NEW YORK (WABC) --

We've all seen the buses filled with people heading to area casinos.

But, in an Eyewitness News exclusive, we've found that for many it's not about the gambling, it's about neccessity.

It's about making a few bucks just to get by, and it's happening 7 days a week, as long as the buses are running.

Watching Sang Ki Chun board a shuttle bus to the casino, you may think the Flushing senior is about to have a day of fun.

After all, he is heading to a casino. But for Chun, this is not about pleasure. This is about survival.

Speaking in Korean, he tells me life is tough. So he does this to help make ends meet.

Every morning he rides the bus to the Sands Casino in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. A two hour ride one way.

He is one of a countless number of Asian-American seniors who make the daily trip. They don't do it to gamble.

The seniors ride that bus because as soon as they get off the bus, the casino gives them a $45 credit.

They then sell them for $38. That bus ride costs $20. So at the end of the day, they make $18.

Chun sells the credit to a fellow passenger who in turn uses it to gamble. There are a dozen buses that leave for the Sands Casino daily.

And they are almost always filled to capacity. On each bus, more than half of the passengers do what Chun does.

That means on any given day there are upwards of 300-400 seniors, who ride the bus for four hours both ways.

And spend another five hours in a waiting room for the next ride back. Some of them are homeless. All of them are living below the poverty line.

"That story of the population that's struggling does not really get told," said New York State Assembly member Ron Kim, who has been fighting to raise awareness.

According to the Mayor's Office of Operations, Asian-Americans in the city have the second highest level of poverty among any ethnic group. At more than 25%, it is a staggering number.

"They don't want to step forward and admit, hey I'm in a situation where I need some help. It's a cultural barrier," said Kim.

Advocates say part of the problem is poverty in the community that is often unseen.

"They are hidden homeless, that they are doubling up or tripling up living in these cubicles...that they share with ten people within a one bedroom apartment for example," said Chris Kui of Asian Americans for Equality.

In the meantime, countless seniors like Chun will keep riding these buses. The question is, will anyone care?