Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly has vowed to go into bat for clubs rallying against pokie reforms but has stopped short of promising to cross the floor of parliament.
Hundreds of people, representing registered clubs in the southern NSW electorate of Eden-Monaro, were bussed into Braidwood for a rally on Wednesday.
The protest was the first of 20 planned for NSW and Queensland against the federal government's plan to introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines.
The plan would see pre-commitment required on machines that allow players to lose $1200 an hour.
Labor promised to implement the system by 2014 in exchange for independent MP Andrew Wilkie's support of its minority government.
Opponents of the scheme claim the changes mean pokie players will need a licence to punt.
A crowd of mostly retirees braved the icy conditions carrying placards that read "save our clubs, save our jobs" and "it's un-Australian Julia".
Several children carrying handmade signs also attended the rally.
Clubs Australia chief Peter Newell told the crowd he supported efforts to reduce problem gambling but Mr Wilkie's plan would fail.
"Clubs Australia wants not a single dollar from problem gambling," he said.
Mr Newell promised to "walk from here to Canberra" if someone could explain how giving problem gamblers a licence to gamble would fix the problem.
"It will spell the end of my own club at Wollongong, it will kill us stone-dead.
"Mr Wilkie and (independent senator Nick) Xenophon in their prohibitionist zeal don't care about wrecking our clubs."
Dr Kelly said pubs and clubs were the social fabric of his electorate.
He called on the NSW government to conduct a trial of the scheme and to follow the ACT government's lead and boost counselling services for problem gamblers.
Dr Kelly said he was aggressively championing the plight of small clubs in caucus.
But he dodged questions about whether he would be prepared to cross the floor and vote against the government's plan.
"We've got a long way to go, there is no legislation yet," he said.
Moruya Golf Club general manager Craig Clark said anti-gambling campaigners like Tim Costello were unfairly likening clubs to "crack dealers".
Palerang Mayor Walter Raynolds said clubs supported diggers and charities such as Legacy.
"Where would war widows play euchre when clubs close?" he told the crowd.
Graham Reeve, from the Narooma Sporting Services Club, said the independents pushing for reforms had no idea how damaging they would be for small clubs."
"Nick should spend time with the Scientologists, at least they're from the same planet," he said, referring to the senator's fight against the religious group.
Senator Xenophon told AAP the clubs sector had been doing its best to confuse its members.
"The clubs campaign is based on total misinformation," he said.
"Under the government's scheme, the clubs can choose to convert their machines to lower-loss machines, where the average loss is $120 an hour.
"These machines don't require any pre-commitment."
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