The coronavirus lockdown means, for a lot of people, more spare time. This means gambling addicts are at greater risk of losing money, because they can spend more time at home gambling; often alone.
Most gamblers bet online. Even though sports are cancelled, there are still casino games to gamble on.
GamCare has noted that more people are attempting to remove themselves from schemes that stop online gambling. At the very earliest, there will be no horse racing until the end of April, and there has been no date given for the start of Football again. Certain German teams have began training again.
“It is too early to see if problem gambling is on the rise,” said GamCare chief executive Anna Hemmings.
“What we do know is that contributing factors to the addiction, such as financial distress, isolation and boredom, are increasing with Covid-19 and the Government measures.”
The main concerns are that people are confined to their own homes, meaning there is no real “escape” from devices that enable gambling; its not like addicts can go to a friends house or to the gym.
“One of the things that is coming through as a concern for people is that there are other people in their household and it is much more difficult to have confidential conversations at the moment,” Hemmings told BBC Sport.
“One of the things we would emphasise is that we are available 24/7 and also we have live chat facility and online treatment.”
