For them, scratching, checking or betting is no longer fun! France has 1.37 million “problematic” gamers who engage in Lotto, Cash tickets, online sports betting and at retailers, horse racing or penguin bandits more than they should. They alone generate no less than 40% of the gambling industry's turnover.
While they represented 4.6% of all players in 2014, these chance aficionados constitute five years later 6% of the clientele. A disturbing progression unveiled on Tuesday by the barometer of Public Health France 2019 whose results were decrypted by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction, with the Games Observatory, three public bodies at work.
This increase comes at a time when during the same period, the total number of players has decreased: in 2019, 47.2% of 18-75 year-olds declared having tried at least once their chance during the past year against 57.2 % in 2014. Fewer, the number pros now have more "intensive" playing behaviors.
This vast survey distinguishes, among problem gamblers, those who are “at moderate risk” (1 million people) and those who are “excessive” (370,000 individuals). “The former spend more than their means allow, they are starting to no longer be in a playful approach. The latter are addicted. They have lost control of their game and are in denial. They then need support, help, treatment ”, decrypts Jean-Michel Costes, secretary general of the Games Observatory.
Compared to other players, these buyers are more masculine, younger, more precarious and less active. One player in ten aged between 18 and 24 is for example at “moderate risk” or “excessive”.
For Jean-Pierre Martignoni, sociologist specializing in gambling at Lyon-II University, the rise in intensive gambling marks "the failure of the responsible gaming policy". "There is a double language on the part of operators who, on the one hand, increase their offer and launch hard-hitting advertising campaigns in order to exploit the goose that lays the golden eggs to the maximum and, on the other, insist on responsible gaming. It is an ambiguity that also exists in the dealer state, ”he tackles.
Sports bets, the most at risk
According to the study, lottery games (drawing and scratching) "are those for which the share of problematic practices is the lowest on an individual level, but, given their dissemination to a large population, they generate a large part of the damage caused ”.
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About half of all the “damage” caused by gambling is thus attributable to them. On the individual level, on the other hand, it is sports betting that can most lead to excess. The share of moderate risk players is three times higher than that of lottery games and that of excessive players six times higher.
Sports betting arrogates up to a quarter of problematic gambling behavior while it is only practiced by one in ten players. A dependence on the famous grids 1, N or 2 is now the first reason for calling for help within SOS Joueurs.
“Sports betting players think they are experts. Even if the gain they covet is not realized, they start again because they feel they know football well. It is the same mode of reasoning as for turf, that of knowledge and expertise ”, notes psychologist Armelle Achour, director of the association.
"Putting the package on moderate risk players"
According to her, it is necessary to "regulate" advertising in this area, in particular that of online operators, and "perhaps even prohibit it". "There is no reason why gambling should be considered less harmful than alcohol and tobacco," she said. It also recommends awareness-raising campaigns aimed at sporting adults and their children who are sometimes tempted to bet together. "It is a stupidity not to commit," warns the specialist.
Jean-Michel Costes, at the helm of the Games Observatory, focuses on prevention for all games combined. “This is where public policies are most effective. We must put the package on players at moderate risk before they switch to excessive players. Because once the addiction is installed, it's much more difficult to deal with, ”he warns.
He also believes in the virtues of "early detection" which would allow, provided that operators play the game, to detect wagers whose expenses are high in order to "give them advice so as not to lose control".
For its part, La Française des jeux (FDJ) recalls that it offers prevention services. “For example, the Playscan tool assesses and informs online players about the risk level of their practices. This system has no equivalent in France on the online sports betting market, ”insists the FDJ. "In addition, several game moderators also help players remain vigilant and control their playing behavior," said the company.
A new "policeman" to fight addiction
The alarming figures on problem gambling are timely for the National Gaming Authority (ANJ) which was set up a week ago and which has made the prevention of excessive gambling one of its priorities. Until now, only online games were under the control of an independent authority called Arjel (Regulatory Authority for Online Games).
The new gendarme of the games, whose creation had been acted within the framework of the privatization of the French games, at the end of 2019, takes again the prerogatives of Arjel by widening them to horse races, scratch games and drawing as well as sport bets. With 55 employees, headed by Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, ex-president of the National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties (Cnil), this structure will regulate 78% of the gambling industry, an additional market 50 billion euros in stakes, excluding slot machines from casinos which remain under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior.
The objective is to develop "reference frames", the first of which, scheduled for September, will concern addiction. Other challenges to be met: ensuring the protection of minors, in particular in the popular segment of online games, and combating money laundering.
