BY OLI GOELDNER
Recent data from the state's Office of Liquor and Gaming revealed Hunter residents lost more than $660 million to poker machines last year.
The figure comes following the release of the Office's final quarter summary for 2025.
Newcastle and Lake Macquarie were found to be the biggest spenders, with Newcastle gamblers putting in $55 million into poker machines from August to September alone.
Wests New Lambton raked in the most gambling profits in the Hunter throughout the year, ranking 20th in the state.
The venue currently has 533 gambling machines.
However, Muswellbrook and District Workers Club made the most profits per machine locally, ranking in at number 27 in the state, despite only having 61 gaming machines.
Across NSW, gamblers lost more than $9.2 billion to poker machines, breaking records for the most in a single year.
Greens MP and gambling harm minimisation spokesperson Cate Faerhmann said the figures are concerning.
"It's clear that the Minn's Government's program of what they call gambling harm reduction isn't working," she said.
"People in the Hunter are losing record amounts to the pokies and that's just extraordinary when you hear how tough people are doing it too.
"We know that pokies are designed to be addictive and there's a lot of people out there who just can't help themselves when it comes to putting their money into poker machines.
"So something has to be done, we can't keep seeing record losses every single year, but that's the fact that we're seeing in NSW."
Currently, Newcastle hosts 2,705 gaming machines across both clubs and hotels, with Lake Macquarie following closely behind at 2,472.
"I think local communities should speak up about this because we're losing a million dollars an hour in NSW to poker machines," Ms Faerhmann added.
"And, $660 million in the Hunter is dissapointing.
"That's $660 million that isn't going into local businesses, families.
"It's going to big clubs and it's a real crisis."
