FOBT £2 bet limit rejected by Government.

[dunover]

A London Council which tried to get the maximum bet reduced on the 'crack cocaine of gambling' FOBT terminals to £2 loses. The borough has been affected by chronic local addiction, and these machines now account for more turnover than all the other bookies' products like football betting and racing combined.

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[goatwack]

Shouldn't really come as a surprise, the govt. isn't overly concerned about its enabling problem gamblers or addressing the issue at hand. They only care about the revenue it brings into coffers.

Anyway, this is far to sensible a proposal for David & co, far easier to carry on heckling smokers and the obese. Gamblers are way down the list at no.232 of things to help, just behind foxhunting and lollipop ladies.

 

[winbig]

Interesting...

Bookmakers are permitted four fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which allow £100 to be laid on roulette wheels every 20 seconds, in every shop. There are now about 35,000 of these terminals in Britain. In December, industry-funded research revealed rates of problem gambling are as high as 23% among some machine players. This, experts noted, compared with 0.4% for all adults.

That's only £18k an hour.....pocket change.

Campaigners say Franklin’s experiences reveal the code to be toothless – and instead ministers should act by cutting the stakes on the machines. Newham council in east London is calling for the maximum stake on the machines to be lowered from £100 to £2, and has gathered backing from a quarter of all local authorities in England.

Only 25%? I see why it didn't pass muster...

source:

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[cncas2123]

Just read the article and what a load of bollox from the government - no unsupervised bets over £50??? Whats going to happen if someone wants to bet over £50? Are the shop staff really going to try and stop an angry punter who has lost hundreds raising his bets?? It aint going to happen,and the reason for not putting the £2 limit has already been mentioned - easy revenue for HMRC. I dont go to the bookies any more because of the temptation of the FOBT's, and the fact that theres no deposit limit, no wagering limit, nothing to stop you going that bit too far, no tools at all for RG, and thats the reason they are the Crack of the betting world.

 

[Dinahnana]

The idea to limit the bet on FOBT to £2 a stake is a good idea. AFAIK they are banned in Ireland although I could be wrong. The only reason why this measure wasn't past in the UK is probably due to the big bookies lobbying the government to rule in their favor. This may not be true but I am a cynic at heart and know that money talks and bullshit walks.

The laws that are in place requiring the punter to interact with probably untrained staff if they bet £50 or more is not sufficient in my opinion. I am surprised that the government did take this stance though since the measure had very strong public support. Hopefully they will see more sense in the future.

 

[cncas2123]

The idea to limit the bet on FOBT to £2 a stake is a good idea. AFAIK they are banned in Ireland although I could be wrong. The only reason why this measure wasn't past in the UK is probably due to the big bookies lobbying the government to rule in their favor. This may not be true but I am a cynic at heart and know that money talks and bullshit walks.

The laws that are in place requiring the punter to interact with probably untrained staff if they bet £50 or more is not sufficient in my opinion. I am surprised that the government did take this stance though since the measure had very strong public support. Hopefully they will see more sense in the future.

I love my visits to Dublin as I know if I go PP,Ladbrokes or the likes I dont have the distraction of the FOBT's, but I wouldnt be surprised if there is plenty of lobbying going on to get them allowed in the shops, as they are a huge money spinner.

 

[Nicola]

Bad news IMO. I was very surprised when all the London casino's allowed betting increases from £2 to £5 on slots.

Never have I once played these slots in a bookmakers, and never plan too. Always located near bus stops, I see people every day sitting there wasting money away and coming out looking like crap.

 

[cncas2123]

Bad news IMO. I was very surprised when all the London casino's allowed betting increases from £2 to £5 on slots.

Never have I once played these slots in a bookmakers, and never plan too. Always located near bus stops, I see people every day sitting there wasting money away and coming out looking like crap.

As Dunover points out,it is the equivalent of Crack Cocaine, and thats why the bookies want more of them,so they can have a queue of punter waiting their turn each day to fill them up with all their cash, and they couldnt care less what the outcome is for the punter or what he is leaving to go home to, and thats why its so farcical that the government says that all bets over £50 must be supervised as a RG tool, and a deterrent for problem gambling.

 

[The Blue Anchor]

Bad news IMO. I was very surprised when all the London casino's allowed betting increases from £2 to £5 on slots.

Yes but at least you can win up to £10k on a £5 bet at a casino. (and £20k on a progressive I think).

The bookies get round the £5 limit in their slots by offering 'mega spins' etc for up to £50 a go. Max win £500 -10x bet. Absolute mugs game.

 

[Simmo!]

Bad news IMO. I was very surprised when all the London casino's allowed betting increases from £2 to £5 on slots.

Yes but at least you can win up to £10k on a £5 bet at a casino. (and £20k on a progressive I think).

The bookies get round the £5 limit in their slots by offering 'mega spins' etc for up to £50 a go. Max win £500 -10x bet. Absolute mugs game.

The £5 limit increase with 10k/20k prizes was surprising but it also removed the £1.50 bet option so 50p -> £1 -> £2 -> £3 and then £3 -> £5 on the Gaminators is a bit rich. I liked that you could go up in 50p increments before. When I play at Empire, Hippodrome and Rendezvous I can't say I have seen many, if any (now I think about it!), betting at more than £2 in fact the huge majority I watch play at 50p.

The problem is it facilitates people to chase their losses and the very few who get suckered in can. That's the bottom line. The FOBT limits are way, way to high IMO and I think the Government have screwed up here but they are no different to any other Government: it's all about the money wherever you go.

As an aside, seen the new Novoline VIP machines in the casinos? Played one the other day... pretty neat stereo seats and big wall screens you can flip.

 

[itsover2014]

This has AGAIN been rejected by a Tory government who are more interested in making £ than people's lives. People have a choice but these machines are made to make people chase, addicted and sucker you in. They have also recently all dropped their rtp from about 94% to about 89%

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[Jono777]

I was 100% confident that the moment it was "suggested" that it would be rejected.

Sunday People Newspaper has been campaigning for years, again another futile exercise.

 

[Tengil]

Well the government (s(as the case is similar in most other counties)) aren't even making any money, they are losing in the end. Gambling is never a good deal, the tax should be around 35% for it to be cost neutral as gambling has massive costs to society.

I would say its more to do with efficient lobbying.

 

[philderby]

Disgusting vile things that should be burnt! Bookies wouldn't survive without them thats the problem

These days I can walk past a bookies without even a thought, 5 or 6 years ago however..

 

[ricky]

This has AGAIN been rejected by a Tory government who are more interested in making £ than people's lives. People have a choice but these machines are made to make people chase, addicted and sucker you in. They have also recently all dropped their rtp from about 94% to about 89%

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funny how they show one of the 3-4 games that are beatable on the img

 

[jetset]

Update - the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sports, Tracey Crouch, has tweeted that this is fake news.

Her tweet was followed by a statement Saturday from the DCMS confirming her tweet and pointing out that the review on FOBTs and gambling reform is still underway and not expected to deliver its report to parliament until October.

 

[spintee]

Did you see the program about fobs a few years back?


There was some law about having only a few machins in the shop, so guess how they bypassed that one They opened new shops in the same street

They are a deadly bit of equipment, I do not touch them nor the slots in pubs n more, may have the odd quid in change but thats like one sin now days