New UK online gambling study

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ONLINE GAMBLING STUDY RESULTS RELEASED

More males than females gambling online, and the biggest age group is between 18 and 34.

The UK Gambling Commission has released its latest independent study results, presented by ICM Research. The omnibus study was carried out via a sample of 8 000 adults between June 2007 and March 2008.

Key findings in the study are:

* Over the year to March 2008, 8.8 percent of the 8 000 adults surveyed said they had participated in at least one form of remote gambling in the previous month.

* Those participating in remote gambling remain more likely to be male than female, and are more likely to be aged 18-34.

* If those only playing National Lottery games remotely are excluded, 5.1 percent of respondents had participated in remote gambling.
* Overall, 6.3 percent of respondents said they had gambled remotely on the National Lottery/tickets for the National Lottery draw in the previous month.

* Remote gambling via a computer, laptop or handheld device was the most popular form of remote gambling (7.1 percent of all adult respondents), followed by gambling via mobile phone (2.4 percent) and interactive/digital TV (under 2 percent).

Still on the subject of surveys, the Gambling Commission has also announced that it has commenced planning for the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Study - a key assessment of the UK business carefully analysed by industry practitioners in previous years.

The large-scale, nationally representative survey of participation in gambling and the prevalence of problem gambling in Great Britain will build on the two previous British gambling prevalence surveys carried out in 1999 and 2007.

A Gambling Commission spokesperson said the project will be divided into three phases:

1) pre-fieldwork: working with the survey steering group. The service provider will advise on study methodology and will design the study questionnaire

2) fieldwork: the service provider will carry out the fieldwork, providing detailed reports on progress

3) analysis and reporting: the service provider will provide detailed analysis of the findings, will draft the final report and incorporate peer review recommendations

Commission staffers plan to engage with academics and other interested parties who have expertise in gambling prevalence studies and have issued an open invitation for relevant persons to participate in a discussion on 17 June 2008 in advance of the tendering process.

Interested parties are invited to contact Kati Virtaal Toohill at k.virtaaltoohill@gamblingcommission.gov.uk