Marsden’s biography of Ainsworth, The Patriarch of the Pokies, was commissioned by one of his sons, but the family decided not to publish it. Historian Susan Marsden, who spent years interviewing Len Ainsworth and reviewing his archives, discovered that around this time, Ainsworth’s expansion plans took a decisive turn towards politics — one that would have a lasting impact. But his awe began to curdle when someone mentioned one of the exhibition halls in the new building had been named after billionaire businessman Len Ainsworth and his family, in thanks for a $10 million donation. That’s more than Australian households spend on electricity and gas ($29.5 billion) or alcohol ($26.8 billion) – so it seems safe to say we have a problem. “Did they not have the capability of incorporating gaming machines as part of their business model, there are many, many hotels that simply would not be viable.”

Mobile pokies are fully optimised for smartphones and tablets and now represent the primary way Australians play online. RTP (Return to Player) shows the theoretical percentage of total wagers a pokie pays back to players over a very large number of spins. It does not predict short-term results, but it’s one of the most practical metrics when comparing similar games.

ALH Hotels operates a portfolio of over 350 licensed venues across Australia.

“From the ’70s,” she says, “Len was approached by licensed club associations of the other states, asking him for help to persuade their governments of the benefits of legalizing poker machines.” For Nghe, a gallery honouring the legacy of a man who’d built his fortune as Australia’s most prolific manufacturer of poker machines “definitely does not compute”. “It is certainly a significant amount of money and … we are focused on ensuring that there are protections in place and support available for those who may be struggling with gambling harm.” In a statement, Consumer and Business Affairs Minister Andrea Michaels said the government was “committed to reducing the number of poker machines in SA”. The South Australian government says it is committed to reducing the number of poker machines in the free aussie pokie state.

“The government has asked the department to conduct detailed economic modelling on proposals,” the spokesperson said. Len Ainsworth didn’t respond to Background Briefing’s requests for an interview, nor did he respond to questions. “I would say that there is a member of the Ainsworth family who has been very generous to the Alliance for Gambling Reform,” Costello says. Costello says that when it comes to gambling, by now, “We know the social costs”. “Pokies are legal, like tobacco is legal but those places would not take donations from tobacco companies.” He says Ainsworth was a “product of his era” who believed strongly in personal responsibility.

“Regions certainly have challenges with gambling because pubs and clubs, particularly when it comes to poker machines, are quite often, a central social place and a meeting place for people,” Mr Thomas said. Still, Costello remains hopeful that a member of the Ainsworth family will publicly throw their support behind long-awaited poker machines reforms in NSW, which he believes have stalled. Now, more than 70 years after Len Ainsworth first started making poker machines in his father’s dental supply factory in Sydney’s west, the country’s biggest pokie losses are concentrated in Western Sydney. While NSW accounts for around 0.15% of the world’s population, it has 37% of the world’s poker machines that are not located within casinos or other gaming establishments. “It’s completely unethical for the state government to continue to use poker machines to raise revenue when they have such a devastating impact on our community.”

About 🏆 Best Online Pokies in Australia 2025 Real Pokies List

Coming from a refugee background, he says there was an added level of shame and stigma around gambling. It was everywhere, but no one spoke about it, beyond the gossip about whose parents’ car was spotted outside the local pokies clubs or which school friends who lost their homes to gambling. Much of Nghe’s recent work takes the form of pictures of himself as a child, collaged into images that illustrate just how much poker machines shaped his life. At first glance, he wants the images to seem sweet — almost nostalgic — until the darker side of the photo dawns on the viewer.

• Aristocrat Leisure is now worth $40 billion, three times the value of Qantas.
• By the early 1990s, those lobbying efforts paid off when Queensland, Victoria and South Australia legalized poker machines in clubs, massively expanding the local market.
• The panel’s industry members refused to endorse the account-based system, all citing the paucity of data yielded by the six-month trial of the cashless gaming card.
• It does not predict short-term results, but it’s one of the most practical metrics when comparing similar games.
• Poker machines are the main form of gaming machine in only 35 countries around the world.

But, he adds, views on gambling are shifting — even, it seems, within the Ainsworth family. “I was curious about the man because, as a billionaire pokey baron and manufacturer, it wasn’t necessary on his part really to spend any time with the likes of me,” Cameron says. But he has been questioned directly, at times, about the impact of his machines on others. “I have a large family of sons and am doing my best to encourage them to follow my example and embark on their own philanthropic endeavours.” Instead, the family has forged an identity as some of the biggest philanthropic donors in Australia across medicine, culture, environmental causes and the arts.