Problem gambling is one of the widely debated topics in Ireland and neighbour countries like the United Kingdom. Recent statistics from the UKGC and Irish Government have revealed that around 46% of adults (16+ years) have participated in different forms of gambling, and the figure is expected to go even higher in the coming years.
So, who is to blame?
According to the Gambling Commission’s executive director Tim Miller, neither the government nor the gambling community is doing enough to find a solution to this problem. Also, GambleAware – UK’s leading gambling charity has blamed the industry for not providing enough funds to enable the treatment of problem gambling. This article presents the latest statistic of problem gambling and some of the services aimed at helping problem gamblers.
At-Risk Gambling Without Gamstop
The statistics that were released by the Commission’s official Health Survey indicated that 2.4% of adults in the UK were low-risk gamblers, while 1.1% were rated as moderate-gamblers. The low-risk gamblers are those people who have not been affected significantly by gambling, while the moderate-risk players are individuals who experience some negative consequences of gambling.
These players may google if there is a way to cancel Gamstop exclusion and continue playing with the help of CasinoGap or NonStopCasino. According to Gamstop and UKGC statistics, men are more likely to be low-risk gamblers as compared to 0.4% moderate-risk women gamblers. People aged 16 to 24 and 25 to 34 belong to the low-risk group (5.8% and 4.2%), and moderate risk gamblers occupy between 1.5% and 2.1%.
Problem Gambling
As stated by the Commission’s official health survey, 0.7% of interviewees were grouped as problem gamblers in the UK and Ireland. Problem gambling in men is at 1.2% as compared to women, which is at 0.2%. Age-wise, people aged between 25 and 34 are more likely to be classified as problem gamblers.
Additionally, the industry has witnessed significant changes in online gambling behaviour, and the statistics are as follows:
- Online gamblers who play at home (below 35 years) – 96%
- Gambling at work – 20%
- Mobile phone gamblers – 55% (increased by 44% in 2018)
- Laptop or desktop gamblers – 45% (dropped from 50% in 2017)
- In-play gamblers – 23%
- Electronic sports gamblers – 5%
In 2018, the most popular gambling activity was the National Lottery draws (28%) and scratchcards and other lotteries (11%).
Services Aimed to Help Problem Gamblers
The increasing cases of problem gambling across all countries have led to the establishment of different services to provide solutions to victims of addiction. The most popular programs in the UK are:
Gamstop for Online Gambling
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has made it mandatory for all online gambling operators (UKGC licensees) to register with Gamstop before they are allowed to provide service within the jurisdiction. GamStop is one of the leading self-exclusion programs that allow individuals to self-exclude from participating in all forms of gambling. Gamblers can choose to be excluded for periods of 6 months, 1 year of 5 years.
However, the system has been criticized for having many flaws. For instance, players who had excluded themselves from gambling were still able to login to their accounts and gamble. But the management has promised to consider all the stated weaknesses in the system to make it better in the future.
SENSE for Offline Gambling
The Self-Enrolment National Self-Exclusion program (SENSE) was established to help people who believe in the problem with gambling and wish to self-exclude nation-wide from brick and mortar casinos. The SENSE scheme was started in 2015 and is operated by the National Casino Forum (NCF) on behalf of land-based operators.
Gamblers are required to provide personal details, including name, email, telephone number, photo, and signature, when registering at SENSE. All casinos that are registered with the SENSE scheme are not allowed to send promotional emails or any other marketing materials to blocked players.
