Bay of Plenty residents are more likely to gamble than the average New Zealander, it's been revealed.
And Rotorua's deprivation and Maori population make it even more at risk, a local problem gambling counsellor says.
Almost two-thirds of people living in the Bay of Plenty - or 135,000 - say they have gambled in the last three months, making them 8 per cent more likely to gamble than the average New Zealander.
According to new data collected by Roy Morgan, locals were 10 per cent more likely to have bought a Lotto ticket in the last three months, 9 per cent more likely to have played the pokies, and 12 per cent more likely to have placed a bet at the TAB.
Bay of Plenty punters were 90 per cent more likely to have played Keno in the last three months than gamblers in the rest of the country.
However, we weren't so fond of Instant Kiwi scratchies, at 4 per cent less likely to buy one than the rest of the country, and 30 per cent less likely to place a bet online.
The rates are an interesting insight as a High Court battle continues into how to mitigate the harm caused by problem gambling.
The Problem Gambling Foundation sought a judicial review after losing 70 per cent of its funding to the Salvation Army in March.
The foundation was left only with a specialist contract for Asian problem gamblers from the Ministry of Health tender process, which considered 32 bids.
The foundation said it would have to close its 10 offices and 11 outreach clinics by February next year.
Problem Gambling Rotorua counsellor Anaru Haumaha said the issue was often worse in regional New Zealand.
"The gambling harm that's in this community is always going to be higher because we fit a lot of the demographics - the low socio-economic and Maori [populations]."
Other risk factors included Rotorua's high deprivation areas, and a high proportion of gaming machine venues.
According to Department of Internal Affairs statistics, the Opotiki community had the highest pokie spend per capita in the country, Mr Haumaha said.
Rotorua was sixth on the list.
"It's definitely the smaller places. What you see on average, it's the areas that are low socio-economic and high deprivation - and high populations of Maori."
Problem Gambling Rotorua had been doing the "best it could" with the funding it had, he said.
During a three-day hearing in the High Court in Auckland, the Problem Gambling Foundation's lawyer Mai Chen described the foundation as "the best in the business" and had pioneered many initiatives during its 25-year history.
Stripping the foundation of the majority of contracts would be a step back for the gambling recovery sector, she said.