"When do I win?" he laughs. "I never win." But Mr Borg is undeterred. If he wants to, he can stay until 6am the next day when by law the machines must be switched off until the doors open again at 9am .
Mr Borg is in good company. Around 82% of Australians gamble and 40% of the population does it at least once a week. The Penrith Panthers' World of Entertainment, owned by the rugby league club of the same name, claims to be the biggest club of its kind in the southern hemisphere and is keen to promote its family-friendliness by hosting children's events, rodeos and discos. Its playbill includes Elvis impersonators and comedians Hale and Pace. For a population of fewer than 180,000, the club's annual $52m turnover from 50,000 punters is a huge commercial success.
Australians spend nearly 4% of their annual household income on gambling; three-quarters of that gets fed into slots in gaming machines known as pokies. But behind the family-friendly face of gambling, there is a seedier side to the nation's real favourite sport that wrecks families.
The Panthers' mix of light entertainment and family restaurants would not look out of place at an out-of-town shopping centre in Croydon or Salford. But the club's main attraction are the banks of 900 poker machines spread over two floors which are gradually filling up with punters. Bingo calls to win the meat draw on show in the fridge can be heard just above the jangle of coins showering into metal trays.
Leanne Kirkman has dropped her son off at day care. "I popped to Krispy Kreme, so I thought I'd come in for some time to myself," she confesses. Her biggest win was $600 on a ranch-themed pokie. "I only come once in every blue moon and have a $20 limit," she says.
If Mrs Kirkman shows restraint, some of her fellow gamblers cannot. An estimated 1.5%-2.5% of Australians have severe problems with gambling.
Access to gaming encourages problem gambling, according to the Rev Chester Carter, manager of the Wesley Gambling Counselling Service in Sydney. It was set up 10 years ago when permission was granted for Sydney's only casino which pays the service 2% levy on its profits each year. The counselling service supports 1,000 gambling addicts and their families each year with a 30% success rate. Most are hooked on the pokie machines found in almost every club and pub.
"Ease of access and cash is a deadly combination," he says. "Problem gambling is like alcoholism. They have to stay away from these places, otherwise they'll never be right. One bet for a gambler is like one drink for an alcoholic."
Such thirst for gambling comes from payouts of up to $100,000. And for those who lose a lot, the humiliation is not as great as playing on the baize of a real roulette or blackjack table.
But it's not just individuals or commercial enterprises which find the gambling irresistible. The average profit from a pokie is $40,000 and in 2001/2002 takings from gambling in New South Wales alone was worth $5.7bn.
Perhaps surprisingly for a country that loves to gamble, there are only eight casinos in Australia. But what they lack in number, they make up for in size. The ranks of cash machines in the marble lobby of Star City's harbourside casino allow for no illusions that this place is all about big losers, not big wins. The cavernous Vegas-style glitz inside features a red rock and waterfall installation. Beneath the symbols of aboriginal dreamtime hundreds of young men throng around the only gaming tables in the city placing up to $100 stakes on Caribbean stud or pontoon.
Mr Carter says the UK regulators should learn from Australia's mistakes. "England must watch out. The laws must not be made lax without safeguards. Constraints must be in place before it causes problems."
