Gambling products concentrated in Britain's most deprived areas

The Patterns of Play study, carried out by researchers from NatCen, also found online bettors with the largest losses over the year were disproportionately likely to be male with their average age being around 40.

As with betting, the online gaming sector had a heavy dependence on a “vital few” customers. The “top-20%” of customers by volume generated more than 90% of revenue. 

And, while online betting is more popular than online gaming among the British population, spending levels per customer tend to be much higher in gaming. 

Similar to online betting, less than a quarter of casino and poker customers were women. However, in slots, the proportion of females was somewhat higher - about one-third - and women made up 62% of those who took part in online bingo. 

When it comes to where most of the business occurs, a significant majority of the business takes place in some of Britain’s most deprived areas. 

For example, 21.9% of those with a loss of £2,000 or more were from 20% of the most deprived areas, with about half of those losing more than £2,000 incurring the bulk of their losses from “sporting betting” and about one-quarter from “race betting”. 

Overall, across gaming, 20% of the most deprived areas provided 29.2% of players and 25.2% of operator gross gambling yield (GGY) - whereas 20% of the least deprived areas provided 12.9% of players and 15% of GGY. 

Dual customers were particularly profitable for operators. For example, the researchers estimate that per-account GGY during the one-year data period was £601.93 for dual customers when compared with £296.20 for gaming-only and £134.98 for betting-only. 

The “top 10%” of gamblers defined by volume delivered 79% of operator revenue. The qualification for entering the 10% - £4,568 staked - roughly corresponds to an expected one-year loss where the risk of problem gambling begins to increase. 

Deposit limits were used for more account holders than other self-management tools, with 21.5% setting a limit during the year that was studied. 

In addition to this - over the period studied, 3.9% of account-holders received a social responsibility contact - usually in the form of an email. Just 0.13% were contacted, despite the fact that telephone interventions were typically followed by a substantial moderation of gambling activity. 

Commenting on the findings, GambleAware’s chief executive Zoe Osmond said: “This research adds to the growing body of evidence showing that harms from gambling are falling disproportionately on the most deprived communities. 

“The current cost of living crisis along with the economic fallout of the pandemic can only exacerbate this further - which underscores the need for concerted system-wide action to prevent gambling harms.

“We welcome the findings and recommendations for future public health campaigns, as we work to break down the barriers that those suffering from gambling harm face when accessing treatment and support.”