This is George Catsi, he runs the Petersham Bowlo @thepbc. When he took it over in 2006, it was a failing club and him and his team were new to the club industry.
Like many clubs across New South Wales, it had pokies. Because George and the team were new, naturally they went to ClubsNSW, the governing body for NSW clubs, for advice. Their counsel? Spend $20,000 to upgrade the pokie machines to subsidize the prices for drinks and food. The implication was that this was standard, expected, unavoidable.
They realized this would mean taking advantage of one segment of their clientele, of their community, to give a cheaper drink to others.
Committed to being an institution contributing to the community, not harming it, they crunched their numbers and worked out a way to run things without them.
Almost 15 years on, they’re a thriving community institution – without relying on pokie machines that harm communities and take advantage of those who can’t afford to lose the money.
George and the Petersham Bowlo are proof that it doesn’t have to be like the gambling lobby and their collaborators say it does. And the best part is, in the place where the pokies used to be, they have live music performances from local musicians. People come from across Sydney to enjoy it.
George stood with us today as we launched the Green plan to phase out pokies and the harm they cause.