Britain's High Street Gamble

[sphericalfox]

As per the Channel 4 dispatches programme currently on. With the number of bookies on your road or near you? What do you think? What about the online gambling?

OK, love, I'm just nipping down the casino for 10 minutes.'

That's not a line you'd expect to hear in everyday life. One might propose a quick trip to the bookies, maybe, but not the casino, surely, except perhaps in our major cities where some casinos are allowed licences.

But, nowadays, there are in effect casinos on every high street - lots of them. They're known as 'Fixed Odds Betting Terminals', or FOBTs. Video gaming machines which you'll now find in almost every betting shop, and which increasingly dominate the bookies' business.

These FOBT machines aren't casinos in the traditional sense, of course - with an alluring ambiance, smart croupiers, and people sat at the roulette table with their piles of chips waiting for the next spin of the wheel. But you can still play roulette on a FOBT, or blackjack, or poker. And you can place bets in very quick succession, gambling up to £100 every 20 seconds. It wouldn't take too long to lose many thousands of pounds.

Dispatches has been investigating the changing nature of our high street betting shops. And we've explored the advent of the FOBTs, a new form of gambling which is dangerously addictive, and seems to be directed at people in our poorest communities, those who can least afford high losses.

Academic research shows what effect FOBTs are having. Problem gamblers, those with a serious addiction, now lose more money on FOBT machines every year than they do on the horses, the dogs and in traditional casinos combined.

More and more bookmakers are setting up in working class districts, and often seem to act as a magnet for anti-social behaviour. But we've learnt that the planning laws make it difficult for local councils to stop more betting shops opening. Some communities and local politicians are now crying 'Enough! This area doesn't want yet another betting shop!'.

Armed with £100 in cash - kindly provided by Channel 4 - I show on Dispatches how compelling betting on a FOBT can be, and find out how fast I could lose the company's money. We speak to problem gamblers about their addiction to the machines, and to betting shop staff about how FOBTs now dominate their business. And we go undercover to show how many bookmakers are lax in checking whether teenagers playing these machines are under the legal age of 18.

Much of the change in high street bookies flowed from the liberalisation of the rules in the Blair government's 2005 Gambling Act. But now senior Labour politicians admit that legislation was too lax, with devastating consequences in what are mostly Labour communities.

The deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman tells Dispatches that the way the 2005 act applied to betting shops and high-stakes machines was a 'mistake', that Labour was 'wrong' to pass it in that way, and that the regulations against bookmakers should be toughened up again.

But the Conservative Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who in opposition correctly predicted many of the consequences of the 2005 law, shows no signs of wanting to tighten things up.

[Guest Bilo]

These machines are nothing short of evil. I don't use that word very often, but in this case I think it's accurate.

Firstly, they are deliberately designed to be addictive. The 'near misses' as 36 comes out when you've selected 35, the 'patterns' that seem to form and the occasional big wins are all there on purpose and are aimed at one thing; making you have another spin and another and another. They're easy to play, fast paced and demand your attention in a way the old fruities never could.

The betting companies love them. Firstly, they are extremely addictive and have no language barrier, just the ticket if you want to fleece everyone in your local area. Secondly, the only costs that they incur are the electricity and the licence. All the staff have to do is pay out the winning tickets and empty them at the end of the night. No training involved, no expensive settling equipment, very few cash handling errors. There's no levy to pay the horse racing community as there is with 'over the counter bets.' Once you've paid the bare essentials, it's unencumbered profit. Here's the clincher, they're becoming less and less regulated. Someone wants to come into the shop and gamble away a month's wages in an hour? Easily done. Far more easily done than if it were on the dogs or horses, where the punter would have to face the shop staff and the staff themselves may express concern.

The downside? Yeah, calls to Gamcare and Gamblers' Anonymous are going through the roof. Gambling addiction related suicides are up to their highest levels since the introduction of betting shops. Thousands are racking up debts as long as their arms. But who cares about any of that when there's cold, hard cash to be made?

Gambling has never been the most ethical industry in the world, but these things are like legalising crack and selling it behind the bar of your local. They are massively, massively damaging to communities. It's no coincidence that betting shops are springing up in poor, working class communities either. The recession is still biting like a rabid dog and working class communities have been hit hard. There are plenty of people with little to do all day except look for jobs, and when there is no joy to be had they may hope to win a few quid on the horses. Now though, there's the superfast and attractive FOBT to play; and the promise of quick, easy money on a machine where no skill, knowledge of casino games or even social interaction is required makes them an attractive but dangerous prospect.

This might all seem hyperbolic but having worked in the industry for seven years up until last October, I've seen first hand just how insidious these machines are. I'd appeal to anyone visiting a betting shop to walk straight past the nasty little things and stick to your footie coupon or racecards, it's just too dangerous a game.

