Bookies squeeze £1.8bn from gamblers as crackdown looms

The amount lost on betting machines described as the “crack cocaine of gambling” has risen sharply over the past 12 months as bookmakers squeeze every last penny out of punters before a cut in the maximum stake.

Gamblers’ losses per machines rose by 6.4 per cent, according to the Gambling Commission, the biggest increase in the past five years.

Read the full story in The Times.