The UK's Responsible Gambling Trust has published independently conducted research into gaming machines in licensed betting offices that it claims shows that it is possible to distinguish between problem and non-problem gambling behaviour.
"This research speaks for itself,” said Marc Etches, chief executive of the RGT (pictured). “The government, the gambling regulator and the industry all asked us to provide wholly independent research using industry-held data to help inform policy decisions and we have delivered a ground-breaking set of papers in just 10 months.
“When we started this programme there was no credible research into gaming machines in licensed betting offices. Our understanding of these machines and the way people use them is now greatly enhanced.”
In one of the reports, titled Patterns of Play, authors Heather Wardle, Eleanor Ireland, David Excell and Daniel Gonzalez-Ordonez reviewed data from the UK’s five main bookmakers, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, BetFred and Paddy Power.
The data analysed was from September 2013 to June 2014 and related to 8,297 betting shops, 32,650 machines, and 6.7 billion individual bets. The average stake per bet on these machines – both category B2 and B3 – was £5.13. However, when looking at B2 games, which have the highest stakes and prizes, the average stake was £14.08 per bet.
Out of all 178 million sessions, there was one session where £13,532.20 was won over 3.5 hours. However, there was also a session where £13,776.80 was lost over a period of 7.5 hours.
Stake size was found to be lower in more deprived areas and the size of stake varied by time of day and was over £10 per bet on average for those playing after 10pm. Looking at B2 games only, three per cent of sessions (5.4 million) involved betting at the maximum £100 stake – this rose to six per cent after 10pm.
Between 70-80 per cent of sessions resulted in an overall loss to the gambler, with an average loss of £7 per session.
However, net expenditure varied depending on the type of game played, with those playing B2 games only losing an average of £6; for those playing both B2 and B3 games (£2 stake) within a session, it was £14. This, the authors said, was likely due to the lower return to player rates on B3 games.
B2 games were found to be the most popular, with 73 per cent of all bets placed on such machines, with roulette the most popular type of game.
The authors of the report suggested that gamblers who play both B2 and B3 games in the same gambling session are a group that warrants further attention, while the variation in playing patterns across the country was also given as an example of an area in need of further research.
In separate reports written by Excell, Wardle and Georgiy Bobashev, it was suggested that the behaviours of problem and non-problem gamblers overlap. The “perfect prediction” of problem gambling was deemed impossible, although problematic behaviours can be distinguished.
Evidence from the study showed that focusing on one element of gambling alone – such as the reduction of stake size – will not provide a better prediction of problem gambling or decrease the rates of gambling harm, it was claimed.
“Problem gambling is complex and all interventions must be evaluated and tested for efficacy.”
The findings of the research was immediately seized upon by critics of category B2 fixed odds betting terminals, who argued that it does little to address the issue of problem gambling.
Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, who, along with the leaders of 92 other councils, called upon the government to cut FOBT stakes, described the findings as a “half-hearted and woefully inadequate” attempt to provide information on the issue.
Arguing that it makes no “concrete recommendations,” he said the report serves only to “block any move that would hit the bookies where it hurts, on their bottom line.”
Click here to read summaries of the reports.
