The widespread abuse led to the United Kingdom Parliament intervening and passing the Life Assurance Act 1774. This is still in force and is commonly known as the Gambling Act.

This survey has been undertaken to help the Commission understand the nature and scale of gambling in Great Britain at a point before the gambling Act 2005 was implemented on 1 September 2007.

When asked if that didn't constitute gambling, the minister replied, "It's merely a scientific method of determining just who is going to commit an act of charity."