Australian Gambling Statistics figures showed punters lost $814.5 million to sports betting alone – Victorians wasted $259.7 million while NSW gamblers lost $162.8 million.

Gateway Community Health therapeutic counsellor David Rosewarne said it would be “down the track that these issues will come to us”.

“I think a lot of the impacts would be short-term at this stage,” he told The Border Mail.

“People maybe getting behind in rent, or being late on their electricity bill.

“But certainly in years to come, we could expect a rise from that form of gambling … we would be expecting an increase just by pure participation rates.”

Albury-based St David Care’s problem gambling counsellor Kaily Goodsell had already noticed the rising popularity of sports gambling apps on smartphones.

“There’s a whole lot of new ways to gamble – everybody has a gambling device in their hands these days,” she said. 

“That makes the people who are at risk even more at risk, because it’s so accessible, 24 hours a day.”

Poker machines continued to rake in the most cash – a whopping $11.5 billion was lost nationwide, with $5.7 billion lost in NSW and $2.5 billion wasted in Victoria.

Mr Rosewarne said many problem gambling clients were addicted to electronic gaming machines.

“The two dominant instigating factors that lead to issues with gambling is the early big win and then possibly mental health issues, experiencing depression and anxiety,” he said. “But it could be any number of reasons, including a change in circumstances.”

On average, Australian adults lost $1241 last financial year – pokies accounted for roughly half that figure.

Victorians lost $1250 whereas NSW residents splurged $1517.