Half online profits ‘are from vulnerable punters’

MORE than half of online profits by betting firms come from at-risk and problem gamblers, a study shows.

Vulnerable punters bet more than £2.3billion on gambling sites last year in an industry ‘addicted to addiction’.

The report, by think tank ResPublica, warned internet betting remained a ‘Wild West’ which acted like an ‘enormous unregulated cybercasino’.

It called on the Government to do more to tackle Britain’s online gambling epidemic, claiming the current regulation is failing and needs overhauling. It said 58 per cent of online gambling industry profits came from low or moderate-risk gamblers or problem gamblers.

Gambling operators yielded £4.7billion from online betting from April 2016 to March 2017.

Ministers announced plans this year to cut the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 after a Daily Mail campaign.

Phillip Blond, director of ResPublica and one of the authors, said: ‘Similar Government action should be taken in the online world as has been taken in the bricks and mortar world.’

A Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: ‘As well as reducing the maximum FOBT stake to £2, we have set out a package of measures in our Gambling Review to increase protections around online gambling...’

ResPublica’s report backed reforms that would allow consumers join up to bring legal cases against firms that broke the rules.