More problems with lottery gamblers
A UK lawmaker has slammed Conservative Party Prime Minister Theresa May for “beating up” on bookmakers who offer fixed-odds betting terminals in the country’s high street betting parlors.
According to the Sun newspaper, former Shadow Culture Secretary Michael Dugher said May, who assumed the post in July, is wrong to jump on the bandwagon against FOBTs, called the “crack cocaine of betting” for their supposed addictive qualities.
Dugher said the ire of anti-gaming lawmakers has been mostly reserved for bookies, though the lottery and scratch cards are just as popular. He demanded the government’s gaming review encompass all forms of gaming, the newspaper reported.
In October, Culture Minister Tracey Crouch announced a review of FOBTs, a move the Labour Party called “long overdue.” Dugher, MP for Barnsley, said while he welcomes the review, “ministers must take an evidence-led approach to problem gambling and not simply have a go at local betting shops which are at risk of closure.
“More than twice as many people who play the National Lottery are problem gamblers compared to the numbers who play FOBTs. And more gamblers have problems with scratch cards and slot machines than FOBTs,” he continued. “The review must be widened. They have to stop beating up on high street betting shops.”
Some 270,000 problem gamblers buy lottery tickets, reports the Sun, versus an estimated 125,000 on FOBTs.
“Compared with alternative places to gamble, betting shops have professional staff to help punters and they are subject to stringent checks,” said Dugher. “For ministers just to focus on FOBTs in betting shops is a missed opportunity to deal with problem gambling.”
But Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner is also taking special aim at FOBTs, saying they “wreck lives,” according to the Ely Standard. It’s possible to bet up to £100 every 20 seconds on the machines, which may prove irresistible to compulsive gamblers, he says.
“I’ve heard from families that have been wrecked by these machines with wages spent in a matter of minutes and no money left to cover basic bills, rents or mortgages,” Zeichner said. “I was very disappointed that, in July 2015, the government rejected proposals from over 90 local councils to reduce the maximum stake on FOBTs from £100 to £2. I welcome the current review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales. This shows that the government has finally woken up to the fact that it has not done enough to curtail the proliferation of FOBTs.”
Peter Craske, spokesman for the Association of British Bookmakers, told the Cambridge Independent that, unlike similar machines in amusement arcades or casinos, gaming machines in betting shops “allow customers to set a limit on the amount they spend or the time they play for. Betting shops themselves are the most regulated retailer on the high street.
“The 80 people who work in Cambridge’s betting shops are trained to spot anyone who may be getting into difficulty with their gambling and offer them the help they need.”
He said the average stake on a betting shop gaming machine in Cambridge is £9, and an average customer plays for about 10 minutes.
The Sun noted that are presently fewer local bookies “than at any time since 2003,” with more than 300 having closed since 2014 and more “under threat.”
Meanwhile, according to the Independent, gambling companies have stepped up to woo lawmakers with tickets to racing and football events including Ascot, the Derby and the Grand National. The newspaper singled out Conservative MPs Laurence Robertson and Philip Davies, who have accepted £4,720 and £5,166 in perks from the firms.
