GAMBLING IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27583, 14 February 1955, Page 3

GAMBLING IN BRITAIN

Betting On Racing Decreases FIGURE FOR FOOTBALL POOLS UP (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, February 11. Gambling on horse racing remains the favourite form of betting- in Britain, with greyhound racing next, followed by football pools. But while there was a decrease in betting on horses and dogs last year, there was a further increase in punting on football pools. These facts are contained in the annual review of the Churches’ Committee on Gambling. It says that there was a drop of £52,000,000 on the total gambling in 1954—from £602,000,000 to £550,000,000. Mcmey gambled on horse racing fell to X 350,000,000 from £500,000,000, and on greyhound racing to £120,000,000 from £125,000,000. The turnover on football pools rose to £74,000,000 from £70,000,000. Money spent on ‘‘other forms” of gambling, such as fun fairs, fell from £7,000,000 to £6,000,000. The Rev. J. Clark Gibson, general secretary of the committee commenting on the figures, says that the increase in the receipts of football pools represents a rise of 6.2 per cent. “The landslide of recent years thus threatens to become an avalanche.” Two factors might be noted, he said. The first was the monopoly threat. Whereas in 1948 a total of 306 pools promoters were paying duty under the new tax, in 1954 the number was mainly restricted to some of 10 large organisations. Of the total business 83 per cent, was in the hands of three firms. “On the other hand the pools punters are blissfully unaffected by the fact that 50 per cent, of their stakes are taken in tax, expenses and promoters’ fees before any prizes are doled out,” he said. Decrease of £874,454 Horse racing totalisator receipts for the year were £240,882,498, a decrease of £874,454 on the previous year. The 1954 totals were below the average totalisator receipts, which for the last six years have been approximately £25,500,000. Adverse weather and fewer race meetings might account for most of the decrease. A steady decrease in the amount of individual stakes also continued to reflect the general financial stringency. There was a small decrease of £365,000 in the greyhound racing totalisator receipts. But this might be accounted for partly by the weather and partly by the continued diversion of stake money to bookmakers. The recent one-day stoppage of the London newspapers provided striking evidence of this drift of money from the track. Unable to obtain the details of the runners and forecasts from the papfers, stay-at-home punters were forced to attend the tracks, and there was a sharp upward trend both in admissions and in the totalisator turnover. Allowing for these two factors, the drop of the last eight years might now be levelling off. The review says that the turnover of the Irish Sweepstakes was £9,639,696, compared with £8,619,633 in the previous year.