To be glad that fixed odds jackpots are being reduced to £2

[ForalltheSaints]

assuming that it happens.

Gambling is an addiction just as potentially harmful as other addictions, and whilst it may only be one form, this seems a start. There are too many betting shops, especially in low income areas, and the loss of a few will only be bad for those who work there.

I agree. It's really shocking how there are so many betting shops in towns which have nothing but pawn shops, Poundland, takeaways and charity shops.

I don't understand what fixed odds means, but I am inclined to agree with you.

Betting on the outcome of a sporting event at least makes some sense as it can give a bit of extra excitement to something that already has some intrinsic entertainment value.

Pumping coins into a machine that is programmed to take your money at a logarithmically set rate is just stupid and feeds only on the most basic dopamine hit.

Yanbu. I feel for those that work there. But there are only so many shops so they can have more fixed odds machines. Because they can only have a set number of machines in one shop.

Betting shop workers also get a lot of abuse and violence towards them because of these machines. If it was up to me I would ban them altogether.

I heard this mentioned on the radio this morning and what I couldn't understand was them saying that it's going to cause the loss of thousands of jobs in betting shops. I don't understand how that could happen. Can anyone enlighten me?

While I generally don't approve of paternalism but as PP pointed out most of these shops are in poor areas ergo most of the losses are probably a cost to the tax payer. Fair game I say. No different to sugar tax in that respect. The cost of being dependant on your government is allowing them to tell you what to do. Hopefilly the staff will be able to find work elsewhere reasonably easily.

@longhardwinter the companies will make less money and have to pay off staff.

*lay

But this still means on things like electronic roulette machines you can bet £2 every 20 seconds, £6 a minute £360 an hour. Oh and the job loss thing is what the bookmakers are saying because apparently this won't make them enough money, so some stores will be considered unprofitable and they will shut them down. I'm not anti gambling although it's not my thing, by I understand betting on your team to win etc, analysing odds and trying to beat the bookie with your knowledge of form etc, but to play roulette etc on a screen? I just don't get it, those machines can only appeal to people who have problems.

Apparently there's a limit on the number of fixed odds machines allowed per shop, and they're so lucrative that it's worth opening extra shops just to have more machines.

So the jobs came with the fob terminals and they will be lost again if bookies don't feel they're coining in a high enough percentage of the local economy.

It's not like the government weren't warned about the damage that fixed odds betting terminals would cause at the time...

Sorry excessive use of etc!

It’s the stake that’s been cut to £2 not the jackpot.

I've seen the harm these machines can do. They prey on people at their lowest, already in debt but (foolishly) chasing a break. They lose so they keep going and their desperation for a win gets even greater.

There's nothing positive about these machines. I'd ban them altogether.

There are rules about how many FOBTs you can have in a bookies, but each one is so profitable that it’s worth opening up a shop in a depressed high street with low rents and staffing it just so you can have a place to put the FOBTs. Those shops were never profitable without being propped up by FOBT profits so they’ll be shut down again. It’s sad for the individual employees, but some forms of employment just aren’t in the public interest.