FOBT's in Betting shops

[Deleted member 1740]

Great news this morning that maximum stakes have been reduced from £100 per spin to £2 per spin.

These machines play a massive part in money laundering and anti social behaviour and attract weak minded people who are easily addicted.

I'm very surprised this decision has been made though.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Great news this morning that maximum stakes have been reduced from £100 per spin to £2 per spin.

These machines play a massive part in money laundering and anti social behaviour and attract weak minded people who are easily addicted.

I'm very surprised this decision has been made though.

It’s good news for a lot of people but bad news for bookies with a good number of high street ones relying on them to get themselves in business - wonder what the next thing will be to try and fleece people.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

This is a similar one to banning smoking in pubs. It will cost jobs but frankly it is long overdue and is for the greater good. Awful, destructive machines.

 

[rudebhoy]

This is a similar one to banning smoking in pubs. It will cost jobs but frankly it is long overdue and is for the greater good. Awful, destructive machines.

Totally agree. The amount of money they take is obscene.

I used to love the bookies when I was in my 20s, was always a good atmosphere. Now on the very rare occasions I go in one, it is totally depressing, hardly anyone watching the racing, they are all shovelling money in the bandit.

 

[Val]

It's a good move but I think down to £2 is maybe too far IMO and a move to £10 or £20 may have been a better initial move.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

If the money is their own, who is to say how they wish to spend it.
However betting is a mugs game in my opinion, and do not understand why anyone would waste money like that.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I am all in favour of this reduction - it is a mug's game and it is an addiction. And the number of betting companies out there shows how much they can make from it. 90% of the adverts on Sky Sports and half the Premier League shirt sponsors are betting companies.

Sports gambling has just been legalised in America and it will be down to individual states to decide on it instead of dodgy bookies and going to Nevada. All the bookmakers who will lose out on idiots pumping £100 a time into these machines will turn their attention across the Atlantic to make their profits.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If the money is their own, who is to say how they wish to spend it.
However betting is a mugs game in my opinion, and do not understand why anyone would waste money like that.

which is all very well until the money is that which is required to live on - especially when a family is involved - or when lack of money leads to massive crippling debt, crime or to going to pay-day (high interest) lenders.

Take a loaded gun from a depressive and he can still kill himself easy enough if he wants - but he is less likely to do so on a whim and so more likely to change his mind or be talked out of it.

 

[rudebhoy]

If the money is their own, who is to say how they wish to spend it.
However betting is a mugs game in my opinion, and do not understand why anyone would waste money like that.

putting money in a fruit machine is a mugs game as it is statistically impossible to win if you do it on a regular basis as the machines are programmed to only pay out a certain percentage of their takings.

sports betting is not a mugs game if you bet carefully and look for value. I have on average 2 or 3 bets a month and generally make a profit year on year. I never bet on horse racing apart from a couple of quid on the Grand National for a bit of an interest. I focus on football, rugby league, snooker and darts.

Kilmarnock have won me a lot of money, backed them at 9/2 just after Xmas to finish top 6, also backed them at 7/1 to win at Ibrox and also in other individual games when they were on a roll. Also backed Rob Cross at 16/1 for the PDC as thought he was well overpriced.

Only current open bet is Hunslet Club Parkside to win the National Conf Prem at 4/1. Watched them a few times last year and they are a team on the up, currently won 9 from 9 and well clear, now 1/9 with the bookies.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

putting money in a fruit machine is a mugs game as it is statistically impossible to win if you do it on a regular basis as the machines are programmed to only pay out a certain percentage of their takings.

sports betting is not a mugs game if you bet carefully and look for value. I have on average 2 or 3 bets a month and generally make a profit year on year. I never bet on horse racing apart from a couple of quid on the Grand National for a bit of an interest. I focus on football, rugby league, snooker and darts.

Kilmarnock have won me a lot of money, backed them at 9/2 just after Xmas to finish top 6, also backed them at 7/1 to win at Ibrox and also in other individual games when they were on a roll. Also backed Rob Cross at 16/1 for the PDC as thought he was well overpriced.

Only current open bet is Hunslet Club Parkside to win the National Conf Prem at 4/1. Watched them a few times last year and they are a team on the up, currently won 9 from 9 and well clear, now 1/9 with the bookies.

