NSW Poker Signage Act comes into effect; Venues push boundaries
Pubs and clubs across the city are changing their logos on signs to include coin-like images and the colors red and gold in a bid to circumvent a new ban on gambling-related advertising.
Pubs have removed or adjusted the soon-to-be-illegal signs ahead of a law that bans images of dragons and coins and words like “VIP Room,” “Golden Room” and “Players’ Lounge” on outdoor signage at venues, coming into effect on Friday.
Before and After: The Royal Sheaf Hotel is one of a number of pubs that are adapting signage to accommodate the new legislation, but are still attractive to poker machine users.Credit: Google Maps/Included
But while some venues have removed signage entirely, others have pushed the legal limits to reduce poker machines’ appeal to passing addicted users.
At the Royal Sheaf Hotel in Burwood, owned by the Nelson Meers Group, which owns the second most profitable slot machine location in the state, there was once a giant digital sign that read “Phòng VIP” (“VIP Room” in Vietnamese) with gold, red emblazoned over it and blue text. This sign now features the hotel’s name in shimmering silver and the initials “RSH” in a rotating, coin-like circle. A deep red outline frames the glittering background of the shield.
The same design was used at The Oasis on Beamish, a hotel in Campsie. That’s where “OBH” sits in the same rotating gold-colored circle.
At other venues across Sydney, such as The Establishment in the CBD, the words ‘VIP Lounge’ on outside signs have been replaced with ‘Open until 1am until tonight’.
Oasis on Beamish in Campsie has signage similar in color and style to previous VIP lounge signs.
“You look at it [those signs] and everyone knows exactly what that means,” said Jim Wackett, an activist at Wesley Mission, a nonprofit organization that counsels people addicted to poker machines.
“The situation we currently find ourselves in with the Gambling Act is quite specific in that it prohibits signage that is reasonably understandable to people indicating the presence of poker machines.
