One of the researchers of a study of the effects of limiting the size of betting stakes warns against drawing conclusions such as the supposition that cutting stake size would reduce gambling addiction. The study is called “The Role of Stake Size in Loss of Control in Within-Session Gambling.” The Responsible Gambling Trust commissioned it.
Dr. Adrian Parke of the University of Lincoln told Betting Business Interactive recently that a study he participated in that showed that players’ decision-making abilities were impaired by higher stakes betting doesn’t automatically lead to the conclusion that lower stakes will reduce gambling addiction. “To conclude that this experiment provides evidence that reducing maximum stake size to £2, as a way of reducing problem gambling, is overtly naïve and massively premature,” he said.
The study is just one piece in a very large puzzle that is trying to understand the dynamics of problem gambling, he said. He added, “Fundamentally, the next step is to see how the effect of stake size interacts with other features of gambling products such as event frequency and prize structure, as well as the interaction with the physical and social gambling environment.”
