Sydney pubs boot pokies to bring in customers
There are signs of a trend now in Sydney with some pubs getting rid of pokies.
Examples include Chippendale's Lansdowne Hotel, the Bald Faced Stag in Leichhardt, The Unicorn, Alexandria's Lord Raglan Hotel, The Oxford Tavern in Petersham and The Carrington, Surry Hills.
Lansdowne publican Jake Smyth puts it bluntly.
"This was supposed to be the pokie den" Smyth told Good Food.
"But we said 'f--- that'. Now it's a space to drink beer with mates and have an awesome time. We're even having male and female go-go dancers in here for the opening weekend. We want this place to be a lot of fun."
It’s all part of the plan for the City Road hotel, which has sat vacant since April 2015, to go back to schooners and counter meals, starting this week.
Smyth and his business partner Kenny Graham want to take the pub back to what it once was: a live music venue that once featured such bands as You Am I and The Living End.
To do that, he said, they have to get rid of the pokies.
“Pokies are one of the major reasons why live music has suffered in Sydney," Smyth said. "So how could we, in any good conscience, put in a live music room that holds 250 people upstairs and have pokies downstairs?"
The Bald Faced stag owner Scott Mackenzie, says his business plan removed machines when he took control of the hotel three months ago.
"We knew we would be losing revenue, but there is a need for more live music venues in Sydney. Now, without the machines, we can fit 500 people in the bandroom," he told Good Food.
These are pubs with "Proudly Pokies Free" banners fixed to their facades.
"It's time for Sydney to support the movement," Smyth told Good Food. "To support pubs doing the right thing and saying 'I'm not drinking at that pub because there's 20 pokies out the back. I don't care if they discount their beers'.
"You can't have both. You can't drink at the pubs with cheap beers and never question why the schooners are priced so low."
by Leon Gettler, June 13th 2017
