25 August, 2017
Problem and at-risk gambling habits were found at much higher levels in solitary gambling activities, such as online gambling sites.
The regulator that licences the gambling industry in the United Kingdom has found that 63 per cent of British adults gambled in the past year.
Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East, told The Guardian: 'This should be a wake-up call: 43 per cent of FOBT users are problem or at-risk gamblers so there can be absolutely no excuse.
More than two million people in the United Kingdom are classed as problem or at-risk gamblers, according to new research.
It found that nearly half of those who played on machines in bookmakers had a gambling problem. So someone who plays scratchcards, the lottery, bets on sports and plays poker, is more likely to develop a problem than someone who just likes playing blackjack.
A larger group - 3.9% of the adult population - were deemed "at-risk" gamblers, either addicted to gambling or in danger of developing a problematic habit.
They come at a bad time for the government, which has been criticised for its decision to delay a report into Fixed Odds Betting terminals, dubbed the "crack cocaine" of betting.
Punters can now stake up to £100 every 20 seconds on the machines, and campaigners are arguing to significantly reduce that to help combat the effects of gambling addictions. Of those 1.4 per cent - 400,000 people - were chronic gamblers. There have been calls to limit the stakes to £2.
It was also found that middle-aged people were more likely to gamble compared with younger and older populations.
Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller said: "We have a clear commitment to make gambling fairer and safer and these figures show that this is a significant challenge".
The Gambling Commission has said that more needs to be done to tackle problem gambling after publishing the first comprehensive research on the subject in Britain since 2010. The Government must recommend a reduction to £2 a spin to limit harm and addiction'.
They added: "Seeking to ban a single gambling product will simply lead to the shifting of problem gamblers to other areas rather than addressing the root cause of the issue".
A year ago gamblers lost £13.8billion, including £1.8billion on FOBTs which make up more than half of the revenue of bookmakers.
"The bookies have claimed that because the overall population rate of problem gambling is static, FOBTs are not harmful".
A Culture Department spokesman said: 'We expect the gambling sector to protect players, help people stay in control and ensure they know where they can get help.
This means each terminal earned more than four and a half workers on minimum wage did during the year.