[sphericalfox]

That's just for the boys really. The ladies have a plethora of 'fun and easy' Bingo sites to choose from, from the comfort of their laptop or phone. I genuinely do despair.

[Out Foxed]

too many bookies on the high street. electronic roulette etc should be removed from all shops.

[Guest MattP]

Ruined betting shops for me, uses to love the atmosphere when good racing was on.

The sort of people who play them are awful as well. The ones in town are just dreadful, feel sorry for the staff who have to put up with them.

[Zingari]

Can't really understand the attraction of gambling really , especially fruit machines etc , it seems a right mugs game .

I love an occasional day out at the races , but it's only peanuts that i put on

[sphericalfox]

Ruined betting shops for me, uses to love the atmosphere when good racing was on.

The sort of people who play them are awful as well. The ones in town are just dreadful, feel sorry for the staff who have to put up with them.

Stupid smelly addicts. They should be forced to play online where we can't see them.

[Guest Bilo]

That's the other thing; as much as I used to make a joke of it when I worked in bookies, it does tend to be the less intelligent punters who make a beeline for the roulette machines. The racing enthusiasts and sports fans don't touch them on the whole. It's not a good state of affairs.

[Guest MattP]

Stupid smelly addicts. They should be forced to play online where we can't see them.

I'd quite happily see a separate section open for them, a right nuisance to the real punters.

Not to mention the amount of times a group of 4-5 scumbags keep asking you to lend them some money.

Fortunately I don't spend much time in the town centre anymore.

[Guest MattP]

Don't like the accusation on the program that we are turning in things into mini Vegas, no one who has been to Vegas would make any comparison between the great city and our bookmakers.

[sphericalfox]

That's the other thing; as much as I used to make a joke of it when I worked in bookies, it does tend to be the less intelligent punters who make a beeline for the roulette machines. The racing enthusiasts and sports fans don't touch them on the whole. It's not a good state of affairs.

Gambling companies of any description both on the high street and online are deplorable on how they target their prey and drain them of the small amount of money they have. Once their hooked in a spiral that's that. The amount of advertising for these companies on the television and elsewhere is extraordinary, there's no escape. A cancer on society.

[Guest Bilo]

Mini Vegas?

More like gambling's answer to a crack den.

[Guest Col city fan]

Good thread this.

The addiction in gambling is based upon the principle of 'operant conditioning' which implies that someone will only be rewarded intermittently.

That's why gambling is addictive... The gambler only wins every so often. If they won every time, 'winning' would lose its appeal. It would almost become mundane. Similarly, if they didn't win often enough they would soon lose interest.

I would guess that thats why the fruit machines' or more recently FOBT's are so highly addictive... The opportunity to win a decent sum of money in a very short time frame is always there. You don't have to wait very long to win, there's no filling out a betting slip, no having to wait for a horse to finish its race... The joy of winning and the sorrow of losing is almost instantaneous.

It's of no surprise therefore that they have popped up in so many bookies.

I'm currently having a week with the missis in Skeg. You only have to wander into any of the multitude of amusement arcades to see the number of people sitting at their favourite slot machines for hours at a time. These places must take a small fortune from the daft sods that frequent them.

As an aside... I think operant conditioning works in football too. I wouldn't want to be a fan of Man Utd or Barcelona... They simply win too much. And the theory dictates that you must have to experience the 'losing' to fully appreciate the 'winning'.

Id rather be a city fan, waiting for season after season to win something and then experience sheer exultation when we finally do.

The problem recently is that it has become a very long wait...

[Zingari]

Good thread this.

The addiction in gambling is based upon the principle of 'operant conditioning' which implies that someone will only be rewarded intermittently.

That's why gambling is addictive... The gambler only wins every so often. If they won every time, 'winning' would lose its appeal. It would almost become mundane. Similarly, if they didn't win often enough they would soon lose interest.

I would guess that thats why the fruit machines' or more recently FOBT's are so highly addictive... The opportunity to win a decent sum of money in a very short time frame is always there. You don't have to wait very long to win, there's no filling out a betting slip, no having to wait for a horse to finish its race... The joy of winning and the sorrow of losing is almost instantaneous.

It's of no surprise therefore that they have popped up in so many bookies.

I'm currently having a week with the missis in Skeg. You only have to wander into any of the multitude of amusement arcades to see the number of people sitting at their favourite slot machines for hours at a time. These places must take a small fortune from the daft sods that frequent them.

As an aside... I think operant conditioning works in football too. I wouldn't want to be a fan of Man Utd or Barcelona... They simply win too much. And the theory dictates that you must have to experience the 'losing' to fully appreciate the 'winning'.

