Hopes fade for ‘crack cocaine’ bet limit of £2

MINISTERS faced a furious backlash last night over a longawaited official review of ‘crack cocaine’ betting machines.

Campaigners had hoped the Government would quickly slash the maximum £100 stake on casinostyle fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to just £2.

Instead, it merely recommended £2 as one of a series of options for a consultation. This could see the stake on the machines – which are found mainly in bookies’ shops and allow bets every 20 seconds – remain as high as £50. Bookmakers’ shares rose sharply after the announcement. The machines, which raise hundreds of millions in tax for the Treasury, have been blamed for fuelling dangerous addiction.

Last night, the Church of England, opposition politicians, councils and campaign groups criticised ministers and insisted that the maximum stake must be cut to £2, as they warned of the damaging social impact of the machines.

Brian Chappell, founder of campaign group Justice4Punters, said the issue had been ‘kicked into the long grass’, adding that he feared ministers were preparing to roll over to industry pressure.

Fixed-odds betting terminals were first allowed in 2001 by Tony Blair’s government and their numbers have spiralled.

They generate £1.8billion a year for bookies, who warned that cuts to the maximum stake could cost 12,000 jobs.

In her foreword to yesterday’s policy paper, Culture Minister Tracey Crouch said the Government ‘wants a healthy gambling industry’. She pledged to ‘strike the right balance between socially responsible growth and the protection of consumers and the communities they live in’. The document claims that a reduction to £2 would cost the industry nearly £639million.

It proposes a series of other measures to protect gambling addicts, including slower play.

Roulette games – which account for two-thirds of gambling on the terminals – could be forced to increase the length of a spin from 20 seconds to one minute.

As well as pressure from bookmakers, there has been concern within the Treasury that a move to £2 will cut tax revenues by up to £1billion by 2020.

Last night the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Alan Smith, said any reduction other than to £2 ‘does not go far enough to address the harm these

‘The £100 stake is a disaster’

machines cause’. He added: ‘At present, FOBTs are the only betting machines on the high street which take a stake of more than £2 ... The £100 stake has been a disastrous anomaly.’

Simon Blackburn, of the Local Government Association, said: ‘Not only are £100 maximum stakes significantly out of line with maximum amount that can be wagered on other gaming machines, but there is credible evidence that these machines may be particularly addictive and can harm vulnerable players.’

But Malcolm George, chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, claimed the £100 stake was ‘fine’. He told BBC Breakfast cutting it to £2 wouldn’t ‘necessarily’ help problem gamblers. ‘We believe that if you put sufficient checks, controls and balances in, yes, the £100 is fine,’ he said.

Shares in William Hill rose 2.3 per cent and Ladbrokes Coral shares were up 1.7 per cent after the announcement.

CASINOS are urging ministers to allow Las Vegas- style jackpots of £100,000 on gambling machines, up from the current maximum of £10,000.

They want higher minimum stakes and up to 500 machines per venue, instead of the current limit of 150, for a ‘ highroller international clientele’.