Electronic Gambling Machines – How Much Is Too Much?

Electronic gambling machines or Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) have been in the news a lot recently, amid calls from senior ministers and the Fairer Gambling Commission to restrict the amount people can bet on these machines. The terminals, featuring games like Roulette and bingo, are usually found in high street bookies, and can accept bets of up to £100 per minute. Campaigners for the newly founded Stop the FOBTs want to see the amount reduced from £100 per minute to £2.00 per minute, to attempt to slow down the rate that people gamble.

The findings of a report regarding the amount gambled on these machines in Wales was released by the Fairer Gambling Commission this week, which claimed that each adult who bets regularly on a FOBT will spend £650 per year on average – whilst the figure per head for England is estimated to be £863. It is believed that players from Cardiff and Wrexham bet the most, with their annual spend per head being up to £1000.

However, initial calls for the crackdown were rejected by the Government and the Association of British Bookmakers, who denied there was evidence that the machines caused problem gambling. Betting Expert Mark Davies, who is a non-executive director of games provider Probability and was a key founder of Betfair – claims that the machines are no more dangerous or addictive than any other form of gambling, whilst Dirk Vennix from the ABB confirmed that the majority of users bet “safety and responsibly.”

Although these newly released figures do seem immediately high and shocking, at no point does the survey take into account the financial or socio-economic background of those gambling. All such reports will declare is that gambling will “take advantage of the poorest parts of society”, yet there are plenty of “wealthy” people who also enjoy gambling, bet sensibly and can afford it.

Figures such as these, which involve taking averages, can also be skewed by rogue data – for example, if an individual spends £50,000 in one sitting on such a machine. Whether they can afford the amount they are betting or not, this will mean the data is affected, and then the average spend per individual appears higher.

Mark Davies’ blog does touch on these points too, and is worth reading if you want to balance out your views on the FOBTs and indeed, the gambling industry generally. He brings up some excellent points regarding the emotive language used by the press across this thorny debate – starting with calling the machines the “crack cocaine” of betting, and he also questions the motivations behind the Fairer Gambling Commission.

This is clearly a highly emotive issue, not to mention being extremely attractive to the media because of the issues involved, so we think it’s crucial for all UK casino players, the government and even the journalists writing on the subject to gain a balanced and informed view when making their mind up about this contentious issue.

We’d love to hear your opinions on this, whatever they are, so please leave comments for us below.