For the past year, responsible gambling advocates in the United Kingdom have been at odds with the betting shop industry over Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, the British version of poker machines. Now, the government is introducing new laws that will tighten controls on the games to help protect players from potential gambling harm. The new gaming machine laws will include a take hike.
Bookmakers will now have to pay 25% on their pokies as opposed to the 25% they paid previously. According to Reuters UK, this will cost them an additional $124 million per year. Another new control could see the introduction of warning messages. These alerts would aim to prevent players from chasing their losses and spending more than they can afford to on gaming machines.
As expected, gaming industry professionals are not pleased with the proposed measures. Representatives from betting shops have argued that the laws could cost them more than $600 million a year, and possibly put 2000 betting shops out of business.
"It is often forgotten that we are the only sector that pays more in tax than we make in profit and contribute 1 billion (pounds) to the Exchequer," reads a letter from the Association of British Bookmakers. The public’s reaction to the news of the possible controls has also been quite negative. Both William Hill and Ladbrokes saw their share prices drop since the announcement was made.
Still, the UK Gambling Commission remains dedicated to its goal of reducing potential gambling harm. "We want a successful gambling industry but not at the expense of player protection and will announce our plans on this soon," says a spokesperson for the commission.
There is likely to be a fierce debate over the new controls on FOBTs in UK’s betting shops. We will keep you updated as the situation develops.
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