According to statistics collected by the Gambling Commission during the pandemic, when online slots play rose, the average spend per player was £67 a month, compared with £36 for other casino products and £45 for real event betting. Slot machine players typically lose more than punters who use other products. The majority came from losses on digital slot machine games, the revenues of which have more than doubled since 2016 to reach a record £3.2bn, accounting for nearly 30% of all non-Lottery income, up from 23% pre-pandemic. It has now exceeded that total, reaching £4.03bn. Revenue from online casino products, which which are associated with higher rates of problem gambling than sports betting, according to a 2018 NHS survey, reached a high of £4.01bn in the Covid-affected year to the end of March 2021. In that period many punters switched from betting on sports to online casino games, and the figures indicate the trend has stuck. The record high returns mark a bounceback for an industry that suffered a £1.5bn hit in the year most affected by Covid-19, due to the cancellation of sporting events and the enforced closure of betting shops.

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