Ditching poker machines in favour of community events such as country music hoedowns, spring fairs and craft beer festivals has led to a 900 per cent increase in revenue over the past 16 years at Petersham Bowling Club.

The club president, George Catsi, says the club has been on a journey from financial strife in 2007 (when it operated at a $25,000 loss) to success, having made a profit of more than $100,000 over the past financial year.

An increasing number of Sydney’s clubs and pubs, including Bondi Bowls Club, The Duke of Enmore and The Carrington in Surry Hills, are successfully moving away from pokies. When Balmain pub The Dry Dock reopens on Friday, it will also do without any pokie machines.

“We didn’t see them as an ethically viable way forward,” Catsi says.

“We see that business model as predicated on the exploitation of others, which is fundamentally at odds with the club’s purpose as a community asset.”

When Catsi joined the Petersham Bowls board in 2007, the club was advised to attract visitors with discounted food and drink prices, which were subsidised by the money poured into the poker machines. The club relied on the poker machines for up to 70 per cent of its earnings at the time.

But the club then embarked on a program of engaging with its neighbours. The upper bowling green was converted into a gathering space with a productive vegetable garden, outdoor bar and picnic tables. It now hosts medieval re-enactments, market stalls and, on Sunday, December 3, a slippery water slide as part of the annual Chrissy Fair.

And where there was once a gaming room, there is now a stage. At night, the club is packed with punters who come for life drawing and trivia, live bands and line dancing.

Since the PBC made the switch, its list of current active members has grown from 79 people to more than 1400.

“It requires a different mindset,” Catsi says.

The food offering, while no longer subsidised, offers pub classics alongside a wide range of pizzas (with nothing over $26). Under the management of Fiddle Leaf Bistro, it has been a major step up, says Catsi.

The bistro is bolstered by a thoughtful selection of locally made craft beers, 24 of which are now on tap (up from just two in 2007).

At Bondi Bowls, the club is “in a much better financial position” since the board unanimously voted to remove its pokie machines six years ago, says general manager Georgia Pettit. As at the PBC, the decision was predicated by a period of declining revenue.

“Pokies can be stressful for smaller clubs when they’re struggling to pay their bills,” Pettit says.

“If the machine goes off and someone wins the jackpot that’s the difference between profit and loss for the next couple of months.”

Bondi Bowls built its member base by targeting the next generation of lawn bowls players, creating a guided, beginner-friendly experience with a relaxed atmosphere. The approach has led to more than 8500 punters booking in for barefoot bowls this summer, and a bowling team with just four members over the age of 50.

“It’s really unheard of. There’s been a major turnaround,” Pettit says.

The Carrington publican Rob Alexander says he would never go back.

“Reintroducing the pokies ... would totally kill the vibe that the team has worked very hard to create, and would ultimately kill the business.”