§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition his Department applies to hard and soft gambling; and if his Department defines slot machines as a form of hard gambling. [35765]
§ Mr. George HowarthWe regard as hard gambling those forms likely to cause problem gambling among customers—for example, because of high frequency combined with high staking.
We regard as soft gambling low stake, long odds forms where it is very difficult to chase losses.
There are various types of gaming machines. How hard and how soft they are depends on their stake limits, prize levels and, to some extent, their locations and numbers.