More casios, unlimited jackpots, casino advertising for the first time - long awaited proposals mark a complete overhaul of the gambling industry. Nick Morrison looks at why we love a flutter - and whether we could become a nation of gambling addicts.

For Michael, there are barely enough outlets to keep up with his addiction to gambling. There are the online bookmakers and casinos, there's the stock exchange and the property market. He's even taken to flying to Las Vegas just so he can play backgammon.

"My life is controlled totally by gambling. I cannot have my lunch without attempting to extract money from work colleagues on a backgammon table. I have taught workmates to play bridge in order to expand my gambling opportunities," he says.

"My latest thinking is to devote any spare time to playing poker online. My head is reeling with control methods, strategies and percentages."

Michael's is one of the many testimonies recorded by Gamblers Anonymous. Those whose lives have been taken over by either their or their partner's addiction to gambling. From slot machines and bookmakers, to the roulette wheel and the blackjack table, each has its own power to snare the unwary and the vulnerable.

Now the Government is proposing to relax the gambling laws. Casinos will be open 24 hours a day, and customers will no longer have to join 24 hours in advance. Limits on the number of new casinos will be removed, and casinos will be allowed to advertise for the first time. Restrictions on jackpots will be lifted, and "super" casinos will be allowed to have up to 1,250 slot machines.

It is all a far cry from the British approach to gambling a little over 50 years ago. Before the 1961 Betting and Gaming Act, off-course bets and casinos were illegal, but once the regulations were relaxed, bookmakers opened at the rate of more than 100 a week, and within five years the country boasted 1,000 casinos.

But still gambling was considered an unsavoury vice. It is less than ten years since bookmakers were required to obscure their windows and the size of shop television sets was restricted, and it was only in 1997 that bookmakers were allowed to advertise their location in newspapers and phone books.

THE Government's proposals, which ministers want to push through before the next General Election, have abandoned this coy approach. And while it may not mean there are more gambling addicts, it is likely to mean more people will have a flutter, according to Dr George Erdos, senior lecturer in psychology at Newcastle University.

"Will it make it easier for gamblers to lose money? The answer to that is yes. If there are more outlets, and each of them are vying for business with advertising, then those who are already inclined to gamble will do so.

"But opening up additional casinos by itself, unless it is in areas where there isn't already one, is probably not going to have as big an impact as some people think," he says.

The number of alternatives to casinos - from online betting to slot machines in cafes - means that those who want to gamble can do so already. But the danger is that the increased advertising and visibility will make casinos more attractive to those previously less inclined to gamble.

If casinos open in areas where there was not one already, it makes access easier. And if visibility increases, so does temptation.

The desire to gamble comes from what psychologists know as intermittent reinforcement. If you play roulette ten times, you may lose nine of those times, but the one time you win reinforces your belief that you will win.

And even if you don't win, seeing someone else win has a similar effect. When the slot machines in Las Vegas make a big pay-out, it is accompanied by much noise and flashing of lights, reinforcing your belief that it could be you next. When somebody wins the jackpot on the Lottery, it makes you feel you too could win.

"If you constantly lose, sooner or later you either get fed up or you lose all your money. The reason why gamblers keep going back is occasionally they win," says Dr Erdos.

"They say 'Today I had a lucky streak, and maybe if it continues I can make enough money to walk away'. But they go back and end up losing all they have won and some extra."

Nick Malone, chief executive of Bannatyne's Casinos, which opens its first casino on Newcastle's Quayside in February, says he understands the fear that casinos will sprout everywhere and lead us all down the gambling path, but believes this fear is groundless.

He says while there may be an initial explosion, many of these will be forced out of business, as the market proves unable to sustain them.

And he says casinos are not the real culprits in cultivating gambling addiction.

'FROM my perspective, with 33 years in the business, it is more likely to occur with slot machines than with hard gaming. Children are introduced to slot machines almost as soon a they can touch a button, they're given electronic games to play with and they can play the machines in pubs and cafes.

"If there is any fear of problem gaming it is to do with slot machines, not with casinos," he says, adding that the gradual move towards unlimited prizes is an "insidious" part of this culture.

More casinos and more gambling means more money for the Chancellor, and ministers believe this revenue, plus the presence of a casino, can help regenerate run-down areas.

The Government's proposals also attempt to impose restrictions on Internet gambling, requiring sites based in the UK to run age checks and creating a new offence of inviting, permitting or causing a child to gamble.

"Every Tom, Dick of Harry can have a bet on the Internet, and if you are going to have a better controlled gaming environment, you need to control the Internet," says Mr Malone.

"The gaming laws were established in the 1960s and there has been a cultural change in gaming since then. Providing the checks and controls and balances are in place, there is a need to change the gaming laws."

And far from turning us into a nation of gamblers, there are already enough opportunities to lose our money, says Dr Sandy Wolfson, head of psychology at Northumbria University.

"There may be problem gambling already and this isn't going to make it any worse," she says. "There are plenty of opportunities for people to gamble with the National Lottery and bingo halls."

Instead, maybe gambling laws should treat us as adults capable of making our own decisions, recognising the pleasure some people get from gambling, instead of seeking to protect us from ourselves.

"People enjoy the excitement of gambling, and there is some tension release involved, even when they lose. A lot of people enjoy the sensation they get when they're awaiting the outcome," says Dr Wolfson.

"People are unrealistically optimistic: we overestimate our likelihood of doing well. People also enjoy making a choice, and they have the illusion it gives them more control. With the Lottery, few people enjoy the Lucky Dip, and they feel they have more chances of success if they choose their own numbers. They don't, of course."