The United States isn’t the only country betting big on casinos. Great Britain is poised for a sweeping expansion of casinos there.

Casinos could open in a dozen towns and cities that could generate up to £250m a year in winnings for operators, including several large Las Vegas-style super casinos. Church groups fear the growth could increase the number of problem gamblers and hit poor families. The addiction charity GamCare said the growth underscores the need for more education.

Sounds alot like the U.S., except the British press has a special knack for capturing the vivid scene inside a casino in a shopping center in east London:

It takes a few moments for the eyes and brain to adjust from the light of a late-January afternoon to the flashing lights of 150 slot machines in Aspers casino in the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, east London. Once they have, the most striking thing about the UK’s largest gambling house is that it really isn’t that big.

Moreover, it doesn’t appear to be inhabited by desperate-looking people, pouring the remainder of their souls into a flashing machine which will only ever let them win enough to keep them coming back. Perhaps mercifully for the early afternoon, it doesn’t seem to be inhabited by that many people at all. Syed Naeem Kazmiu, 18, said he had been told by staff that he is one of the youngest they see at the casino. “I have probably dropped around £2,500 in the last two weeks,” he said. But, he added, “I play for the fun. I put down money when I can afford it and, when I can’t, I don’t.”

That’s what all the gamblers say.