Section 1: Trends in Gambling Around the World -- Developments in Commercial Gambling in Great Britain (From Gambling in Canada: Golden Goose or Trojan Horse?, P 27-49, 1989, Colin S. Campbell and John Lowman, eds. -- See NCJ-126295)

• NCJ Number: 126297
• Author(s): D Miers
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: Simon Fraser University
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This paper reviews trends in commercial gambling in Great Britain by reviewing its five principal forms: casinos, bingo, lotteries, betting, and gaming machines. Current proposals to both expand the range and to restrict the impact of commercial gambling are discussed.

Abstract

Casino gambling in Great Britain is restricted to establishments which have satisfied the Gaming Board that they will comply with existing legal requirements and have satisfied local licensing requirements. As a result, casinos over the past ten years have been characterized by stability, in contrast to the period in the 1970s marked by scandals involving poaching valued players and exploitation of vague regulations concerning dishonored checks. Bingo in Great Britain consists of prize bingo, played mainly in resorts and subject to local licensing authorities, and a cash bingo, which is subject to the same regulatory regime as casino gaming. The lotteries legally available in Great Britain can generally be classified according to whether they are promoted solely within a group of consumers defined by some common factor or within a group of consumers (which may include members of the public) who are participating in an exempt entertainment. Betting takes on two forms in Great Britain. The first is betting at fixed odds, which principally concerns horse racing and, to a degree, greyhound racing. Pool betting, which is totally supplied by registered pool promoters, is mainly represented by the football pools. The Gaming Act of 1968 regulates all aspects of gaming machines; there are two basic regimes which control machines offering small prizes, known as amusement-with-prizes machines, and those called jackpot machines, offering much larger prizes. The arguments against commercial gambling focus on the impact of gaming on young children and other social effects including encouragement of deviant practices, an undesirable spiritual impact, and support of an unhealthy attitude toward work. However, the general public perception of gambling is of a benign impact upon personal behavior; there are periodic movements to establish national lotteries to fund worthy and charitable causes. 27 references