The Real Cost of Gambling in the UK

Gambling is a favourite pastime of many here in the UK, and it is no secret that some people are willing to give up everything they own in order to try their hand at the next slot or blackjack game. However, it is important to note that not everyone who gambles is like this. 

New iGaming statistics reveals that 71% of the UK believe that spending over £50 on gambling per week is ‘too much’, suggesting that the overwhelming majority of people understand that gambing tends to become an issue the more that a player spends. 

There are a ton of other interesting statistics like this that can give us a pretty good idea of how the UK views gambling, and in reality, the real cost of gambling becomes relatively easy to see once you are in possession of a few vital pieces of knowledge and some hard facts. Let’s jump straight into it and talk about the real cost of gambling in the UK.

 

 

How Much Is Too Much?

As we have previously disclosed, the vast majority of people agree that spending over £50 a week on gambling is too much. Whilst this figure may seem pretty reasonable at first, upon closer inspection, this is still somewhat high for most people. 

In a world where a sizable portion of the population are struggling to make ends meat, spending £50 on an unnecessary hobby that bears no fruit may not be the most intelligent decision, and the best course of action would be to avoid it entirely if you do not have the excess revenue to spend in the first place.

Of course, this does not apply if you go for free alternatives, and the number of benefits to playing free slots are too numerous to count. However, for the vast majority of people, spending up to £50 on gambling is just going to be too much, and it is likely that people who choose to do this are potentially hindering themselves financially. 

The Bigger Picture

Now that we have talked about the cost of gambling on an individual level, we can now take a look at how gambling affects the UK as a whole. The UK’s gambling expenditure has been documented quite well, and we know that billions of pounds are exchanged every year just in the gambling industry alone.

This is not a bad thing. In fact, the UK made £6.9 billion from the gambling industry between April 2020 and March 2021, and as you would expect, this contribution has likely helped out our nation in a myriad of different ways. 

That’s not to say gambling is good, and on an individual level, it is always going to be somewhat of a questionable hobby, especially if taken to the extreme. However, in the grand scheme of things, the gambling industry contributes to society just as much as any other sector, and the income it brings in has undoubtedly helped out the UK astronomically. 

So, were you surprised to find out just how monumental of an effect gambling has on the UK? If so, you will certainly not be in the minority. Gambling is an incredibly unique sector that has a ton of interesting effects on countries/nations, and knowledge surrounding this subject appears to be incredibly sparse.

If you choose to get into gambling yourself, always make sure that you air on the side of caution, and if you do this, you are unlikely to ever run into any problems.

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