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New Survey Results From Uk
Gambling Commission
UK authorities publish the first in
a series of useful statistical studies on gambling as the Internet
booms in Britain.
According to statistics just released by the UK Gambling Commission
as part of a new information service, almost one in 12 adults in
Britain participated in at least one form of online gambling in
the previous month. Including playing the national lottery, just
under 8 percent took part in one form of online gaming or another
last year, a percentage which drops to under 6 percent if stats
of those who gamble only on the national lottery are extracted.
Commission spokesmen said that the release is the first of a new
statistical series which will provide a snapshot of participation
in remote gambling, including online gambling, in Britain.
The improved measure allows the Commission to distinguish between
the full range of remote gambling methods, personal computer, mobile
phone and interactive TV. It also allows participation in the full
range of gambling activities available through these remote methods
to be measured, access to which have all increased in recent years.
The document entitled ‘Survey Data on Remote Gambling Participation’
is available on the Gambling Commission’s website.
Key findings include:
* 92 percent of respondents said they had not participated in any
form of remote gambling.
* The National Lottery is the main activity for remote gambling,
with over 5 percent of respondents saying they had gambled remotely
on the Lottery in the previous month, which is around two and half
times the next most popular activities of online poker and remote
betting (horses, football etc).
* Those participating are more likely to be male than female and
aged 18-34.
* Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was
most popular (5.2 percent of all adult respondents gambling this
way in the previous month), followed by gambling via mobile phone
(2.2 percent) and interactive/digital TV (1.7 percent).
The Commission reports that according to the Office for National
Statistics, the number of UK households with internet access has
risen from 39 percent in 2001 to an estimated 57 percent in April
2006 and UK businesses reported a fivefold increase in the value
of internet sales between 2001 and 2005.
Gambling Commission Chairman Peter Dean, commenting on the new
service, said: “This new series is an important part of the
Commission’s monitoring. The figures reflect the uptake of
new technology with people choosing to gamble via the internet as
well as through mobile phones and interactive television.
“From September 2007, for the first time, the Gambling Commission
will have the power to regulate remote gambling in Great Britain
and to protect children and other vulnerable people from being harmed
or exploited by gambling.
“Under the Gambling Act all British-based operators will
be required to prevent access to gambling by children by providing
strict age verification procedures, to provide information about
responsible gambling to their users and to have other measures in
place to protect those at risk.”
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