Id rather be a city fan, waiting for season after season to win something and then experience sheer exultation when we finally do.

The problem recently is that it has become a very long wait....

that's a fookin big gamble in my book !!

[Guest Col city fan]

that's a fookin big gamble in my book !!

We avoid the amusement arcades ( and the karaoke bars and 'Fantasy Island').

[Zingari]

We avoid the amusement arcades ( and the karaoke bars and 'Fantasy Island').

you can't avoid the bracing breezes ( as they charmingly describe daily hurricane force winds ) .

have a good holiday i'm only ribbing , i've had some great times there

[Guest Bilo]

Don't diss my home town blud.

Brrap.

[Guest Col city fan]

you can't avoid the bracing breezes ( as they charmingly describe daily hurricane force winds ) .

have a good holiday i'm only ribbing , i've had some great times there

Cheers chap

[ADK]

If it were up to me i would ban all forms of gambling. Or at least ban gambling advertising.

[Guest Bilo]

If it were up to me i would ban all forms of gambling. Or at least ban gambling advertising.

It's only a recent thing that television advertising of gambling companies was authorised, now it's on every day.

The industry needs more regulation in my view.

[Jon the Hat]

On one hand I hate the concept of the nanny state telling people what to do, and my instinct is that people should be free to decide what they do with their own money. On the other hand I am not sure that free will is really in play here, with the psychology of these machines so well thought out. In many ways it is as challenging as drug addiction when you think about the impact on families - money spent on gambling when the kids need food, school clothes etc. Something should be done as the saying goes, but not sure what exactly.

[leicsmac]

On one hand I hate the concept of the nanny state telling people what to do, and my instinct is that people should be free to decide what they do with their own money. On the other hand I am not sure that free will is really in play here, with the psychology of these machines so well thought out. In many ways it is as challenging as drug addiction when you think about the impact on families - money spent on gambling when the kids need food, school clothes etc. Something should be done as the saying goes, but not sure what exactly.

Agree with this...not sure about the best course of action to take.

IMO gambling is actually a more insidious and dangerous addiction than many drugs, because it is totally invisible. There's no outward signs that a person is on that slippery slope, usually no warnings until they are in desperate financial trouble. It is truly the silent addiction, and I have had first-hand experience of it.

There's nothing wrong with having a bet every so often...but the problem with many people is that they simply do not know when to stop. And machines like this make it even more difficult to reach the point where you say "that's enough".

[Rocky Dennis]

If it were up to me i would ban all forms of gambling. Or at least ban gambling advertising.

Talksport have a betting advert about every 5 minutes, often the interviews with 'Paddy Power' regarding odds on sporting events are twice as long as any interviews with main guests or stories actually about sport.

[Guest Col city fan]

On one hand I hate the concept of the nanny state telling people what to do, and my instinct is that people should be free to decide what they do with their own money. On the other hand I am not sure that free will is really in play here, with the psychology of these machines so well thought out. In many ways it is as challenging as drug addiction when you think about the impact on families - money spent on gambling when the kids need food, school clothes etc. Something should be done as the saying goes, but not sure what exactly.

Hit the nail on the head Jon.

My first thought on this was that everyone has a choice. All addictions affect every strata of society... As many people who are leading an affluent life gamble, smoke, drink etc as those who are relatively poor.

In terms of regulation, where do you stop? If gambling is going to be banned or heavily regulated, should shops also be stopped from selling four cans of strong cider (eg 'white ace') for thruppence halfpenny to vulnerable 'victims'?

Or should red wine not be sold to bored housewives? What about Valium? Should gps not prescribe this to 'the worried well?

Eg. across Leicestershire, the main group of people taking illicit substances ain't the kids, it's the 30-45 age group, often those with more money (because they can afford them).

Where do people think the biggest drugs problem is in Leicestershire? The Highfields? Loughborough? Nope... It's it Market Harborough, reason being its an affluent area and it's on a quick route to London.

Gambling, like drinking, like drugs taking, is an addiction which is centuries old. If people want to do it, they will do it.

Are the gambling companies acting unethically? Or actually giving people what they want?

I dunno.. All depends on which moral stance the onlooker takes.

[MooseBreath]

I occasionally have a flutter on a roulette machine and quite enjoy it. I have a set amount of money I'm willing to lose and don't go over it. I reckon over the years my return on income has been about -15%. Hardly the end of the world. I can see how people with no self control might end up spending too much, but I have my doubts about the level of addiction these machines are capable of creating. I am certainly not even close to being addicted in any way. To compare it to drugs like heroin or crack is way too much imo. The addiction level is probably closer to that of chocolate. The problem is the way they exploit people who are prone to making bad decisions. But can you protect people from themselves? And is it fair to prevent other people's sensible enjoyment in order to protect the minority?