{"id":142323,"date":"2020-07-20T16:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T23:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=142323"},"modified":"2020-07-21T12:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T19:54:49","slug":"uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Gambling Charity Sees Scary Problem-Gambling Spike from 30 to 1,000 Per Month in Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

A UK gambling charity has reported that the number of people seeking help for a problem gambling jumped from around 30 per month to 1,000 per month during the lockdown.<\/p>\n

\"UK
\u201cStay home, stay safe\u201d was the message, but for a small but apparently increasing percentage of the UK population, lockdown at home presented pitfalls. (Image: Sky News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The extraordinary claim comes from the Gordon Moody Association (GMA) — one of the oldest gambling charities in the country. The organization also noted that the number of women and young people seeking treatment or advice had increased significantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did feel that we were likely to experience a major storm because of the coronavirus crisis, and now we think that the reality is that these figures may yet be the first signs of the storm,\u201d<\/strong> the charity\u2019s chief executive, Matthew Hickey, told The Guardian.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019re moving into the second quarter of 2020, we\u2019re definitely seeing an upsurge in numbers,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Startling Numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Factors like financial distress, isolation, and boredom — all symptoms of lockdown — are known triggers of addiction. Meanwhile, the widespread cancellation of sports led to fears that sports bettors would gravitate to supposedly riskier online casino games.<\/p>\n

But the numbers cited by the GMA are surprising.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s biggest gambling charity, GamCare, which runs the National Gambling Helpline, has not released figures for comparison. In mid-April, it told The Financial Times<\/em> it had actually seen a drop-off in callers to the helpline.<\/p>\n

\n

But Gamcare also said it had received a worrying amount of calls from people trying to remove themselves from self-exclusion programs. GamCare chief executive Anna Hemmings told the FT<\/em> at the time she was worried lockdown had \u201c<\/em>created a situation where those people may feel they can\u2019t get help confidentially\u201d at a time when they were at their most vulnerable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In late April, a poll by Surveytion<\/a> suggested that Brits, in general, were gambling less during the lockdown. But, perhaps significantly, 38 percent of those who classed themselves as \u201cregular gamblers\u201d said they were gambling more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Online Casino Uptick<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UK betting industry has largely reported that revenues were down overall during the coronavirus pandemic, but online casino games and poker increased.<\/p>\n

Concerns about an explosion of problem gambling led to politicians calling for a cap in daily online spending of \u00a350 ($63) during the crisis, mirroring measures that were taken in some European countries, such as Portugal, Belgium, and even lockdown-averse Sweden.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t happen, but long-planned measures to ban credit cards<\/a> for gambling deposits came into force in April.<\/p>\n

The UK embarked on a phased emergence from its lockdown from the beginning of June, although casinos and nightclubs remain closed.<\/p>\n

Having seen the highest amount of deaths from coronavirus in Europe — and currently, the third-highest in the world — the incidences of the disease are now low in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A UK gambling charity has reported that the number of people seeking help for a problem gambling jumped from around 30 per month to 1,000 per month during the lockdown. The extraordinary claim comes from the Gordon Moody Association (GMA) — one of the oldest gambling charities in the country. The organization also noted that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":142325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,18943],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Gambling Charity Sees Scary Locdown Problem-Gambling Spike<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UK credit card gambling ban extends to all forms of gambling other than lotteries. 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Reports of self-excluded gamblers looking for way back in.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-20T23:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T19:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lockdown.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1191\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"659\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/\",\"name\":\"UK Gambling Charity Sees Scary Locdown Problem-Gambling Spike\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-gambling-charity-sees-scary-locdown-problem-gambling-spike\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lockdown.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-20T23:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-21T19:54:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"UK credit card gambling ban extends to all forms of gambling other than lotteries. 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