LATROBE City punters are among the biggest gamblers in regional Victoria, with more than $45 million passing through the municipality's electronic gaming machines last financial year.
Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation statistics place Latrobe City third among regional councils for total electronic gaming, or pokie, expenditure during the 2009-2010 financial year.
Only the more highly populated City of Greater Geelong and City of Ballarat rank higher than Latrobe City for total amount spent.
The figures also reveal Latrobe City has the highest per capita pokie spend, with an average of $825 per adult compared with Geelong's $670 and Ballarat's $759.
Latrobe Community Health Service counselling services manager Ann Briggs said while the figures were ``staggering'', she believed the numbers contained a ``glimmer of hope''.
``We are one of the highest areas in the state but it is heartening to see our figures have dropped,'' Ms Briggs said.
According to the commission's figures Latrobe City's electronic gaming expenditure dropped by almost $3 million compared to the 2008-2009 financial year figures.
``There's a lot of history in Latrobe with trade and power industry closing down and being privatised, that's when issues commenced,'' she said.
``I honestly don't think there's a huge difference between us and other areas, it's a problem in all areas.''
Ms Briggs said it was important to note gambling addiction could affect people from any background and there was no profile for a typical problem gambler.
She said people who had gambling problems were often affected by other factors such as mental health issues, problems dealing with grief and loss and family violence.
Latrobe Valley gambler Ben, who asked for his surname to be withheld, said he learnt to restrict his betting before it ``got away'' from him.
Ben said he gambled on sports for about 19 years but, despite never getting into serious trouble, described the problems which could confront problem gamblers.
``Your priorities in life get pushed aside when you're a gambler... the prospect of winning money, it overrides your normal thinking patterns,'' Ben said.
``If you win you basically wipe your brow and it's a feeling of relief and if you lose you don't feel so good.
``You go through despair, depression and (think) `I'm a bloody idiot and I'm not going to do it again', but you do it because there's money involved.''
He said the desire to stop gambling ``comes from within'' and advised people who had a problem to adopt strategies such as developing a budget and paying for neccessities before gambling.
``If you don't stick to it you're going to have problems, you need discipline,'' Ben said.
Anyone affected by problem gambling and seeking assistance or counselling can phone Latrobe Community Health Service on 1800242696 or Gambler's Help on 1800858858.
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