According to the study undertaken by the Guardian, more than £13bn has been gambled on speedy, high stake gambling machines by the poorest parts in England, while the amount is doubled in the richest areas of the country. The results of the study are going to be released in the parliament next week.
According to the figures, in the 55 of poorest areas of the country mainly focused in northern cities and urban London there are 2,691 betting shops in the high streets and £13bn was bet on fixed-odds betting terminals. £470m of that lost in 2013. In comparison, there are 1,258 bookmakers in shopping centers in the 115 richest areas where people bet £6.5bn, losing £231m in a year.
The figures of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling showed that bookmakers have aimed toward the poorest parts of the country with the highest unemployment and lowest income rates. The industry rejects this, claiming that shops were built in areas where people are densely concentrated.
In the high streets, the profitability from offering casino games like roulette has increased. The data in December 2013 showed that there are 9,343 active betting shop premise licenses, which, compared to nine month earlier, there is an increase of more than 280 licenses.
According to critics, the gambling machines are very addictive and lead to crime, but the gambling industry rejects this claim. All in all, the report of the Campaign Group suggests that about £2.5bn was bet on machines in the poorest areas, compared with £1.2bn in the richest.
For instance, in Liverpool, the most deprived part, £118m was bet into 570 machines which lead to £636m in bets and the bookmakers taking £23m off people. By comparison, in the least deprived part, Hampshire’s Hart district, there are only seven shops with two dozen machines.