British gamblers have lost a total of £11bn on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) since 2008 - an average of £8,000 per person, according to new figures.
However, adds research consultancy Landman Economics, a core of 300,000 "problem gamblers" account for around 40 per cent of total, losing almost £15,000 each.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Players can bet as much as £100 every 20 seconds, causing a "gambling frenzy", says The Times.
There are an estimated 34,890 FOBTs in the UK's high street bookmakers and casinos, says the Gambling Commission.
However, while they make up only 20 per cent of all gaming machines, which includes fruit machines and slots, the Campaign for Fairer Gambling says they account for two-thirds of all gaming machine losses.
It adds that FOBT users are more likely to be "young men (aged under 35), unemployed and/or from low-to-middle income households".
Campaign groups have long urged the government to limit how much a player can bet. A damning cross-party parliamentary report earlier this year called for a £2 cap, although the study has since been censured for receiving financial backing from bookmakers' industry rivals, such as casinos, amusement arcades and pubs.
Theresa May is reportedly in favour of action, but lobbying by the gambling industry and Treasury concerns about the impact on tax revenue have put the issue on the back-burner, the Times says.
The Association of British Bookmakers, which argues that a crackdown on FOBTs would lead to the closure of thousands of bookmakers, said the Landman research was"pure fantasy".
-
Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital kills 20Speed Read The dead include five journalists who worked for The Associated Press, Reuters and Al Jazeera
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policingSpeed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa CookSpeed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
