Record losses by UK gamblers in the UK

[Quincey]

British gamblers lost a record £13.8bn in the year ending September 2016, including an all-time high of £1.82bn on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).

The figures, released by the industry regulator the Gambling Commission, come just weeks before a long-awaited government review of the industry is due to be published.

The review has seen FOBTs, which allow gamblers to stake up to £100 every 20 seconds, become a focal point for campaigners supporting tighter regulation, with both the Liberal Democrats and Labour promising to cut the maximum bet to £2 if they win the general election.

The commission's figures showed that betting on the machines continues to grow, up £57m from the last update in November to £1.82bn for the year to the end of September 2016.

The amount lost on FOBTs has now increased by 73% since 2009, despite the number of machines rising by just 9% over the same period to 34,388, indicating punters are increasing the amount they stake...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/25/uk-gamblers-fobt-dcms-losses

Gambling really is shite isn't it? We should try to tax it out of existance and ban all gambling advertising at least. Betting shops should have to have window displays that only show ways to get help for gambling addictions and they should have to play "It is very unlikely you will win any money from betting" every half an hour over the speaker system.

[Phil_A]

I do genuinely believe gambling is one of the great social ills of this country, and the spread of online casinos and slot games has only exacerbated the problem, because now you don't even have to leave the house to do it. Turn on the TV in the small hours of the morning now, and you'll see hundreds of ads for these sites, it's soul-destroying, it really is. Oh for the days of Gay Exchange and Chatback.

[biggytitbo]

I don't have a problem with gambling as such, its a free country, but the industry has become disgustingly bloated and ugly in the last 2 decades, preying on the desperate and the poor as it does.


It does perversely reflect the kind of economy our politicians worship though, built around speculation and gambling rather than productive work.

[imitationleather]

It must be absolutely awful to be a gambling addict trying to give up. Pretty much every sporting event is bookended by adverts advertising odds and played by sportspeople adorned in the names of betting websites on their gear. I know they put a little "When the fun stops stop" banner at the bottom of the screen, but as if that's going to convince anyone with a problem. I've always thought the massive proliferation of online gambling is like an alcoholic having a third tap installed in their sink that just pours booze. At least when you had to go to a bookies you'd have to face someone else in a shop with strict opening hours and so you couldn't just spend 24/7 gambling without the potential embarrassment of social interaction.

I'm not exactly one to pass up on a vice if there's one going, but whenever I've gambled it's made me feel ill and completely ruined my enjoyment of the sporting event in question. I know quite a few people who bet and fair enough if they enjoy it. They only ever go on about their massive wins though, and they aren't exactly loaded so I can only assume they lose most of the time and keep that bit quiet.

[BeardFaceMan]

Gambling is for mugs, matched betting is where it's at. Gambling is fun though.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I worked in a bookies in the late 2000's. It's a grim industry, but those machines are an absolute pox.

They give small dunts of gratification in quick succession so encourage people to piss more money into them effortlessly. Betting on horses is much more difficult by comparison. They're one of the few things (other than numbers like the lotto) that women get into as well so they're fairly heavily targeted at housewives as well. It's quite predatory with the tournaments and the like./

The problem with targetting fobts is the exact same games are playable online now with browser/phone apps. Those fobts just a cashbox and a front-end, all the processing takes part on servers in tax havens for dodging reasons, so only really the means of payment changes for mobile etc.

The problem is running is a book is something anyone can do I suppose, you risk sending it underground and then people end up with massive debts and broken legs.

[Wet Blanket]

I don't think anybody would complain if they clamped down on those casino apps that shamelessly rip people off in their own homes. The sort of measures suggested in the OP are a bit much in my opinion; there's probably a healthy balance to be had allowing bookmakers and physical casinos to trade but not online gambling dens.   

[Quincey]

What are the benefits of allowing online bookmakers and physical casinos to trade? I suppose it reduces illegal gambling.

[Funcrusher]

FOBTs should be allowed only in licenced casinos and nowhere else, as the membership aspect would allow problem gamblers to ban themselves. The policy of self exclusion from betting shops just won't ever work, so even if problem gamblers want to try and stop themselves they can't.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

Came in expecting some scathing brexit satire.

[Quote]

'Ave a bang on that!

