Psychologist warns betting terminal psychologists about addictive smartphone gaming applications

Smartphone gaming applications could be even more addictive than controversial "crack cocaine" casino betting terminals at bookmakers, a psychologist warned.

A study reveals that players who use their phone to bet are willing to continue losing money long after stopping to win.

In the worst case, a person placed around 180 losing bets before stopping.

The Daily Mail has launched a campaign to reduce the £ 100 limit that can be imposed at each turn on casino-type fixed-odds betting terminals, which some critics consider "crack cocaine" because they create an addiction.

A study reveals that players who use their phone to bet are willing to continue losing money long after stopping to win

But Professor Richard Tunney, who led the study on gambling applications, said mobile games were falling "under the radar" because people are already conditioned to stay constantly on their radar. phones.

The professor, head of psychology at Aston University in Birmingham, said: "Policy makers have severely cracked down on fixed-chance terminals because they are now badociated with problem gamblers. But in reality, we have been overwhelmed by technology because it is now possible for people to play pretty much anywhere, anytime on their smartphone.

"For people who are psychologically inclined to be addictive, this means that there is only one outlet left for that. So while these games may seem non-threatening, they are potentially more dangerous precisely because they are ubiquitous.

The study asked people to use an application displaying a virtual scratch card and sweeping a gray rectangle, revealing three symbols. As on a fruit machine, three matching symbols have earned them a prize. These gains have increased, with a person earning £ 93 in total.

To test how addictive the game was, the researchers prevented him from paying six weeks after the start of the experiment, so the players could only lose. But the 28 people in the study continued to play for days, with one person placing 177 lost bets in a row. The average number of consecutive losing bets before giving up was 40.

In the worst case, a person placed around 180 losing bets before stopping (picture in stock)

The study found that people bet again faster after a "near miss", ie two identical symbols.

Professor Tunney said, "What worries me is that we have focused on fixed odds betting terminals, which affect a relatively small number of people, and that, at the same time, this technology is improving. is spread under the radar.

"We know that people pick up their phone several times, for example when they are waiting for a bus or the kettle is boiling. This could normalize someone who takes his phone to put a lot of bets a day. From a legislative point of view, there are virtually no restrictions regarding smartphone games. & # 39;

The 12-week study, published in the journal European Addiction Research, gave subjects a limit of 100 bets a day. Throughout the group, when people lost, they were much less likely to stop playing before that time.

The people in the study used the application at home, at work and, less often, in social situations.

The study concluded: "While it has been shown that the primary risk of gambling on the Internet is for people already dependent on gambling, the behavioral profile of mobile gambling suggests a risk for a larger proportion of gambling." population".