Regulator won’t say how many players bet €900 a month with lottery online
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The lottery regulator says it is not allowed to disclose how many online players are betting up to €900 a month on the National Lottery’s app.
he regulator, which has a staff of 10, added that “contractual confidentiality” prevents it from disclosing the number of people seeking to exclude themselves from the National Lottery’s online betting using the “take a break” feature.
It comes amid growing concern that “instant-win” online scratch card games, which are the fastest-growing segment of the lottery’s business here, may contribute to gambling addiction.
The National Lottery, run under State licence by Premier Lotteries Ireland, has 26 separate instant-win games, or virtual scratch cards, priced from €2 to €10 each. Players are allowed to spend up to €75 a day, €300 a week or €900 a month.
“Those online instant-win games can be addictive,” said Tony O’Reilly, an addiction counsellor with Extern Problem Gambling.
A UK parliamentary committee recently described online instant-win games as “harmful” and too close to games promoted by online gambling firms.
“One of the big drivers towards problem gambling is repetitive play because you can chase your losses instantly,” said Norman Foster, chairperson of the UK’s Peers for Gambling Reform group.
Recent accounts from the National Lottery show faster growth for instant games, offline and online, than weekly draws.
There are now 437,000 digital account holders playing lottery games online. In 2020, these account holders spent an average of €310 each a year through the app or on a web browser.
However, it is unclear how many account holders may be identifiable as problem gamblers, potentially spending up to €900 a month.
The online portion of the Lottery’s business in Ireland grew from 9pc to 15pc in 2020 as people increasingly turned to their phones to gamble. The regulator has not yet released figures for last year.
The National Lottery recently added seven new instant-win games, ranging in price from €2 to €10. These include Bank The Cash (€5), High Kings Fortune (€3) and Grid Of Fortune (€10).
While credit cards are prohibited, the lottery allows the use of Revolut cards connected to credit cards.
A recent UK survey of 2,000 third-level students found 80pc of them gamble, with one in three using borrowed money to do so.
The survey, conducted by Gamstop and the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust, found the most common form of gambling for the students was the lottery, followed by online sports and online bingo.
“The National Lottery has among the lowest mandatory limits of lotteries in Europe,” said a lottery spokesperson.
“We have developed a system to monitor player behaviour and facilitate early intervention where risk is identified. The structure of the National Lottery is predicated on many people spending small amounts, and we encourage people to play National Lottery games responsibly and for fun.”
A spokesperson for the regulator, Carol Boate, said the watchdog ws contractually prohibited from discussing data that could indicate problem gambling. “Player protection is a key focus for the regulator across all channels,” she said.
“While the full content of the information shared between the regulator and the operator is confidential under the licence, the regulator assures that player protection is taken very seriously and the regulator has taken enforcement action on a number of occasions.
“Monitoring of the operator’s player protection obligations is specifically resourced, and the office keeps up to date on research into best practices for engaging with those at risk of excessive play.”
