‘A boil on our industry’: Why this publican banned pokies at his Sydney venues

A Sydney publican who banned poker machines in his venues says the industry’s reliance on gaming revenue has hurt the city’s food and beverage scene.

James Thorpe, who owns three inner Sydney pubs, said the NSW government’s vow to turn the state’s poker machines cashless is the first genuine promise for reform since gaming machines were introduced to NSW pubs in the ’90s.

Publican James Thorpe at the Duke of Enmore in the converted pokie room.Credit: Cole Bennetts

“My attraction to hospitality came because I really fell in love with food and beverage and creating unique spaces, and gaming is anathema to that,” Thorpe said.

“It’s just this weird boil that’s grown on our part of the industry … when it should really have no connection to it.”

Reform to the state’s multibillion-dollar gambling industry has emerged as a battleground issue in the run-up to the March state election, after Premier Dominic Perrottet committed his government to a statewide rollout of cashless gaming.

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has countered the promise with his own policy to cut the number of poker machines, launch a mandatory trial on 500 gaming machines and outlaw political donations from clubs that house poker machines.

The destination is cashless: Premier Dominic Perrottet has vowed to reform the state’s gambling industry.Credit: Anna Kucera

Perrottet is also preparing to ban donations from registered clubs, though no final decision has been made.

As the premier undertakes careful negotiations to secure the support of Nationals colleagues fearful of a clubs and pubs industry scare campaign ahead of the election, on Friday he was forced to clarify that there would be no carve-outs for regional areas that would exempt them from a mandatory card.

It followed comments from Deputy Premier and Nationals leader Paul Toole that possible exemptions for regional clubs and pubs was “part of the ongoing discussions” within the Coalition.

Former deputy prime minister and former federal National Party leader John Anderson this week called on Toole to back the reform, rubbishing claims that regional communities will suffer if cashless cards become mandatory.

While MPs on both sides of the political aisle have voiced concerns about the impact on venues in regional NSW, as a city pub owner, Thorpe said the proposed reform could not come soon enough.

Thorpe, who removed 26 poker machines from The Duke of Enmore and The Old Fitz in Woolloomooloo when he bought them under The Odd Culture Group, said anti-pokies sentiment within the community had never been louder. The third pub in Thorpe’s stable, The Oxford Tavern, is also pokie-free.

“In other global cities, where pubs are exalted institutions – without pokies – they exist to provide food, beverage and entertainment. If we remove gaming machines as this third profit centre, our pubs will get better,” he said.

“We know the community supports gaming reform. For a long time, we have had a unique obsession with gaming, but particularly younger generations are calling that historical quirk out for what it is, and it’s time to move on.”

The most recent poker machine data published by Liquor and Gaming NSW shows just under 22,500 gaming machines in about 1200 pubs across the state. In the first six months of 2022, pub pokies swallowed more than $1.6 billion in net profit.

Comparatively, there are more than 64,000 machines in just over 1000 clubs, which captured more than $2.2 billion in the six months to June last year. Sydney’s Star casino has about 1500 machines in total.

The Australian Hotels Association NSW did not respond to questions sent by the Herald. However, in a statement responding to Labor’s policy this week, it said NSW hotels would be adversely impacted by accelerated gaming machine forfeiture.

Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.