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The results of a poll by sports betting group OLBG reveal that the majority of UK regular bettors (84,7%) spend less than PS100 a month. However, despite this moderate expenditure, many may be affected by government proposals to introduce affordability checks.
The long-awaited White Paper on Gambling Reform released today by the Secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer stated that “people should have the freedom to spend their money however they wish”, but also added that the Gambling Commission will now consult on the two forms of the ‘financial risks check’.
It is proposed that the first one, aimed at “moderate spending”, be introduced for net losses of PS125 a month or PS500 a year.
Second, the second option, which is aimed at spending levels that are higher and more risky, such as a ‘binge,’ is for losses exceeding PS1,000 within 24 hours, or PS2,000 in 90 days.
YouGov conducted a survey recently of 1,007 players for OLBG and found that the government estimated about 20% of them would be affected by the lower-level checks. This is in line with the findings of the YouGov survey. Richard Moffat said that only 15% of players spent more than PS100 a month on gambling.
“However, we also found that 9,2% of respondents spent between PS51 and 100 per month while 15,3% spent between PS26-50 each month. If the first spends consistently each month and the second is close to the top and spends around the same amount every month, then these players may also exceed the PS500 limit annually and be subject to affordability checks.
If, as was proposed today, this proves frictionless and occurs largely without the customer’s noticing, it should not be a major deterrent for players.
Our survey suggests that players won’t be happy if the checks are more difficult, for example, because they can’t be done without involving the customer, or if the checks on higher spending levels require players to provide more information.
OLBG also asked about players’ willingness to comply to affordability checks. Many gambling operators already ask gamblers to submit documents like payslips and statements of bank accounts to prove that they can afford to gamble.
Even those who spend more money were reluctant to participate in these checks. Fewer than half of players who bet more than PS100 per month were willing to participate.
Many players have reported that they refused to submit to affordability tests and switched operators or stopped betting when asked. Moffat said that there’s a lot of uncertainty about what would happen if licensed operators were required to conduct affordability checks.
The UK Gambling Habits Survey also found that 23,4% of gamblers spend less than PS5 per week, 22,2% of gamblers spend PS6-15 per month and 14,7% PS16-25 per month.
Around three out of ten (30.9%) gamblers reported making a bet once a week. This figure is in line with the latest Gambling Participation Statistics released by the Gambling Commission. The research showed that 31,1% of bettors played once a week during the year ending in December 2022.
The OLBG/YouGov study also revealed that 9% gamblers wager daily, and 17.5% wager once a week.
