According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one-third of Australian adults use poker machines at least once a year. Excluding Western Australia, where pokies are banned outside of Perth Casino, that equates to 6.6 million people who, between them, lose around $13 billion a year, at an average of more than $1,950 each.
Based on an updated version of the most detailed study of gambling in Australia, the amount an average gambler can afford to lose on poker machines is $301 per year, known as their "low-risk gambling limit".
For every dollar a gambler loses over that low-risk limit, the risk increases.
Losing more means people who use the pokies have less to spend on other recreational or social activities. But for those who gamble much more, the losses can be devastating.
"Poker machines are making a killing from problem gamblers," said Skye Predavec, Anne Kantor Fellow at The Australia Institute and author of the analysis.
"If the vast majority of poker machine profits come from risky gambling rather than those who gamble responsibly, it's time politicians treated the industry in line with the harm it causes.
"The data does not lie. There are Australians who are losing vast sums of money on poker machines who cannot afford to.
"This can have a terrible impact on their personal finances, health, work and wellbeing, which, in turn, impacts families and relationships."
