Despite the sound and fury surrounding the legal challenge to Government?s gaming machine ban, the punters and venue owners greeted the end of their fun with quiet resignation.

As the clock ticked toward the midnight hour on Wednesday the assembled middle-aged women at Plush gaming house on Parliament Street worked away at their individual machines, then quietly cashed in and then left.

Sonya (not her real name) spoke for many when she expressed frustration at Government?s attempts to curb a pleasure which had never threatened to bankrupt her.

She said: ?I don?t think Government is being fair.? And she doubted Government?s claims that it was bankrupting anyone.

?It?s a form of relaxation for me and all of us. We don?t put our whole pay cheques in. We take care of what we need to take care of.?

Sonya said she was a ?nickel and dime player? who came with a small amount of dollars and left when it was spent ? if she hadn?t managed to increase her hoard.

She questioned why Government was clamping down on gaming machines and letting bingo, Crown and Anchor and card games go unfettered.

?All that?s OK? Isn?t that gambling? But because these machines are here, and Government didn?t realise how well they would do, they didn?t get a piece of it. If they were smart from the beginning they would have put taxation on it.

?This Government is meddling, they want to tell us what we can do, how you should live.?

The single mother said: ?If I get a little jackpot every now and again it can help.

?I am playing catch up, I work hard for my wages but it doesn?t balance out to the cost of living.?

Sonya said she enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of Plush, an upstairs establishment, not far from Island Hi coffee shop.

Her testimony was interrupted by the chance to go into the Cash Cube which is a Perspex box, not unlike a telephone kiosk, in which money is blown around and punters are given 15 seconds to catch and push out notes through a small slot which they can keep.

Unfortunately for Sonya she spends much of the time pushing through her ID card which hangs by a chain from her neck and emerges with just a few dollar bills.

Plush co-owner Judy Ming-Inchcup explains the Cash Cash cube, which seems devilishly difficult, is a reward for loyal customers of which there are many.

Members pay $25 dollars in annual fees to join the club but get $100 if they turn up on their birthday.

Customers are also entitled to three free alcoholic drinks but the atmosphere, although informal, is one of quite sobriety and concentration.

The establishment, which moved from Belmont in November, 2001, employees four staff now facing an uncertain future.

To be on the safe side the Plush management opted for a 11.30 p.m. cut-off rather than going to the last minute.

Kathy the cashier seems almost tearful as the final minutes wind down.

She is a single parent with three children to support but is now facing unemployment. ?I don?t know what I am going to do. I have bills to pay. There are not many jobs out there right now.

?Most people who come here don?t know what they are going to do. The people who come here are not drunks or people hanging out. It?s entertainment for them.?

One woman leaves the establishment with mixed feelings. She has had a good night ? she has added $1,500 to the $100 she brought.

But with her favourite haunt closing the 50-year-old now faces nights at home. ?This was the only place I went to, it?s the only place I can relax. I don?t go to bars because you have teenagers acting up.?

She came as often as she could afford.

If she was on a winning streak, she came often.

?I always take care of my commitments first.?

Internet gambling doesn?t hold the same allure as she doesn?t want to risk her credit cards.

Sonya says her goodbyes and makes her exit.

She says: ?I will miss my friends but I will see them around. This was a really social place.?

Asked about the predominantly female clientele she says: ?They are sick and tired of b**lshit from men when you go to bars. All they want is to take you to bed.

?I come here for the socialising. We have got to live. Now I will stay at home.?