Huge odds were too much of a gamble

Slashing the stakes for fixed odds betting terminals has sparked ferocious debate. Some of the country’s biggest bookies have said new governmental legislation will have a devastating impact, warning of betting shop closures and job losses.

However, some of the stories of woe to have emerged in recent weeks and months have been hard to ignore. There have been tales of customers losing thousand of pounds in a single sitting — sometimes in a matter of minutes.

The Church of Scotland is among those welcoming the cap, warning that unlimited betting can “destroy lives”.

It would be unwise indeed to see the legislation as any kind of a silver bullet and it is hard to imagine that limiting the stakes to £2 will cure any addicts. However, it may at least help them limit their losses. Others may be encouraged to think twice about their gambling habits.

Without doubt fixed odds betting terminals are linked with serious patterns of addictive behaviour, leading to serious consequences for thousands of families across the UK, but high street bookmakers have come to rely on income from the machines — reports suggest they derive up to half of their revenue from the terminals.

The cynical among us will point out that they tend to be concentrated in deprived areas, leading to them being described as a “social blight”.

The bookmakers may be upset, but it is hard to see the new legislation as anything other than a positive step.