The man had had it with his wife's gambling visits, said Mr Gerald Tee, senior manager (business development) of the Safra National Service Association.

The club complied, advising the caller to follow his request with an e-mail instruction. Since then, the woman had not been seen in its jackpot rooms.

She is one of two members banned under Safra's self-exclusion scheme which allows members to exclude themselves or their relatives.

Should the request come from relatives who are not Safra members, the club notifies and counsels the member.

Said Mr Tee: 'We do what we can to help. But we don't wish to take a hardline approach. Where possible, we'd prefer to use counselling.'

Safra, which has about 16,000 members playing its 114 jackpot machines in its five clubs each month, also offers other recreational facilities.

Its jackpot rooms have a 10-point questionnaire on the wall, allowing members to test themselves to see if they fall under the category of problem gambler.

Helplines and brochures from various counselling centres are placed close to the registration counters.

Safra's choice of not taking a hard stance seems to be the approach followed by other clubs, which committed recently to the National Council on Problem Gambling's Responsible Gambling Code of Practice.

At NTUC Club, two or three members ask to be banned from playing jackpot machines each year. As many requests come from relatives of problem gamblers.

The club, which runs 200 such machines in five clubhouses, turns away those who have excluded themselves.

But the ones excluded by relatives present a pricklier situation.

Last year, one member whose family asked that she be excluded from playing the jackpot at NTUC clubs was furious with the organisation for complying, and complained vociferously, said chief executive Chng Hee Kok.

'Even when you try to help, it can be difficult, and you can end up in a tight spot,' he said.

yapsuyin@sph.com.sg