But the club itself lists on its big poster promoting the kids bingo another purpose, teaching children to "learn and recognise big numbers". Might this other purpose be taking us closer to yet another purpose?

Big licensed clubs are now casinos, and as I write in my column today clubs would be mad if they did not cultivate their next generation of gamblers. Bingo is very mild gambling, but I suppose a gambler starts somewhere. As well, the reality of gambling is losing, the attraction is winning, and the club's promise that all children win a prize might be seen by some as another step in the development of a poker machine player.

Am I and the school principal who sent me the poster looking too hard with a jaundiced eye? The principal, whose primary school was sent the poster by the club, writes that he is "appalled that the club would resort to promoting gambling with children aged 5-15", and the club's claim that it was helping children to learn to recognise big numbers didn't help his mood.

Clubs NSW says kids bingo is an educational maths game and that it should be kept in perspective.

I admit to being horrified by the state-sanctioned epidemic of gambling that has swept across NSW, and I admit to a firm belief that poker machines are a blight. Has that distorted my view of Cardiff Panthers' kids bingo?