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Most Recent Online Casino News
Risks in Britain Becoming a Gambling Nation
Britons are the biggest gamblers in Europe.
Over the past three years, there has been a fivefold increase in
betting, with turnover rising from £7.6 billion in 2001 to a record
£39.4 billion in the 12 months to September. Gambling in all forms
amounted to £63.8 billion. Six out of ten adults now stake an average of
£50 every month, including on the National Lottery; some 350,000 Britons
are classified as problem gamblers.
The trend seems set to accelerate. The Governments forthcoming
Gambling Bill is likely to make significant changes in the law to ease
some of the present restrictions, especially on internet online casinos
gambling and prior registration in gambling clubs. Huge consortia,
taking advantage of proposals to allow super-casinos to open in Britain,
are now planning a vast increase in slot-machine outlets, with claimed
payouts of £1 million available on the high street within a decade. The
planned Wembley casino may be just the beginning of a Las Vegas-style
gambling culture across the country in which gamblers flock to regional
complexes from Blackpool to Brighton.
The explosion in gambling follows Gordon Browns decision in 2001 to
replace the betting tax with a gross profits tax on bookmakers, and
comes as Camelot is about to tap into the gaming instinct by launching a
mobile phone lottery. The rise has also been fuelled by the massive
increase in internet and online casinos betting, especially by women,
who now account for 64 per cent of all online gambling. Most forms of
traditional gambling can now take place in cyberspace, as well as bets
on almost every conceivable sport, activity and human endeavour. At
present, punters can use credit cards only at foreign casino websites,
but the new Bill is expected to abolish this restriction. The
extraordinary growth of Britains biggest online casinos site, Betfair,
which began in 2000 and now has a weekly turnover of more than £50
million, is an indication of the demand.
There is nothing wrong with the occasional flutter. Small wagers on
sports events can add to their excitement, and the occasional visit to
grand, if not garish, casinos is not necessarily the beginning of an
inevitable addiction.
Read the
entire article at:
Times Online
2004 Online Casino News Archive
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