- This topic has 349 replies, 108 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 1 month ago by
.
- Posts
Quote: from Wallace on 4:42 pm on Jan. 12, 2007[br]Are FOBT’s allowed in pubs? They look like upmarket bandits to me but wonder if the local license people consider them something else?<br>
They are in Ireland.
In England and Wales, FOBTs are not allowed in pubs currently, nor will they be under the full new regime in September 2007.
FOBTs are category B2 machines, whose higher permitted stake is regarded as permissible in "hard" but not "soft" betting environments.  ÂÂÂ
Since you can already lose thousands on a horse race, B2 machines are allowed in bookies, but not in a bingo hall where have to make do with B3 machines.
<br>Category A machines – no limit on stakes or prizes. Only allowed in the regional casino.
B1 – max stake £2, max prize £4,000
B2 – max stake £100, max prize £500
B3 –  max stake  £1, max prize £500
B4 – max stake  £1, max prize £250.
<br>best regards
wit
- Total Posts 17716
Wit
Thanks for that, the report says it all.<br>A massive increase in problem gambling,the machines habitual and compulsive; and the story supressed by the bookmakers.:o <br>BD, stick to being a clown!<br>
Quote: from barry dennis on 11:10 am on Jan. 11, 2007[br]<br>what betting shop has fobt’s DISPLACING other betting mediums?<br>
<br>Most of them in my area Barry, I trip over the stupid buggers playing them to get to the results screen. Bring back boardmen!
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways:old:
I was buying a sale suit " A cheap smith" in Barkers situated above Terry’s (Venables) old club Squire’s, well a couple of years ago, and it was strange how the converstion got around to gambling.
I greatly respected the assistant’s judgement in areas of cloth, and fully wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt about his claim to have won two large amounts on FOBT’S, with very little losses. He grinned proudly as he told me of the two first class holidays, one in the lazy heat of Goa – no suit needed – and the third he was soon expecting and had already planned. He had black greased back hair, which is possibly incidental.
His secret he told me was to hang around the mugs while they emptied their pockets, and then, and then, at the prescribed High Noon moment, he would place his boots opposite it and bet a stipulated amount – never more than eighty pounds. GOT THAT ;). And remember he had cleaned up twice with few trips.
Well in the end I didn’t buy the suit. :(
flatcapgamble…..if you win a large amount on a gambling machine it is sudden, unexpected and mind numbingly pleasurabe – very like being caught in the rain :biggrin:
Quote: from davidbrady on 9:13 am on Jan. 12, 2007[br]I wonder has anybody been banned from their local bookies yet for being a persistent winner on the FOBTs?<br>
Funny you should ask that because that’s the question I asked my boss as we have an irritant that keeps winning large amounts on the machines.
Unfortunately we don’t have an grounds to ban them from the shop and it is impossible to restrict somebody putting too much money in the machine (he might slip a tenner in when you are not looking) and you can hardly tell him he has to come off if he has won £100.
And more to the point, the company believes it is only shortterm gain that will be given back with interest very soon.
Some bad news today-one of my friends is attending ‘Gamblers annon”..why?-
This was a guy like me who use to only bet on the jumps,then he started putting in his loose change as he was leaving the shop,then it was a tenner etc etc etc got to the stage he was betting between £300-£700 a week!!!!
When i spoke to him today he was in tears,said the machines are so addictive and can see where a junky gets his hit.We are all adults and have a choice not to play but these machines are evil
the bookies are coining it in with these machines,inface my mate Scott is a mananger in a willhill shop and he says they can take more in one of these machines in a day than on racing sometimes.Weve all done that mate..
But from what im told there are alot of people who go into the bookies and have an addiction to these horrible machines.
In my local small town a punter comes into a shop every second day,he starts of at £100 a spin,within an hour he has left £3,000 in the machine.
Addicts will always be more welcome in the shops than sensible gamblers,.I hope your friend gets himself sorted out.If you go to back a certainty always buy a return ticket.
Yes, it’s sad to see any of our fellows trapped by any form of destructive addiction. Let’s hope he gets plenty of support in his troubles.
The only answer to the problem is awareness to such problems and that requires education starting in schools. Gambling, drugs, alcohol, debt, and sexual diseases are all an unescapable part of modern life, along with a growing underclass of disaffected youngsters with nothing much to do except wreak havoc in society. Schools try to deal with most of the above ills except gambling, which is still a taboo subject.
