People who gamble regularly online are doing so just as often or more frequently during the coronavirus lockdown, despite the lack of sporting events, according to the first significant survey of betting habits during the crisis.
The findings, in a Survation poll, will fuel concerns that a broader fall in part-time gambling is masking more intense betting among problem gamblers, or a move toward riskier products, such as online casino games.
Overall, respondents to the survey, of more than 1,000 people, were more likely to have reduced their gambling since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the cancelation of sports such as football and horse racing.
However, regular gamblers said that they were gambling more, whith a quarter of those who typically bet at least once a week saying that they were still doing so, while 28 percent had increased their activity and 11 percent said they were gambling a lot more.
The absence of betting opportunities in sports indicates that they are resorting to online casino games and slot machines, which carry higher rates of addiction.
Even among casual gamblers, more than half of respondents said that they had sustained or increased their level of gambling.
The survey also found that 41 percent of people who bet had opened a new online account since the pandemic took hold, and more than one-third of regular gamblers believed they were either spending too much on the habit, or developing an addiction.
The survey was commissioned by Clean Up Gambling, formed this month by Matt Zarb-Cousin, a recovering gambling addict and former Labour Party communications adviser, and backed by a former professional poker player, Derek Webb.
The duo previously proved influential in the successful campaign against controversial fixed-odds betting terminals, through the Campaign for Fairer Gambling group.
“There is mounting evidence that one of the big winners from the coronavirus pandemic will be online gambling companies, which is why the government must make good on its promise to review all of our gambling laws as soon as possible” Zarb-Cousin said.
Matt Gaskell, clinical director for a network of British National Health Service gambling disorder clinics in the north of England, agreed that the findings indicated that a government review should trigger significant changes to regulation.
“As well as the conditions of the lockdown, what we are seeing are the harmful consequences of ‘light touch’ regulation and the responsible gambling industry mantra,” he said. “We urgently need measures to protect people gambling more than they can afford to lose, a stop to the ubiquitous advertising and marketing, and a comprehensive review of the Gambling Act of 2005. Forget self-regulation — we need the government to step forward.”
Separately, an industry-wide scheme called GamStop, which allows people to ban themselves from betting, has seen a 15 percent increase in former gamblers asking to end their self-exclusion since lockdown began.
The increase might in part be explained by rapid early growth in registrations with the scheme, leading to a rise in the number of people now eligible to lift six-month or one-year suspensions.
The industry trade body Betting and Gaming Council has said that overall levels of gambling have fallen since the lockdown, adding that its members have put in place extra safeguards to protect vulnerable people who might be tempted to gamble during isolation.
However, financial results from several gambling firms have indicated that, while overall betting levels are down, this is being partially offset by rising stakes on casino and slot machine games.
British Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism Nigel Huddleston earlier this month wrote to the five largest gambling firms and the council, urging them to go further in their efforts to protect customers from harm.
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