The non-stop gambling ads across any sporting event piss me right off. They're normalising gambling to such an extent it's no wonder people have lost a fortune. I know we've had bookies for years but they were grubby little places full of smoke and old men, not the kind of place to entice the young. Nowadays betting companies are trying to set themselves up as a natural accompaniment to an afternoon's sports watching down the pub/at home.

Parasites.

[Quincey]

We need a grassroots movement to make gambling less acceptable and to call for more support for people addicted to gambling. And appearing in gambling ads should be socially unacceptable like taking up two car parking spaces. Why aren't Ray Winstone and Chris Thingy called out for this?

[Danger Man]

whenever I've gambled it's made me feel ill and completely ruined my enjoyment of the sporting event in question.

The very first bet I ever made was for Dennis Irwin to score in a game.

I then spent 90 minutes watching Dennis Irwin.

[Sony Walkman Prophecies]

It does perversely reflect the kind of economy our politicians worship though, built around speculation and gambling rather than productive work.

Yep.

[Poisson Du Jour]

If gamblers lost £14 billion, that's just the bookies' takings isn't it? And if the bookie takes 5% (number from a quick google of online betting margins), does that mean £280 billion was actually bet? I dunno, I can't do the maths. I guess not because people bet the 'same' money again and again until they lose it. Still a crazy figure, the 14 billion. Very sad. Quite an indictment of maths teaching too.

[Wet Blanket]

What are the benefits of allowing online bookmakers and physical casinos to trade? I suppose it reduces illegal gambling.

I'd say it's the same as legalising drugs (which I am also in favour of) in that it allows regulation, taxation and reduces the potential for criminal behaviour.

Also, I think it was in Spring Breakers, there was a scene in which these debauched students were having a wild house party, and one of the indications of this, among chugging beer and doing drugs, was a load of them playing dice; seemed to me too that in those parts of the US where gambling is illegal it takes on an extra illicit cache that it doesn't have here when you can just go down BetFred.

Plus for everyone who ends up losing their house and their car to gambling addiction I daresay there are hundreds if not thousands of people who enjoy a punt on the geegees every week with no negative effects, and I don't see why they should be stigmatised on account of these online companies' sharper practices.

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

I am a weedy little coward but one of the benefits I'm grateful for is that I've never got any joy from gambling. It just makes me feel vaguely nervous.

Those seaside arcade machines where you have a load of 2p coins you have to push down to the bottom, that's my game.

[Blue Jam]

I worked in a bookies in the late 2000's. It's a grim industry, but those machines are an absolute pox.

Yep, I don't have very strong opinions on gambling in general, but FOBTs are just evil. It's not just the way they're specifically designed to appeal to problem gamblers, it's also the way they've led to so many high streets changing for the worse, due to the laws restricting the number allowed in one shop, and chains just opening branches too close to each other so they can operate more of them.

Deptford High Street had at least eight bookies when I left, and there were ongoing attempts to stop a ninth one opening up. One had replaced the street's single remaining pub, The Deptford Arms, and so instead of people socialising at the pub, keeping to the session ales and staying relatively civilised you'd see more and more groups of blokes choosing to socialise on the pavement outside the bookies, drinking cans of strong lager from the off licence, in between popping in for a punt, shouting abuse at women and picking fights with men. I often didn't feel safe walking past those places, the atmosphere got uglier and uglier as more bookies opened up.

I'd agree that FOBTs should only be allowed in casinos- I know some problem gamblers request to be banned from certain bookies, but that doesn't work when there are so many about, and I'm not sure how staff keep on top of these self-exclusion cases, or how they feel about taking that responsibility.

The situation in Australia with "pokies" (fixed-odds poker machines) is even worse. I heard more about this when an Australian friend recommended the film - Ka-Ching! Pokie Nation- I've only seen the trailer but I should seek out the full version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK9ecj7n17g

http://kachingfilm.com/

Some very bleak reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/11/pokies-and-the-australian-addiction-to-gambling

http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/most-australians-gamble-on-a-weekly-basis-to-try-and-win-money/news-story/48e2d6a09bd40d0c91a53a3063049db1

It's bad enough that they're allowed in family-friendly places, especially when there's evidence that children exposed to them have a greater chance of growing up to become problem gamblers, but putting these things in pubs is just asking for trouble, as is the lack of a reasonable jackpot limit.

