Carlton Blues' savage pokies grab

POKIES king Bruce Mathieson is plotting a Carlton coup that will strip Richmond and the Western Bulldogs of a fortune in gaming.
Mathieson, a former Blues director, stunned the Tigers and Bulldogs when he revealed he would transfer two hotel leases controlled by the AFL clubs to Carlton.

Richmond will lose the bluechip Royal Oak Hotel in the heart of Tigerland, while the Victoria Inn at Williamstown will be lost to the Bulldogs.

Both pokies venues are owned by the powerful Mathieson/Woolworths venture.

Richmond could be forced to hand over the keys to the Royal Oak within months.

The 80-machine venue - known as the Tiger Bar because of its meeting place status among Richmond faithful - contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to club coffers.

Carlton and Mathieson are believed to be planning to redirect at least one other venue's profits to the Blues in a move that could set up the club's financial security for years to come.

Blues chiefs declined to comment yesterday, saying nothing had been finalised.

Both Richmond and the Bulldogs confirmed they had been informed their leases would not be renewed.

"We are not impressed with it, but we move on," Dogs chief executive Campbell Rose said yesterday.

The Bulldogs recently won permission for a new gaming venue in Edgewater, about 2km from the Dogs' recently renovated Whitten Oval headquarters. The Mathieson/Woolworths venture also manages the Dogs' pokies at the Bacchus Marsh Golf Club.

But the Tigers, who operate a less profitable pokies venture at Wantirna, must quickly come up with ways to replace the crucial Royal Oak cash stream.

The Mathieson moves come as the league's 10 Victorian-based clubs prepare to splurge up to $50 million on a complex auction of pokies licences in a bid to maintain ownership of their existing poker machines.

AFL clubs control 1253 pokies at 20 pubs and clubs - about 6 per cent of Victoria's 27,500 machines, the entitlements to which will all by up for grabs in the auction that ends on May 10.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/af...-1225854279428

This is just BULLSHIT!!!

THis crap makes me so angry.

Plenty of other pubs in Willy. I prefer the Hobbo and the Star anyway, and ALL pokies should be sent back to NSW - let them have all the families destroyed by gambling.

The Vic Inn will become a ghost town - considering its location it should be bulldozed anyway.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flamethrower

The Vic Inn will become a ghost town - considering its location it should be bulldozed anyway.

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That would be funny, Carltons future secured? They couldnt manage it illegally/immorally so why not try for legally/immorally? Hopefully it ends up costing them money.

The bulldogs hierarchy certainly have some foresight, another kick to the tiges though.

I hope they pull all the Bulldogs gear down when the lease expires so they know the revenue is now going to the scum.

Astounds me, normal thinking would have you giving the pubs to the related AFL club nearest the area, thus encouraging those supporters there.
Carlton having a Willy venue is more likely to bring less in , not more.
On a side note why did we not chase up Caroline Springs where Collingwood and the Hawks have gone ?

What a load of crap. Just makes me HATE CARLTON MORE!!!!

Mathieson's a crook. Can't stand the man. Would happy to be not involved in anything he is associated with.

This doesn't suprise me - Carlton is the most morally bankrupt sporting organisation in the world.

Rose and the Bulldogs administration would have known this was on the cards for a while now, so it was crucial that Edgewater got over the line :)

Love to see the total profit/Loss per annum from pokies.

Geez Carlton are a morally degenerate club. I didnt think that Mathieson could be a bigger scumbag either but I guess I was wrong.

Can't wait for the social club to be up and running, will be going there to watch all our interstate games:)

Memo fellow Dogs don't attend Caaaaaaaarlton organisation
Carlton and corruption goes hand in hand

There's no doubt Bruce Mathieson knows how to make money from pubs - from, if memory serves me well, a half share in the Orrong Hotel in the late 1970s to his current pokie empire is testament to an acute sense of what makes pubs work in the contemporary environment.

He's never hidden his Carlton passion either, so I'd take his assault on our homeland seriously, if it occurs.

But I wonder if he won't have to innovate to do well out of the Vic. Willie isn't great Carlton territory and it isn't short of eating and other sorts of venues.

Maybe he sees Willies inflated prices as offering a gap in the market he could exploit.

He doesn't waste either time or money so we may have to watch this space.