Fixed Odds Betting Terminals

The Campaign for Fairer Gambling reflects on the Queen’s Speech and looks ahead to any future policy changes on fixed odds betting terminal stake levels. (more…)

Figures have revealed gamblers in Maidenhead lost nearly £2m on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBT) in 2016 alone.

Data from Bacta, the trade association for the amusement and arcade gaming machine industry, shows £1,959,457 was lost on FOBTs in a total of 10 bookmakers with 37 FOBT machines in the area. Between 2008-2016, £13,275,046 was lost in total.

Read the full story in The Maidenhead Advertiser.

Children as young as 11 in the Grimsby area are starting their gambling careers online.

And North East Lincolnshire has one of the highest number of gambling premises in the country – turning them into “the crack cocaine of the High Street.”

Read the full story in The Grimsby Telegraph.

The UK’s hung Parliament is more likely to mean an aggressive cut to the size of stakes allowed on gambling machines – a move that could hit revenues across the industry, experts have said.

Punters can bet up to £100 a time on fixed odds betting terminals, known as FOBTs, but MPs had been considering whether to reduce this level as part of a wider triennial review of the gambling industry by the government.

Read the full story in The Telegraph.

There was scarcely an odds-on chance in the main elections markets on Thursday morning that was not turned over when the votes were counted a few hours later, and shares in William Hill and Ladbrokes Coral plc rose steadily on Friday morning. Bookies love nothing more than a shock result.

The firms with off-course shops will have also welcomes the prediction by one industry analyst that the long-awaited review of stake levels in gaming machines may now be delayed still further, perhaps until the autumn. In the meantime, thousands of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) gaming machines will continue to rake in huge risk-free profits by offering punters the chance to gamble £100 every 20 seconds.

Read the full story in The Guardian.

The power of an “anti-FOBT parliament” to shape the decision of the ongoing cross-party review following last night’s election result has increased “the likelihood of a more painful position” for the industry when it comes to setting the maximum stake level, a leading analyst has told iGaming Business.

Read the full story in iGaming Business.

The Campaign for Fairer Gambling assesses the different manifesto pledges on fixed odds betting terminals and suggests that both Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn would take action on FOBT stake reduction. (more…)

The Labour party has accused the government of failing to act on fixed-odds betting terminals, after data showed that gamblers’ losses are largest in deprived areas and opposition-held constituencies.

A breakdown of estimated losses by parliamentary constituency shows that areas where voters chose Labour in the 2015 election make up eight of the top 10 most affected. Of 62 constituencies where gamblers lost more than £5m in 2015-16, 47 are Labour, five are Scottish National party areas and 10 are Conservative.

Read the full story in The Guardian.

Campaign for Fairer Gambling founder, Derek Webb, shares his thoughts on recent bookmaker tactics. (more…)

British gamblers lost a record £13.8billion in the last year, and the sum could see the Government crack down hard as it prepares to review the industry.

According to the Gambling Commission, the £13.8billion sum was lost by gamblers in the UK between October 2015 and September 2016, and it includes an all-time high on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).

Read the full story in The Daily Mail.