	1	(3)
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	49	29
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	101	60
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	150	89
Eliminating Entries
Condensed Financial Statements
Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities	(6)	(7)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	0	0
Acquisitions of businesses and assets, net of cash acquired		0
Distributions of capital from equity investments	0	0
Additions to equity method investments	0
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities		0
Other, principally change in intercompany investing activities	(176)	(48)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(176)	(48)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments of long-term debt, net of proceeds	0	0
Repayment of assumed NYX debt		0
Payments of debt issuance and deferred financing costs	0	0
Payments on license obligations	0	0
Sale of future revenue	0
Net proceeds from the sale of SciPlay common stock	0
Payments of deferred SciPlay common stock offering costs	0
Net redemptions of common stock under stock-based compensation plans and other	0	0
Other, principally change in intercompany financing activities	176	48
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	176	48
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	(6)	(7)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period	(1)	(3)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period	$ (7)	$ (10)