Outrage as gambling firms swerve laws with new games
BETTING firms were yesterday accused of cynically bypassing new ‘ crack cocaine’ betting laws by introducing high-stakes roulette-style games instead.
They launched the paperbased games yesterday – the same day the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) was slashed from £100 to £2.
The new games allow players to bet up to £500 every two minutes.
The Gambling Commission said yesterday it was investigating the move. MPs reacted furiously, branding the new products ‘FOBTs by the back door’, as the Government promised to act if it saw evidence of harm.
The bets are made on a slip of paper passed to staff over the counter, rather than through a machine. But campaigners said they are high-stakes, high-speed games designed to look like roulette – the ‘main source of addictive FOBT profits’.
Virtual Cycling at Betfred allows customers to spend £500 per bet on games that run every two minutes, while punters playing Paddy Power’s Pick’n’36 can spend £100 every three minutes.
In both games players bet on numbers between 1 and 36, as well as on other outcomes similar to roulette. Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said: ‘These new games seem like FOBTs by the back door and look like a pretty disgraceful example of bad faith by the bookmakers involved.
‘They appear to be trying to cheat the system. The gambling industry clearly haven’t learned any lessons.’ Sports minister Mims Davies said: ‘We cut FOBT stakes to £2 to protect vulnerable people from gambling-related harm, and operators should respect both the letter and the spirit of that change.
‘We are watching very closely to see how the industry reacts to this measure and will not hesitate to act if we see evidence of harm.’ Charles Ritchie, of charity Gambling With Lives, said: ‘These games seem cynically designed to keep addicts gambling and maintain bookies’ profits. These supposedly responsible high street companies seem to be deliberately working against Government instruction to protect the vulnerable.’
Danny Cheetham, a former betting addict turned campaigner, said: ‘ It’s fast- paced, roulette impersonation. It’s addiction by design at its best and it has higher stakes than the old FOBT limits.
‘I’m shocked they’ve done this on the same day as the law has changed.’ The Gambling Commission had warned bookmakers over the weekend against trying to bypass the law.
The highly- addictive FOBT machines had been described by critics as ‘crack cocaine for gamblers’. The Mail has campaigned for greater protection for punters.
Virtual Cycling resembles roulette. A cyclist goes around a virtual track which is marked with numbers from one to 36. Gamblers can bet on numbers, colours or odds and evens – as in roulette.
Paddy Power launched Pick’n’36, in a limited number of stores with a maximum stake of £100. William Hill is testing a Wonderball game and yesterday had piles of betting slips available for customers to take away. Players would be able to stake up to £50 per by filling in the printed roulette board before a draw which takes place on TV screens.
A shop employee said: ‘If it’s like the other game we have on the screen then it’s once every two or three minutes. People like to have the game playing quickly. With the changes on the [FOBT] machines some people still want to bet big.’
Last night William Hill said it had ‘no set plans’ to launch the game. Betfred said: ‘Bets for all these products need to be filled out on a betting slip and handed over at the counter, where our staff can interact with the customers as they do so. These are not machine games but over the counter bets.’
Paddy Power did not respond to a request for comment.