Gamblers lose £126m more despite curbs on ‘crack cocaine’ betting

‘More bets at £100 a spin’

THE amount of money gamblers are losing on ‘crack cocaine’ betting machines in bookmakers has soared despite a Government crackdown.

The machines, called fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), allow players to stake up to £100 every 20 seconds on casino games such as roulette.

In an attempt to minimise the harm to gamblers, ministers introduced a rule banning them from staking £50 or more a time unless they approach staff in their bookmakers and get the request signed off. Despite this, the amount lost on FOBTs has shot up by £126million over the past year.

Punters are now losing £1.8billion a year on the terminals – or £5million a day – according to official figures released by the Gambling Commission. The Mail has highlighted the pernicious impact of FOBT machines, which have been dubbed the ‘crack cocaine of gambling’.

Comparing the 12-month periods before and after the so-called ‘soft cap’ of £50 was introduced in 2015, the Campaign for Fairer Gambling group said the reforms had ‘failed, and failed spectacularly’.

Its analysis also found the number of people eventually placing bets at £100 a spin has increased despite the crackdown, sessions on the machines are lasting longer, and the number of games where the first spin is at £100 has almost doubled.

Last year seven customers lost more than £10,000 within a few hours, with one losing £13,777 in a marathon sevenand-a-half-hour session.

Adrian Parkinson, of Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: ‘It’s abundantly clear the Government measures to minimise the harm caused by these machines have failed, and failed spectacularly. We see more bets than ever being stuck at £100 a spin, we see players now moving up to higher and higher stakes, we see players suffering bigger losses than before.’

The analysis found the soft cap has meant that increasing numbers of punters stay below the £50 limit to avoid providing identification at the counter. But Campaign for Fairer Gambling found there had been a 90 per cent increase in customers betting between £40 and £50. A spokesman for the Association of British Bookmakers said: ‘People enjoy playing gaming machines in bookmakers and the market has grown over the past 15 years.

‘The evidence from the “soft” cap shows stake cuts can be counter-productive and lead to longer sessions and the switching of customers to riskier forms of gambling.

‘Bookmakers will continue to develop and implement measures that identify and help people that have problems with their gambling.’