While its predicted 2008 will see more and more people trying their hand at various gambling devices one Hollywood star has struck a blow for the beer drinker who likes peace and quiet!

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe has axed gaming machines from a rugby league club he co-owns in Australia.

The move comes after the Kiwi star led a campaign to have the club's 160 slot machines removed in a bid to make the place more family friendly.

Crowe and fellow owner, Peter Holmes a Court, managed to get South Sydney Rabbitohs club board members to agree.

Holmes a Court said attracting new members would help cover the A$1m (£0.43m) in annual lost revenue.

Crowe and Holmes a Court made their case in a letter to club members last September.

In the letter, they said that excessive reliance on so-called "pokie" gambling machines would hurt Souths blue-collar catchment area of Redfern, in Sydney's inner city.

Redfern was the site of massive riots in 2004 after it was alleged that the police had caused the death of a 17 year old Aborigine teenager Thomas ‘TJ’ Hickey.

"We are not moralising here, we just believe that low-income areas like Redfern need less poker machines rather than more," they said.
However the Problem Gambling Foundation down under say that the two owners have acted profoundly in defending the poor of South Sydney against the ravages of pokie machines.

In February of last year Crowe, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to throwing a telephone handset at a hotel concierge in New York, replaced scantily-dressed cheerleaders with a drumming band after his wife Danielle Spencer and other fans complained.

Crowe has injected Hollywood glamour and success back into one of Australia's oldest rugby league teams, dressing players in Armani suits off the field and filming the transformation in a documentary series.

Print version