Figures released by the the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation last week showed Victorians lost more than $2.6 billion on the pokies in 2010-11.

Cranbourne Information and Support Services manager Leanne Petrides said she was shocked but not surprised by the extent of the losses.

She said she was at a business breakfast in a Cranbourne hotel recently and saw a number of people come in at 9am, when the gaming room opened, to play the pokies.

The service did not provide direct counselling on gambling problems but she suspected gambling was at the bottom of problems for many clients.

"The biggest problem for us is it's still very much seen as an embarrassing problem. People are far less likely to talk to us about gambling issues than almost anything else.

"There is a sense of desperation. The addiction is often not so much to the physical sensation of playing a game as to the belief that the next coin could solve all their problems.

"They are trying to win their way out of poverty, which we know is not going to happen."

The Fountain Gate Taverner in Narre Warren was Casey's biggest money-spinner, with a profit of more than $16million. Tooradin and District Sports Club and Cranbourne RSL were the smallest, with a profit of about $2.5million each.

Casey Council's electronic gaming machine strategy, released in May, aims to limit or reduce the number of machines in the city.

There are currently 899 pokies operating in Casey.