A new report by the UK Gambling Commission that was released recently showed that over two-thirds of all the adults in Scotland gambled last year. That means regarding percentage, over 68% of all Scots did place bets in 2016. This figure is more than ten times bigger than of Britain’s largest city London that has 52% of its adult to have ever engaged in some form of gambling in the past 12 months. Overall, the nationwide percentage of adults that placed different bets in 2016 was 63%. It was also revealed that in Dumbarton Road that is located I, Glasgow, there are 14 betting shops. This is the busiest street in the whole of the UK regarding gambling.
Scotland Is The Gambling Capital Of The United Kingdom?
Although this shows how the country has grown concerning gambling international gaming numbers indicate that Australia still leads with a bigger margin. The survey that involved some 4, 000 adults revealed a lot of things. Among them was that Scotland has the highest level of online sports wagering participation, at almost 10 percent of the entire population.
The number is 3 percent more than Britain’s 7 percent. Scots adults were also found to be on the top on fixed-odds betting terminus (FOBTs) engagement. In fact, on FOBTs, over 5% of all adults interviewed acknowledged having engaged in the controversial machines that are installed in the high-street betting shops across the UK compared to 3% nationally.
Rough Days Ahead
Even as the UK Gambling Commission commends Scotland casinos for their ‘lofty’ contribution to the national kitty, rough and tough days are looming. In just a fortnight or so to come, the UK government is scheduled to release a long-awaited report on the review that was looking into more FOBTs regulation.
Various gaming stakeholders are expecting that the government may impose stiff regulations that are likely to lower some daily stakes. In current standings, a wager can place up to $133 ever 20 seconds, what has given many British bookmakers a mark higher.
However, with new regulations about to be announced, bookies are apprehensive that quite some people who depend on the British lucrative gaming sector are bound to lose their jobs. Besides, bookmakers warn that if indeed such regulations will be affected, many of the high-street shops will be shut down forcing owners to look for alternative ways of getting daily bread.
It should be remembered that in August, the UKGC released a report in which it said that problem gambling rates that for a long time since 1999 had remained static had started to show a sudden increase in 2012. In fact, the reports pointed out that there was a steady growth in problem gambling by 0.2% to 0.8% between 2012 and now.
But because the increase in percentage falls within the margin of error, UKGC did not claim that there was indeed any fear o problem gambling. Instead, the report concluded that problem gambling in the UK is ‘statistically stable.’
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