GAMBLING IN BRITAIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1938, Page 2

GAMBLING IN BRITAIN

ANNUAL BETTING BILL ABOUT £500,000,000. Agitation for Government control of the £40,000,000 a year football pools is growing in England. There are some who would like to see the pools suppressed altogether, while others point out that they account for only a small part of the country’s annual betting bill, recently estimated ■at £500,000,000, according to a survey by the Christian Social Council. Out of this at least £350,000,000 would be expended on horse racing. The wagers range from the ordinary man’s “bob each way” to the stakes of £lOOO and upwards which professional backers risk in support of a “good thing.” Add the bets laid at race courses, the thousands of private sweepstakes held in connection with every big race, and the money invested in the tote, and the total is not as fantastic as it might seem. Every year the spring double, the Derby and the Ascot meeting, alone account for millions of pounds each. More than 15,000,000 people now attend dog races every year, and the total is still growing. Most of them go to bet, and though it would be impossible to give an exact figure there is no doubt that the betting total exceeds £50.000,000 a year. It is, in fact, impossible to stop the average Briton from having his gamble, and restrictions in one direction only have the effect of making people seek new outlets in their determination to have a bet.