As for online casinos, I once knew someone who worked in a rather rough pub with several fruit machines. Every day at opening time they'd see a few familiar faces come to the bar, order a Coke or a lemonade, pay for it with a £20 note and then sheepishly ask "Er... could I have the change in pound coins please?" before they'd take their stash over the the fruit machines and put every last coin in, then leave looking dejected. I dread to think what online casinos are doing to people as desperately addicted as that, now they don't even have to go out to a pub or wait for opening time to get their fix.

[Blue Jam]

I am a weedy little coward but one of the benefits I'm grateful for is that I've never got any joy from gambling. It just makes me feel vaguely nervous.

Those seaside arcade machines where you have a load of 2p coins you have to push down to the bottom, that's my game.

I've never been a betting woman either. Back when I was really into The X Factor me and a friend did a two-for-one offer and put a couple of £5 bets on "to make it a bit more interesting". I bet on Austin Drage, who had done well at the early stages before the live shows revealed his total lack of stage presence and I thought "bah, mug's game" and never bothered again. It didn't make watching the show more fun either- I just found myself reluctantly rooting for someone who was a bit crap. I've considered betting on elections since but I don't think anything could make the upcoming general election seem exciting.

Those two-for-one offers, "free spins" etc seem dangerous- after taking advantage of those offers it's then horribly easy to put on proper bets. Again, I'm glad I could take advantage of an introductory offer and then have no inclination to place a bet ever again.

In Japan I got a bit addicted to "UFO catchers" (claw machines) but even then I'd only play if the machine was viable (ie, not rigged to never give out a prize) and if the prize was something I actually wanted, and those games really did feel more like a test of skill and were actually fun to play- also a nice alternative to going out for a drink, and still cheaper than drinking. The UFO catcher floors of the arcades had a nice, fun atmosphere- it was the pachinko floors upstairs which always felt bleak, and pachinko never appealed to me at all. A game so boring the machines need little video screens like exercise bikes in gyms? Fuck that.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'd agree that FOBTs should only be allowed in casinos- I know some problem gamblers request to be banned from certain bookies, but that doesn't work when there are so many about, and I'm not sure how staff keep on top of these self-exclusion cases, or how they feel about taking that responsibility.

When I was there, the system was only really devised with single shops in mind, but it was on the customer to specify. This meant in every shop there was a folder of self-excluded (and banned) people. The usefulness of that varied really it's fair enough for a customer to ask for exclusion everywhere in a certain town, but then when I worked in one in Scotland we used to get given photocopies of faxes of photocopies sent to our area branch where someone in London had asked for 'all shops', the mugshots were by completely unrecognisable having been through thermal paper.

In addition to this, a lot of staff in bookies (especially the cashiers) are often circulated all over the place filling in for other people or just there to ease the demand for part of the day. Even if they did check the folder, which I never remember anyone doing. One thing I will say is they do take it seriously if someone is served accidentally (or at least the person who serves them gets a bollocking from the compliance guy in the company) but the process is so shit it's very easy to do. All of the compliance stuff is focused around passing the buck to the cashiers and distancing the company from any potential liability. You'll notice the difference as the internal-security and monitoring is taken seriously by the shareholders and the processes there are shit-hot.

[BlodwynPig]

I don't have a problem with gambling as such, its a free country, but the industry has become disgustingly bloated and ugly in the last 2 decades, preying on the desperate and the poor as it does.


It does perversely reflect the kind of economy our politicians worship though, built around speculation and gambling rather than productive work.

Don't say I didn't warn you

Fuck the BBC.

And FUCK GAMBLING. It's going to take over, man. The new religion borne from a society of despair on the one side and self-aggrandising on the other, particularly from the political elites

[cptspalding]

I do wonder how many brown envelopes change hands and at what level for this parasitic industry to still be allowed to run in the way it is. Perhaps these envelopes are a healthier size than the ones the tobacco people offered?

I'm by no means a Puritan but hate seeing gambling advertising anywhere and for me it shows utter contempt for the well being of their customers by allowing ad space to be used by gambling firms.  The FA in particular should be ashamed of themselves.