The British responsible gambling charity, GamCare, have reported a 25 percent annual increase in the number of calls to its helpline in 2007.  There were around 30,000 calls to the charity in 2006, and in 2007 the figure had risen to 37,806.  They say the rise is partly due to increased advertising of their service in betting shops, casinos, gaming machines and online gaming websites.

GamCare have stated that around 60 percent of callers to the helpline have told them that they owe between £6,000 and £50,000 in gambling debts.  The figures show that the average debt of callers has increased by £4,000 to £17,500.

However, there are no statistics yet to show that the number of problem gamblers has increased in the UK in the past twelve months.  Last year’s UK Gambling Prevalence Study found that the widespread growth of online gaming had led to no increase in the numbers of problem gamblers.  The survey published in September 2007, showed that around 0.6 percent of the UK’s population were problem gamblers which is a lower percentage than in the USA and Australia. Although, it did indicate that an extra 665,000 people were at moderate risk of developing problem gambling behaviour.  A further 2.5 million gamblers were also at some risk of developing the bad habit.

Problem gambling is defined as having the urge to gamble despite it having harmful affects such as getting you into heavy debt, losing a relationship or your job etc. 

If GamCare’s figures show that a bigger percentage of problem gamblers are seeking help to try to deal with their problem due to a good marketing campaign by the charity then that can only be a good thing.  However, if the figures are a sign that problem gambling is increasing overall then action must be taken to deal with it. 

Print version