Southern gamblers have pumped almost $50 million into pokies over the past year - the equivalent of $160 for every man, woman and child living in Otago and Southland.
Figures from the Department of Internal Affairs show non-casino pokie spend in the South was $48.6 million for the year ending September 2012.
Dunedin punters led the way, gambling $18.5 million over the same period.
Otago territorial authorities all recorded an increase in pokie spend for the quarter ending September 2012.
Dunedin again recorded the largest increase with $134,653, followed by Clutha ($53,976), Queenstown-Lakes ($24,939) and Central Otago ($3716).
All Southland territorial authorities recorded a decline over the same quarter, led by Invercargill (-$335,418), Gore (-$55,000) and Southland (-$6480).
Nationwide, $844 million was gambled on the country's 17,827 non-casino poker machines for the year ending September.
Pokie spending
Central Otago ... $3,473,597
Clutha district ... $2,065,880
Dunedin city ... $18,540,625
Gore ... $3,024,938
Invercargill ... $15,495,402
Queenstown-Lakes ... $2,712,341
Southland ... $3,326,846
Total ... $48,639,629
Source: Internal Affairs
Links:
[1] mailto:hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz