The UK government never created a well regulated market, they created a mess that was easily abused and brought about the possibility and the reality of gambling problems for people by making it too easy and accessible?
I really hope in Ireland that barriers are created to slow / stem and or discourage gambling as a stable diet and be one that should be thought of as a treat and one that is pure Entertainment with a proviso of paying for it with an albeit rare pay off.
I am ashamed of the way the UK government handled gambling and the sickness of the Category D machines that can openly create addiction for children, this appals me.
Slipping in the online example to slide away was great but:-
Regulate? Disaster more like?
Commercial carve out for seaside arcades and leisure complexes that looked like losing a huge chunk of their "family entertainment" income.
The seeds were sown long ago, when the strict controls and policy of gradual increases in max jackpot and stake were thrown aside when the industry put pressure for the end of the 20p stake and £8 jackpot limit. Initially, the reviews took place every three years, and around 1990 the 20p stake was introduced with a £4.80 jackpot. Over the next 9 years, it held at 20p and the jackpot crept first to £6, and then £8. Then suddenly the brakes failed, and it was 25p/£10, and within a year it was 30p/£15, and after holding for a bit, it was 30p/£25. Then it went to multi stake and a £35 jackpot, and the first £1 £500 jackpot machines turned up. There seemed to be a surge in £500 machines at the expense of the more "entertaining" fruit machines. The £500 machines took money much faster because they were mostly "low tech", so each game took much less time to play out.
The one positive step was the banning of machines in places like take away shops, where there was often one, and kids were easily able to play it. The creation of 18+ zones for stakes greater than 10p, plus a requirement to actively police them to prevent underage play, helped in part, but of course left the glaring loophole of the low stakes and low jackpot machines that kids could still play. These games are often converted 18+ games, so I can see how kids will see them as a stepping stone to playing the "grown up" versions as soon as they are allowed, or can get a fake ID and grow a beard.
In my playing days, travelling on the motorways, there WERE regular players in their teens, often slipping in on pushbikes or on foot from the nearby town just to play the machines. The staff did chuck them out every half hour or so in some places, but the policing was laughable, they just went into the video area, and straight back on the machines when staff left, knowing that they were safe for the next half hour.
They clearly kept losing, as they would often approach adult players to tell them "insider" tricks to help them win, and if a win did occur, they expected a tip of a couple of quid. I had to deal with them on a regular basis, and do remember asking a few why they were broke if they knew all these sure fire winning tricks
I would also say "are you 18" or "you don't look 18" when they asked if I could change a note for them so they could play.
