According to new statistics from the Gambling Commission, industry data covering around 80 per cent of the UK’s online gambling market illustrates that there were at least 4.1 million active players on slots in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 3.8 million in the first quarter.

Real event betting for the same periods suggest 5.3 million players – a static number – while virtual betting is slowing and so is poker.

The number of bets on slots reached 6.9 billion, compared with 6.4 billion, and the slots session lengths fell slightly. Gross gambling yield on slots in the period was £190.4m, up from £181.9m.