A pub / hotel owner in Queensland, Australia, has pulled the plug on the poker machines at his establishment, stating that he could not bear to see his patrons losing all their money to the poker machines and leaving in tears.
The Scarborough Hotel owner, Roger Okalyi, made the decision to turn off the 40 poker machines two months ago, and plans to sell the license for them. He is willing to accept the lost revenue, stating "In the end, I just couldn’t stand it […] The pokies just prey on people who can’t afford to gamble".
Okalyi had seen people leaving the hotel in tears after having lost all their money to the machines, and says that although he has lost some business already, he is glad that "At least he can sleep at night these days".
He plans to replace the poker room with a family friendly room offering pool tables and video game machines.
Tim Costello, an anti-pokies campaigner said that the move was fantastic – "This is one of the scourges of our time," Costello said, "…and if a publican is putting peoples lives ahead of his own profits that’s inspiring."
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