FOBTS Stake Reduction

[Deeplay]

Just confirmed on sky news max bet on FOBTS IN UK bookies slashed to £2 limit per bet on all machines and all games!

Worst result for the bookies great result for the people they target!

 

[Deeplay]

It was confirmed they have not gone for the $30 max bet but slashed to £2 .. the below article was published just before this was confirmed on Sky News

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

 

[Deeplay]

And confirmed on the BBC

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

Personally I am very glad to see this! I know people who have blown 1000s on these infernal machines and they targeted poorer inner areas, sometimes 4 bookmakers on the same high street. I was never into them but from what I have seen and know they were lethal. So this is one thing the UKGC has got right!

 

[dunover]

Yes, I must say this has been long overdue and if people outside the UK are in any doubt as to how much is being taken from the mostly disadvantaged urban communities:

(Source BBC News:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

)

Research by KPMG has estimated a £2 limit would cut revenue for the Treasury by £1.1bn over three years, an annual loss of £45m to local authorities and £50m to British racing.

Betting firm William Hill, makes just over half its retail revenues from FOBTs.

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

that a £2 FOBT limit would have a devastating impact on the High Street betting industry, with up to half of Britain's betting shops facing threat of closure and about 20,000 jobs going.

Ms Crouch said: "We recognise the potential impact of this change for betting shops which depend on (FOBT) revenues, but also that this is an industry that is innovative and able to adapt to changes."

A bookmakers always used to be defined as a business that accepted wagers on physical events of which the outcome is not controlled by themselves. Not electronic high street casinos every 50 yards.

These machines were ripping so much cash that to get round the limit of 4 per shop bookies were often seen to apply for licenses to open another shop, solely for the purpose of offering another 4 machines, within a few hundred yards of an existing premises.

 

[Deeplay]

And the ABB Citing 1000s of job cuts and lost revenue in taxes, but what will the Govt save on money they have to spend to help those in deep shit who are hooked on these machines. The UK Bookies will adapt they wont die, and will come through this its just I hope we see much less of the 3 or 4 bookmakers in a row on the same street. FOBTS are in effect dead now and the industry has to and will adapt as they always have so they can stop crying now and get on with it.

 

[interlog]

Well it is good in one sense but on the other hand, when will online be next? £2,000 spins on White Rabbit anybody?

 

[shadow123]

Big thumbs up to UKGC,had to get something right in the end

 

[Balthazar]

Here they are capped at $2.50 per bet and you can't play faster than one spin/hand per 4 seconds or so. No autoplay, no quickspin. People still manage to lose everything.

 

[interlog]

From the UKGC website (source:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

)

Gambling Commission Chief Executive Neil McArthur said: “We’re pleased Government has supported a comprehensive package of measures to protect consumers, and that this includes a substantial stake cut. Whilst we welcome the reduced stake, that alone will not be enough to address the risks of harm that can come from all forms of gambling.

“That is why we will continue to act in other ways to reduce those risks– including delivering enhanced consumer protection for online gambling in the areas of customer verification, fairness and interaction, implementing strong penalties for businesses who breach advertising guidelines, and reviewing gambling product characteristics to identify whether particular features pose greater risk of harm than others.

 

[shadow123]

Wonder if a scratchcard clampdown is next,maybe not

 

[Deeplay]

Well it is good in one sense but on the other hand, when will online be next? £2,000 spins on White Rabbit anybody?

Good point but i think the defense in the UK would be that they are safe guards, SE, DL and the new Gamstop for nation wide exclusion. None of which are available with high street bookamkers. They do have SE but it never works
as staff cant remember the face of each punter. They should have had a carding system from the off but greed got the better of them, Im glad the bookies have been stuffed with this !

 

[Jono777]

Knew this was coming, been in the pipeline for a good while now.

However convinced myself it was all "hot air" and nothing would actually be done, glad to see I was wrong on this one

 

[shadow123]

Will kill off the roulette for sure, when the machines first came out in Corals years ago,no one played, as soon
they put roulette on,you could not get on a machine all day.Cant see anyone playing it for pennies now.
Will be interesting to see how the operators will adapt to the new stakes, I would guess they might just
be lazy and screw the rtp down to sub 90 levels, hoping to make up for some of the losses.
I remember how dire the bookie awps were,think we might end up there again.

 

[thebigs]

The bookies over here in Ireland have never had the machines due to the law's and i think they still do pretty well without them.
Last time i was home in Scotland i popped into the WH shop and not one person except me was interested in the racing but the 4 machines were busy and people were waiting in line to play.
Yes the possible loss of jobs is not good to hear but there are far too many shops in the first place.
Even though i love the slots here online i just never had the urge to play them in a bookie shop.