Most teachers have no idea about the gambling industry, so feel uncomfortable talking about it. Also, there is something in our national psyche that sees gambling as shady and unchristian and something that should not be mentioned in polite company.We need people who know about all aspects of gambling, good and bad, to go into schools and tell young people the facts about this ancient pastime in terms they can understand. Oh, and we need to do it yesterday, Mr Brown.
those machines want banning, yes i know all about it being a choice, but they seem to be highly addictive. just last night i heard someone had won a grand out of the machines near to where i live, and in the next breath was told he goes on them every day and puts £70 in them, so his grand won’t last him long. i’ve known people who bet on the horses a long time and have always seemed to be in control, but now you see people almost banging on the bookies door just to get in and play roulette, or to bet on cartoon racing. i’ve always considered betting on the horses to be a challenge and not a weakness but i guess for some people its more than that. we all know how bad it feels when a big bet goes down, but if i was to loose a lot of money to a machine i’d be physically sick.
hope your mate gets himself sorted out, but its a bit of a reminder of the tight line some of us walk.Artemis,
Why would gambling education be the responsibility of schools and not parents?
Totally agree that these machines need banning from the shops. One local shop extracted a small fortune from an addict who returned to the shop after midnight armed with an angle grinder. He hadn’t absorbed the notices on them that explained they were emptied every evening. Not really funny, but an indication of the desperation they can cause.
AP
Gambling Machines of all kinds should be taken out of all bookmakers’ shops. My wife is the manager of one of the big four high street outlets, and she has told me how these machines are nothing more than a licence to print money. She told me of one particular married couple, who are regulars and both dependent on government benefits – and how she can set her watch in the knowledge that on the day they get paid, they will come into her shop and will stand there shovelling all their cash into these machines until their money runs out. There was also the case of a local man, who attempted suicide, after blowing his wages two weeks running on the very same machines. Thankfully he survived, and to his credit has now seen the light, and has given up these machines for good.
These incidients alone are good enough reasons why these machines should be banned. They ARE highly addictive. People lose all sense of rationale and control when playing them. I am fortunate enough to have the temperament that allows me never to have been enticed by these machines at any stage in my adult life. I despise everything about them. They are a blight on our society.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
A sad story indeed and interesting tales from forumites. I’d always been of the opinion that the state shouldn’t interfere with people’s choice to spend their money on what they will, but now I’m not so sure.
One thing I would like to see introduced though is state benefits being paid in the form of tokens/vouchers. These could only be used to purchase groceries, clothes, papers, books and petrol and could not be accepted by bookmakers or exchanged for cash. At least that might stop those on benefit from frittering it away on gambling, fags or alcoholAlan as I know you live in Swindon you may have read about a Swindon heroin addict breaking into a house in your town a few months ago and stealing the pc, television, video player and jewellery.
He sold most of the items to pay for his fix of heroin and that last dose proved to be fatal.
When the police searched through his jeans some of the jewellery was still in his possesion.
The house he broke into at Walcott was my mothers!
There are plenty of things in life that can ruin lives whether its is drink, drugs and overall all sorts of betting whether its on a fixed odds betting machine or betting on horses or dogs would have ruined more lives than they had enhanced peoples lives.
I think the on line world of gambling on ‘games’ such as the ones betfair provide where one can sit alone taking a chance whether some card drawn will be higher or lower than the last seems to me to be aimed at those with a very addictive nature.
These to me seem more lethal as they are so much easier to get involved in as there is no need to make the effort to travel to the nearest betting shop.There have been accusations that betfair actually seed these markets and as it is a virtual bet they may not be doing anything wrong in law but morally if they are seeding the games it leaves a lot to be desired.
Whilst I wish anyone with major addiction problems my best wishes in coming to terms with themselves and solving any problems they may have in the meantime under the new gambling laws expcect to see more of theses machines in betting shops.
AP,
Any responsible parent should, of course, include gambling awareness as part of their child’s education, but many parents have little or limited understanding of the subject. I know schools have a tremendous amount on their plate, yet I feel gambling awareness is a valuable life skill which should be taught along with handling money.
I learned myself partly from my father(a coal miner) who used to send me to the back street bookie, and on the street from older lads, who all seemed to like a small bet. I don’t know for sure, but I think the streets are different today than in my youth.
I wish your friend the very best of luck in over coming his addiction – I am certain he will come through this better, wiser and much stronger, my thoughts go out to him.
Any form of addiction, whether it be smoking, drugs, gambling, drinking etc is probably one of the worst ‘life’ experiences you can go through and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
It’s hard to say whether those machines should be banned or not – if you go to a Casino and expect to play roulette, you can have a drink and get addicted to alcohol. If you go to a betting shop, and expect to have a bet, you can get hooked on those dam machines, if you go to a pub and expect to have a drink, you can get addicted to those quiz/fruit machines etc.
My local bookmakers now open at 8:30 a.m. When I first heard of this I was amazed and asked the manager why? Her reply was because the machines earn the shop so much money.
The thing that I worry about is when I pop in a betting shop to put my bets on, the people I see on these machines are people I never used to see in the betting shop. They are generally young people, and most of the time just came from the Post Office after collecting their weekly money. Before you know it, they have no money to pay their bills, no money to live on etc – it’s not a nice thought.
Mike
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.