Pubs and taverns across the Australian Capital Territory are having a difficult time generating poker machine revenue. Due to new technological requirements that have been introduced via gambling reform, pubs are falling behind clubs. This is due to the fact pubs are only permitted to offer older B-class machines while clubs are allowed to carry newer cabinets.
As such, pokie fans feel compelled to visit the venues where the newer games are located. It seems to put pubs at a disadvantage, and venue owners would like to see a change to these new laws. ''Imagine two restaurants – one's offering steak and the other's offering meatballs. We can't match that,'' Paul Berger, owner of the Fyshwick Tavern, said in an interview with the Canberra Times.
According to Pamela Ayson, President of the National Federation for Independent Businesses, the government has made these changes without providing pub owners with any explanation. They have simply had to abide blindly, while losing out on valuable business to gaming clubs. Many pub owners note that they have seen many clubs go out of business due to the gaming reform.
Some venues simply cannot compete with newer games that are available in pubs. It is an unfortunate truth, and pub owners are hoping that the laws will be changed in order to keep their venues afloat. They believe that their venues are the key to managing problem gambling in Canberra.
There is a social aspect at pubs that is not normally prevalent in clubs. Pub staff members speak with customers on a regular basis, finding out more about players’ spending habits. According to pub owners, they are more effective at helping problem gamblers seek out the assistance they require to beat their addictions. They claim that clubs are quite anonymous, so a compulsive gambler may go unnoticed for quite some time.
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