With most sports sidelined by the coronavirus, it could be assumed that gambling online would fall off in the U.K.
Not exactly.
A new study found that many bettors gamble more or gamble on products riskier than a soccer match. Considered the first significant survey since the coronavirus pandemic began, the findings revealed that those who gamble regularly are doing so just as much or more, according to The Guardian.
Overall, the Survation poll of more than 1,000 people concluded respondents were more likely to have reduced their gambling since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
But regular gamblers were betting with more frequency. A quarter of those who typically bet at least once a week said they were still doing so, while 28 percent increased their activity, and 11 percent said they were gambling a lot more.
With few sports to wager on, bettors turned to online casino games and slot machines, bets with a higher rate of addiction. Even among casual gamblers, more than half of those surveyed 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 began. And more than a 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 in April by Matt Zarb-Cousin, a recovering gambling addict and former Labour party communications adviser, and backed by former professional poker player and inventor of Three Card Poker, Derek Webb.
“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 NHS gambling disorder clinics in northern England, agreed with the need for regulatory changes.
“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 need a stop to the ubiquitous advertising and marketing and a comprehensive review of the Gambling Act of 2005.”
The Betting & Gaming Council, an industry trade body, has said that overall levels of gambling have fallen since the lockdown, adding that its members have come up with extra safeguards to protect those tempted to gamble during isolation.
Yet financial results from several gambling firms indicate while betting levels fell, this is being partly offset by rising stakes on casino and slot machine games.
