Of the 10 most profitable New South Wales clubs, based on poker-machine profits, all but one are in Sydney's west or south-west.
The clubs which, for some, lead to crippling addictions also sell themselves as important contributors to their communities.
Now, for the first time, SBS has obtained exclusive figures showing where the money is also being spent, including the outlay on senior management.
In pre-tax poker-machine profits or player losses, Bankstown Sports Club made more than $84 million in the year to August, while spending $1.6 million on executive salaries in the last financial year.
Over the same period, the windfall from the machines for Cabra-Vale Diggers, in Sydney's west-suburban Fairfield, was $75 million, with its five executives taking home a total of at least $1.18 million.
Nearby, the Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club earned almost $82 million, with $2.3 million spent on the club bosses.
And Fairfield RSL generated $40 million from the poker machines, with its top earners paid a total of two-and-a-half million.
Fairfield is statistically one of the most disadvantaged areas in New South Wales.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows its unemployment rate almost double the national average.
And more than half the population was born overseas, with seven out of 10 people speaking a language other than English at home.
Community leaders say migrants and new arrivals are some of the most vulnerable people to gambling addiction.
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