Written and visual media across the UK have been warning us for months that online gambling is contributing to a marked increase in problem gamblers in this country.

Many have gone as far as predicting a four-fold rise from 250,000 problem gamblers in 1999 to 1 million today, adding fuel to the puritanical fire.

Following yesterday’s publication of the results of the latest Gambling Prevalence Study undertaken by the Gambling Commission, we can see that all of the hype and hysteria surrounding online gambling and its supposed dangers is a lot of hot air.

So what do the results actually tell us? Online gambling in all of its forms (sports betting, poker, online casinos, online bingo) has had absolutely no effect on the proportion of problem gamblers in the UK. None. Nil. Nada.

The Gambling Prevalence Study reports that of the 33 million adults in the UK who take part in some form of gambling activity, only 0.6% are said to be problem gamblers, exactly the same proportion reported after the last study in 1999.

So 8 years of a booming Internet gambling industry has had no effect on the numbers of problem gamblers.

This bears out what we have always thought about the nature of gambling addiction, that addicts will be addicts irregardless of the opportunities available to them. If online gambling didn’t exist, they would be gambling elsewhere. 

We must thank our online casino partners for their continued commitment to social responsibility. Their promotion of responsible gambling practises has helped to manage the gambling addiction problem in the UK and we believe has contributed significantly to the results of the Gambling Prevalence Study.

You, the players (99.40% of you!), must also accept a pat on the back for playing responsibly.

Gordon Brown might have been hoping for a hefty negative result from the study that his government commissioned in order to further frighten and mislead the public but it looks like he won’t be able to use the results as ammunition for justifying the shelving of an onland super casino.

Where next? We will continue to inform and educate existing and potential online casino players in the best and most honest way possible. We can now do it with proof that we are not contributing to an increase in gambling addiction.