The UK's Camelot lottery group has announced that they've stopped selling £10 scratch cards from retail stores given concerns that they can encourage gambling addiction.
The operator has instructed their partner stores to pull the cards from circulation, leaving £5 cards as the highest stakes that players can get their hands on. The decision to pull the cards came after research showed that £10 cards were the most popular for problem gamblers. Camelot claims that addiction rates are low for lottery products, but that "player protection has always underpinned the way we run the National Lottery."
Gaming regulator the UK Gambling Commission may have been involved in the decision to pull the game, as they say that they have evidence that £10 scratch cards aren't consistent with it being a legitimate leisure activity, given the higher number of addiction tied to them.
Scratch cards are big business in the UK, as Camelot reported that the games generated £3.12 billion in sales in the past year.
No comment from Camelot was available as of press time.
Comments
£10 is nothing. I saw at the store today that there's $30 cards on offer here and I swear I've seen higher.
sharpe
I wonder what % of sales the £10 scratch cards make up of the £3.12 billion, call me cynical but I'll bet that it's only a small proportion.
It looks like the most costly card is AUD$20 here in Australia - the top payout on this particular game is $1M. I'm not a fan of scratchies....I hate that even if someone wins the major prize from the first ticket off the roll, they continue to sell the tickets. I'm sure the operators are obligated to advertise the win but it's not like you look up whether that particular game's major prize has been won before you buy the ticket.
I think the most I've ever won from a scratchie is $5. And usually I use the funds to buy another scratchie so effectively I give the winnings straight back to them anyway!
sharpe
I've won some nice prizes from time to time, but nothing more than $100. I also only buy tickets extremely rarely, with most tickets coming from my grandma (who insists on buying us scratch cards for our birthdays).
sharpe
😂How true, the only time I get them is as a Christmas present from the older folks!
sharpe
These are very popular here as well, I think there's a 25Eu scratchcards at most...that should be like the most stupid way of gambling ever...I know a people who even didn't buy a lottery ticket in their life time buying those...crap.
CL - klaw