The junket jackpot: Club bosses score Vegas trips from pokie makers

Gaming machine manufacturers are shouting club managers “educational tours” to Las Vegas that feature cocktails, limousines, five-star hotels, basketball tickets and slap-up seafood feasts in exchange for buying a minimum number of poker machines.

Aristocrat offers club managers tickets to the annual G2E gaming conference in Las Vegas with a side trip to another city if they buy four poker machines in a year – at a cost of about $120,000. Last year’s all-expenses-paid tour included accommodation at the Wynn Hotel and several days in New York, while this year’s guests will spend time in Nashville.

From the Facebook page of Chontelle Marsh, whose husband, David Marsh, second from right, is the chief executive of St Johns Park Bowling Club.Credit: Facebook

It’s all part of the winning strategy employed by Aristocrat, which has a market value of $23 billion and recently posted a 31 per cent increase in net profit to $1.1 billion. Other manufacturers include IGT, Ainsworth, Konami and Light & Wonder.

St Johns Park Bowling Club chief executive David Marsh attended the October 2022 trip with his wife, Chontelle, who described it as the “Aristocrat promotional tour” in photos posted to social media. Her pictures showed the couple touring the Allegiant NFL stadium, Times Square and Stardust Cafe in New York, and nights on the town.

One friend commented: “Looks like a rort to me”.

Another responded to a video of Marsh and two others downing alcoholic shots: “#thankspunters”.

St Johns Park Bowling Club ranks 28th in NSW for the number of poker machines – 372.

From the Facebook page of Tere Sheehan, CEO of Ballina Bowling Club.Credit: Facebook

Tere Sheehan, the CEO of Ballina Bowling Club, which has 80 poker machines, attended the same conference and posted about it on social media.

“What a great educational trip to the states,” he wrote.

“It was an incredible networking opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the best in our industry. Learnt a lot, ate alot and drank way to [sic] much.”

Tere Sheehan, the CEO of Ballina Bowling Club, enjoyed hockey tickets and limousine travel as a guest of Aristocrat to New York and Las Vegas last October.Credit: Facebook

One of his friends wrote: “Still a junket mate.” Sheehan replied: “educational and networking mate [sly smile emoji].”

The tour was also joined by Nick Brabham, chief executive of the Burpengary Community Club north of Brisbane, which was built two years ago amid protests over the 150 poker machines it would introduce to the area. Queensland recently overtook Victoria as the second-biggest pokie state behind NSW.

Brabham, the club’s inaugural chief executive, posted a photo of a Pepsi and a Bud Light on his Facebook account. “Great morning at the G2E expo,” he wrote. “Have learnt very quickly to order everything small ….. Except my Beers. This was my small soft drink with lunch. Now off to educate myself in a few bars!”

Hosted by the American Gaming Association, G2E is a global gaming conference in October that shows the latest gaming technology while offering networking opportunities and presentations from industry luminaries.

Manufacturer-sponsored tours are well-known among club managers. Former Parramatta Leagues Club chief executive Bevan Paul said he turned down such offers and asked for a discount instead. Other club managers attended at their own expense.

“The ones who do it at the expense of a gaming machine manufacturer can raise the appearance of obligation,” Paul said.

But updating the stock was a necessary part of the job, he said. (Most new machines are replacements, since venues need new licences if they want to increase overall numbers.)

“The clubs have to buy the newest machines that come out in order to maintain a competitive position. If you don’t buy them, you will fall behind and lose revenue.”

A current club manager who spoke on condition of anonymity said many clubs had turned off every second machine to support social distancing during the pandemic and realised there was no change in revenue, which suggested to them that they were “over-machined”.

Left to right: Aristocrat executive Anthony Ball, Liberal Party strategist Yaron Finkelstein and then-CEO of ClubsNSW Josh Landis at the 2022 Melbourne Cup.Credit: Tash Sorensen

“Having more machines isn’t necessarily the answer, it’s better to have the best machines,” the club manager said.

But the prospect of a free trip created a conflict of interest in the procurement process, the manager said. “The timing and type of machines purchased is determined in many cases by the trip options that come with the purchase.”

Gaming machine manufacturers IGT and Light and Wonder also offer club managers Las Vegas conference tours if they buy a requisite number of machines. Other perks include tickets to racing events such as the Melbourne Cup and Darwin Cup. Aristocrat is currently offering “study tours” to the State of Origin in Adelaide, including two nights at the Hilton to club managers who purchase three poker machines.

An Aristocrat spokeswoman said the company’s gaming business offered legal, regulated products in highly competitive markets.

“We don’t resile from the fact that we work hard to engage customers and win and retain business, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and our own internal policies,” she said in a written statement.

“In NSW specifically, and in relation to sponsored educational tours, Aristocrat complies with the Registered Clubs Act. We also note clubs have regulatory disclosure requirements to their members in respect of overseas travel by their directors and managers.

“Aristocrat asks all Clubs participants in sponsored educational tours, to acknowledge in writing that they are aware of their obligations under relevant gaming legislation, among other probity requirements.”

Directors and employees of registered clubs are required by law to disclose any overseas travel they have taken in their capacity as a representative of the club. There is no suggestion that the club managers named in this story did not do so.

David Marsh said: “St Johns Park Bowling Club Group Ltd do participate in educational tours as part of commercial arrangements with key industry suppliers. St Johns Park Bowling Club Group fully complies with all relevant legislation relating to these tours including full disclosure to St Johns Park Bowling Club Group members.”

Brabham and Sheehan did not respond to questions.

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