Why gamblers are on a losing streak – and the industry is cashing in

[TightEnd]

Interesting

Last year UK gamblers lost a record £13.8bn, as operators made it harder than ever for skilful customers to place a bet. Regulation is urgently needed

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/28/gamblers-losing-streak-industry-cashing-in-gaming-regulation?CMP=share_btn_tw

[neeko]

Journalist should not be allowed to write articles that involve numbers, things just don't add up.

At least £3.4 bn of the total relates to the national lottery (although it manages not to clearly mention this)

No idea where the other £10 bn comes from, although clicking through a link we find that £4.5bn is from online bingo and other online gambling. (How much of this is reinvested 'winnings' is unclear.)

Reminds me of Finland trying to tax Patrick antonius for his $0.25bn of winnings over the course of his heads up match with durrrr (they just ignored the quarter billion he lost on the other half of the hands.)

[kp24]

Surprised to see online bingo makes more than sports betting!

[AndrewT]

Surprised to see online bingo makes more than sports betting!

It doesn't - the bingo sites make most of their money from the slots games on the side.

[flushthemout]

My wife puts £20.00 a month on a bingo site every month, she fell asleep and woke up two hours later and her balance showed £587.00 tonight 😆

[The Camel]

My wife puts £20.00 a month on a bingo site every month, she fell asleep and woke up two hours later and her balance showed £587.00 tonight 😆

My first ever sighting of a bingo after time!

[flushthemout]

Think it's called Auto Dab 😉

[ripple11]

Loved Bingo as a student.

 Friday nights were good  to try and win a joint of meat for the weekend/week 
 If you said it was your birthday you got a free drink at the bar.....never been 19 so often.

[kp24]

Surprised to see online bingo makes more than sports betting!

It doesn't - the bingo sites make most of their money from the slots games on the side.

That makes more sense

[arbboy]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/06/tories-fobt-gambling-labour

[sonour]

So do we want the maximum stake on FOBTs to be reduced so the high Street bookies make less money and have to return to laying bets or would they simply close down lots of shops which would make it even more difficult for us to get a bet on ?

[Doobs]

So do we want the maximum stake on FOBTs to be reduced so the high Street bookies make less money and have to return to laying bets or would they simply close down lots of shops which would make it even more difficult for us to get a bet on ?

No, that isn't why we want the maximum stake reduced.  We want the maximum stake reduced so that so many people's lives are ruined so easily.  Utter disgrace they won't lay a ten pound bet whilst letting the desperate bet £100 every 20 seconds.  If it results in betting shops closing, so be it.  Winners will just have to adapt.

They should never have been allowed in the first place, as there was plenty of evidence from Australia about how destructive they could be.

[arbboy]

So do we want the maximum stake on FOBTs to be reduced so the high Street bookies make less money and have to return to laying bets or would they simply close down lots of shops which would make it even more difficult for us to get a bet on ?

No, that isn't why we want the maximum stake reduced.  We want the maximum stake reduced so that so many people's lives are ruined so easily.  Utter disgrace they won't lay a ten pound bet whilst letting the desperate bet £100 every 20 seconds.  If it results in betting shops closing, so be it.  Winners will just have to adapt.

They should never have been allowed in the first place, as there was plenty of evidence from Australia about how destructive they could be.

Plus despite claims about huge job losses from the firms PR men and less direct tax recepits the opposite in the bigger picture of the economy is true according to a study.  More jobs would be created elsewhere due to the £1.8bn loses a year spent elsewhere in the economy and this additional spend would also create more tax revenue than the FOBT tax creates.

All in all there is zero reason why ANY party (even the tories) shouldn't ban them or reduce their stakes to effectively ban them which is what a £2 max stake would do.  You can't play roulette with a £2 max stake.

If half the shops close it just means there will be one lolbrokes or coral or hills or balds in a town instead of 2 each for clustering reasons.  Whether there is one bald or ten in the same local area the same regional manager controls whether you can on so you either can get on or you cant no matter how many shops there are nowadays.

[sonour]

The two Ladbrokes in Walsall town centre have different area managers.

I'm limited to £50 in Ladbrokes Bridge Street. I went to Ladbrokes Pleck and the Area manager from Bridge Strret was there. He said ' You're not limited in here are you ? '
I said ' No ' and he took a bet well in excess of £50.

But I take your point.

[Cf]

Bookies, arcades, clubs, should be allowed the same machines as pubs: £1 stake / £100 JP.

Casinos should be allowed unlimited stake / unlimited jackpot. They should require membership and to play a game should require your membership card. This card is setup with controls to allow safe gambling. Max staked in a period, max loss, highest stake, etc.

There. Sorted.