
Online casinos and slots are likely to be the focus of the forthcoming gambling White Paper, part of an UK Government review of the 2005 Gambling Act.
Speaking to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee, Gambling Minister Chris Philp highlighted the two sectors as those that caused him the most concern, giving a strong indication that these will be targeted in the imminent regulatory review.
Philp said: “The things that worry me the most as we think about the gambling White Paper are things like online slots and online casinos – the areas where people can get really heavily addicted to gambling.”
Citing the 2018 England health survey, Philp highlighted the disparity in problem gambling rates for different types of gambling. The survey suggested that 0.9% of problem gambling rates could be attributed to draw-based games, significantly lower than other activities, “where the range went from 2.7% to 12.7%.”
MPs were told that approximately 40%-45% of the British public took part in some form of gambling every month.