 

[mimi26]

So happy to hear this news, and glad they never listened to all the scaremongering regarding job losses, bookies have been popping up everywhere for the sole purpose of these machines, a local area close to me has 4 shops in the same square. They cause untold misery with little safeguards in place

 

[steveh35]

Can the mods merge all these threads together?

 

[L&L-Jan]

Great, increase on remote gaming duty and more rules

 

[Deeplay]

Great, increase on remote gaming duty and more rules

Hi not sure if your comment means your for or against this new ruling ;-) But FOBTS have wrought havoc with 1000s of people in the UK and are a totally different beast to online gaming.
Near close to no protection for problem gamblers in the shops and as stated the amount of bookmakers opening multiple shops in the same areas (known as clustering) - and usually those targeted areas are with people with poorer incomes
is something not even our Gvmnt could ignore in the end. It was the only choice they could make. Bookies have had years to get there shit together with the way FOBTS were handled
and refused to do so. And now pay the price.

 

[colinsunderland]

But the £50 stakes had to be backed up with a login, like Coral Connect didn't it? What the government should have done was enforce the use of a login system which was properly monitored, perhaps with a max spend per day and SOW checks done on them once spend hit £xxx.
This will cause major job losses, the bookies won't adapt as it's impossible to in this age. 30 years ago all bookies revenue was in store, and was sports betting. Now you have online, the high street cannot compete with that.

Not that I agree with the FOTB's, but they could have also done what they do with amusement arcades. Limit the number allowed in a certain area. There were 5 Ladbrokes within about a 3 minute walk here a few years ago. They could quite easily stop councils granting planning applications for more than 1 shop per chain within a x mile radius, at the same time, reducing the number of FOTB's to 2 per shop. Or a closed off area where only verified customers could access the higher stake machines.

The people who are getting their benefits and running down playing their £75 the minute they get it aren't going to be put off by £2 stakes. All it affects are the high rollers who play roulette.

 

[L&L-Jan]

Hi not sure if your comment means your for or against this new ruling ;-) But FOBTS have wrought havoc with 1000s of people in the UK and are a totally different beast to online gaming.
Near close to no protection for problem gamblers in the shops and as stated the amount of bookmakers opening multiple shops in the same areas (known as clustering) - and usually those targeted areas are with people with poorer incomes
is something not even our Gvmnt could ignore in the end. It was the only choice they could make. Bookies have had years to get there shit together with the way FOBTS were handled
and refused to do so. And now pay the price.

No, to be honest I think the more rules the better, and imo i think £2 is still pretty high as we all know you can still lose a lot of money on that particular bet size.

Also I'm pro in regards to more rules for remote gaming operators, actually from any regulator.

The news related to increase in remote gaming duty, I didnt like

 

[Lemon]

The LBO chains will be crying tears and snot for the next few weeks but it's tough shit really, isn't it? It was always going to happen, so dry your fucking eyes.

Their shops are an infestation that is out of control, and fair play to the UK Government for doing something about it. Shame we have to wait until next year for the changes to come into effect, but you can't have everything.

Hopefully up next will be banning gambling adverts on TV before 9 o'clock.

 

[goatwack]

It's almost as if we're supposed to feel bad now, the way that article is portrayed. Job losses, less profit?

Long overdue but is it ever enough? If someone is as addicted to these as is often painted, then reducing bets does very little, unless we're talking 20- 50p or the like.

No doubt bookies will find ingenious ways to combat this, like multi- panels to allow simultaneous betting, or staff that place bets on your behalf whilst you're fixated on the Roulette

 

[dunover]

It's almost as if we're supposed to feel bad now, the way that article is portrayed. Job losses, less profit?

Long overdue but is it ever enough? If someone is as addicted to these as is often painted, then reducing bets does very little, unless we're talking 20- 50p or the like.

No doubt bookies will find ingenious ways to combat this, like multi- panels to allow simultaneous betting, or staff that place bets on your behalf whilst you're fixated on the Roulette

They'll introduce 'feature purchase' roulette lol....

 

[SpinUk]

Good, but worrying for the online operators - mark my words, the B&M book makers will be pointing the finger at the online world saying “one rule for us” etc.

Certainly good news for the online world in the short term though.

 

[dunover]

I 've just worked out how they're actually going to get around it:

'MULTI-BALL ROULETTE - have up to 50 balls in play per spin!' *Max stake £2 per ball.