Which ever way you look at it, both sports betting and fruit machines are bets on chance, and if they aren’t then it’s fixed.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Which ever way you look at it, both sports betting and fruit machines are bets on chance, and if they aren’t then it’s fixed.

A few weeks ago I heard a contributor on a radio phone in who had working in a betting shop explain how FOBT were indeed fixed according to the winnings being paid out...

 

[Bunkermagnet]

A few weeks ago I heard a contributor on a radio phone in who had working in a betting shop explain how FOBT were indeed fixed according to the winnings being paid out...

Fruit machines are fixed to give winnings at a certain percentage of play.
My point is people do sports betting because they think they can work it all out and win.
You can’t work out chance, and if you can then it’s fixed just like those machines.
As I said in my first reply, betting for me is a mugs game and only leads to problems.

 

[rudebhoy]

Fruit machines are fixed to give winnings at a certain percentage of play.
My point is people do sports betting because they think they can work it all out and win.
You can’t work out chance, and if you can then it’s fixed just like those machines.
As I said in my first reply, betting for me is a mugs game and only leads to problems.

You could say the same about drink. The fact is that the majority of people who have a bet do so because they enjoy it, and only bet what the can afford to lose. However, just like drink, there is a minority who are addicted to it and need help. FOBTs prey on them, and it is a good thing that the limit is being reduced so much.

You are right that there is an element of chance in every bet, I can reel off a number of very lucky winning bets and very unlucky losing bets I have had. Although I tend to make a profit at betting, I have at least as many losing bets as winning ones. That's why value is key, and if I can't get what I consider to be a generous price, I'll walk away from a bet.

Good example was Fulham the other night. I fancied them strongly to win, and was going to have a decent bet on them if the price was right. I was hoping they would be around evens or a shade of odds-on, but the best price was 4/7 so I walked away from it. They won so my judgement was vindicated, but I wasn't annoyed I hadn't backed them as I knew i had made the right decision from a value perspective.

 

[louise_a]

I heard about this on the radio this morning and was gobsmacked that the machine let you bet £100 at a time, that seems seriously heavy gambling to me.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I heard about this on the radio this morning and was gobsmacked that the machine let you bet £100 at a time, that seems seriously heavy gambling to me.

£100 every 20 seconds!

And so as for any addiction - you might 'choose' to place the first bet - though actually the only 'choice' is where and when to submit to the obsession - but you then need to place the 2nd bet - and the 3rd - and the 4th...

The gambling addict's problem is the first bet...

 

[fundy]

Great news and long overdue, lets see if the shyster bookies will actually take a proper bet now they cant keep exploiting this way

 

[fundy]

Fruit machines are fixed to give winnings at a certain percentage of play.
My point is people do sports betting because they think they can work it all out and win.
You can’t work out chance, and if you can then it’s fixed just like those machines.
As I said in my first reply, betting for me is a mugs game and only leads to problems.

Gotta love when people comment on stuff they have almost no idea of

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Gotta love when people comment on stuff they have almost no idea of

Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t realise personal opinions aren’t allowed on a public forum.
I will go retire to the cupboard under the stairs.

 

[fundy]

Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t realise personal opinions aren’t allowed on a public forum.
I will go retire to the cupboard under the stairs.

you can have an opinion but you state a fact that is clearly wrong on an area you clearly have little understanding of, but join the masses of offended on here lol

 

[ColchesterFC]

If the money is their own, who is to say how they wish to spend it.

which is all very well until the money is that which is required to live on - especially when a family is involved - or when lack of money leads to massive crippling debt, crime or to going to pay-day (high interest) lenders.

SiLH - should we restrict those on low incomes from drinking and smoking? Both can be addictions, much like gambling can be, and money that can be required to live on can be being spent on fags and booze.

I agree with the reduction in maximum stake but think they could maybe have left it a bit higher than £2. What is the jackpot on these types of machines at the minute and does anyone know if the maximum payouts are going to be reduced to reflect the lower stake? I'm not sure if this will reduce problem gambling or will simply mean that it takes longer for people to lose their money with a lower stake. I also wonder how many people are playing on these terminals and staking the maximum £100 each go compared to those playing with a lower stake of say £1 or £2 a go who aren't going to be affected by this change.