It is Saturday night. At one table a Vietnamese family plays keno, a kind of hi-tech bingo. A group of grey-haired Ukrainian men throw down cards in a poker game. Two women wearing chunky gold rings sit listlessly at pokie machines, pouring in coin after coin all night.
The scene is similar across town at trendy bars in Darlinghurst, Double Bay or Bondi, and across Australia, where gambling has long been a social mainstay. Now there are fears it is too much.
Official figures released last month show Australians gambled £41 billion in 1998-99, an increase of about 8 per cent on the previous year. The average adult legally gambles about £2,900 a year. Figures, distorted by vast sums spent by a few high-rollers, are still alarming. Global comparisons are unavailable but Australia may rival Japan for the title of world gambling leader.
The government applauds works paid for by gambling - schools, hospitals, roads - but church and counselling groups say negative effects far outweigh benefits.
The president of the Baptist Union of Australia and head of the Inter-church Gambling Taskforce, the Rev Tim Costello, said: 'I don't have a day go by without calls-because a partner has lost the family home, been sacked, or is facing criminal charges through gambling. I have already been to four funerals of people who committed suicide as a result of gambling.'
Many Australians see gambling as much a part of the culture as cold beers and prawns on the barbie. Historians say it first took place in Sydney soon after convicts landed in 1788. One of the oldest games, two-up, a version of pitch-and-toss, is outlawed except for Anzac Day.
