60% of gambling addiction sufferers are 'encouraged by fixed-odds betting terminals'

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Home » News » Gambling » 60% of gambling addiction sufferers are 'encouraged by fixed-odds betting terminals'

by Change | 9 Feb 2009

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New statistics show fixed-odds betting terminals are frequently indicated as exacerbating problem gambling.

Fixed-odds betting terminals have been implicated in three fifths of all gambling addiction cases admitted to the NHS' first rehab clinic specialising in betting dependency, new statistics show.

An internal audit carried out by the National Problem gambling clinic found 60 out of the 100 patients who have attended the centre have admitted being encouraged by machines of this type, the Times reports.

It states the government has tried to restrict the negative effects of this form of gambling by installing a maximum jackpot of £500 and limiting the number of devices premises can hold.

Henrietta Bowden-Jones, consultant psychiatrist and founder of the rehab clinic, claims a large number of people begin the habit by betting on dogs and horses before moving onto fixed-odd betting terminals.

"It's the immediacy of the gratification, the cycle of excitement. It is the way the machine taps into the reward pathways of the brain. Games like roulette are what people are becoming really addicted to," she claims.

Earlier this year, the government unveiled plans to place a statutory levy on gambling operators in order to fund rehab clinics, helplines and research into betting dependency.

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