Steelers Club chairman Peter Newell has staked his reputation on convincing the Illawarra that meddling with poker machines is unpatriotic.
Mr Newell's war with the Federal Government intensified yesterday after Clubs NSW and Clubs Australia launched a major campaign opposing plans to rein in problem gamblers.
Mr Newell is president of both organisations.
He denied the $20 million campaign relied on patriotism instead of facts, with newspaper advertisements, billboards, T-shirts, beer coasters and other material declaring the reforms "un-Australian".
"Of course it's un-Australian to force people to have a licence to have a punt," Mr Newell said yesterday.
"It's un-Australian to kill our pubs and clubs, which are, arguably, Australian icons.
"From our point of view, this is a life and death exercise."
The plan to introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology by 2014 would force punters to nominate how much they're prepared to lose before they can play. Gamblers would be forced to carry cards to place a bet.
VOTE: Should gamblers face more poker machine restrictions? Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has threatened to withdraw support for Julia Gillard's minority government if the reforms are not passed.
Clubs claim the changes would punish responsible gamblers and cost jobs.
It could cost $69.6 million to upgrade or replace machines to comply with pre-commitment technology at the Illawarra and Shoalhaven's 76 registered clubs.
But advocates for change say clubs are greedy and reluctant to give up a lucrative source of revenue.
St Michael's Anglican Cathedral Canon Sandy Grant regularly witnesses the impacts of poker machine addiction.
"I'm seeing a family break up right now because of it," he said.
It's estimated 0.7 per cent of the adult population are problem gamblers.
They account for at least $2.6 billion of gaming machine losses in Australia each year.
Canon Grant said clubs were running a scare campaign.
"I'd love to see responsible club members tell their boards 'we do not want our club to profit from the misery of problem gamblers'," he said.
With 261 machines, Wests Illawarra has the most pokies in the region.
Chief executive officer Phillip Bragg said the club could not meet the cost of purchasing pre-commitment technology.
"It would be diabolical for us," he said.
There are 4737 machines in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
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