Punters ‘ bribed’ on gambling machines

BETTING shop staff claim they are being told to offer perks to keep customers playing on ‘crack cocaine’ gambling machines.

One former manager said he was instructed to offer free bets and drinks. Another claimed it was suggested he could even buy lunch for high-spending customers.

Other managers say they were paid a bonus if they met financial targets on the machines.

There are growing concerns over the fixed- odds betting terminals that allow players to lose as much as £300 a minute.

The Local Government Association, which speaks for town halls, is lobbying ministers to reduce the maximum bet from £100 to £2.

The industry says it takes responsible gambling very seriously, however the evidence from a BBC investigation suggests otherwise.

The machines offer simple touchscreen play, usually on a version of roulette, where people can gamble as much as £100 a spin, in theory every 20 seconds. One source, who was a manager at Coral until recently, said staff were given instructions to offer machine players refreshments as soon as they entered the shop and do ‘absolutely anything’ to make them feel comfortable.

He said: ‘If the shop was too hot for them, we would have to turn the heating down or vice versa. They were the gods of the betting shop.

‘There was a suggestion from the area manager at one time that if we had a customer coming in their lunch hour, we had to make sure they didn’t waste time trying to get a cheese and ham roll instead of playing the machines. you could go out there, buy them a cheese and ham roll and get it ready for them.’

The manager, who did not give his name, said staff won bonuses for hitting their machine profit targets.

Coral said: ‘Recent health surveys show that problem gambling rates have in fact fallen since the introduction of the terminals and the average Coral customer’s loss per session on one is around £6-9.

‘Training, tools and processes are in place throughout the business to ensure that potential problem gamblers are identified and protected.’

‘Free bets and drinks’