New research has revealed that gamblers in poorer suburbs can lose over three times more money to poker machines than those in more advantaged areas.

The Federal Government-funded Australian Centre for Gambling Research looked at losses on poker machines in two areas on opposite sides of Melbourne.

The average losses for adults in the poorer area – the western suburbs around Sunshine - were about $1,400 per year.

In the higher socio-economic areas on the east side of Melbourne, losses totalled about $400 on average.

The study found there were more than twice the number of pokie venues and machines in the west than in the east.

Additionally, pokie venues in the west tended to have children's play areas, while venues in the eastern suburbs did not.

The study included having researchers visit pokie venues unannounced to watch gamblers, but at no point did any observe staff asking a problem gambler to take a break.

This was despite the expert watching gamblers getting distressed and agitated at the machines; still there was no interruption.

The researchers say they want to expand their studies to other areas of Australia.

Dr Angela Rintoul from the Australian Gambling Research Centre said the study showed gambling can be used to entrench disadvantage.

“One gambler I spoke to in the east ... described the inconvenience of his dishwasher being unable to be repaired for six months because of his losses due to gambling,” she said this week.

“Whereas many gamblers I spoke to in the west spoke about literally not being able to feed their children.”

During the course of the year-long study, the western suburbs’ Brimbank City Council approved a more than seven-fold increase in the amount of poker machines at a club in Deer Park.

The only reported increase in the amount of machines during the same period in the eastern cluster of suburbs was from 95 to 108 machines at the Box Hill RSL.