Thanks for getting in touch with Panorama. Gambling Nation is currently billed for 5th November, 8.30pm BBC One. However, as this is a current affairs programme, there is always a slight chance that the schedules may change to make way for a more time-sensitive story
harry2 wrote:We'll have the bookies saying they want up to TWENTY FOBTs in the shops to avoid people queuing up and being watched over their shoulder!
nothing wrong with that, some places are suited to have 10-20 machines, others are not suited to have any machines. Never was thought through allowing 4 machines a shop... just requires multiple shops.
should be licensed locally and then you would never get clustering of betting shops.
still the anti gambling club would have online gambling banned, fruitmachines in pubs banned, fobts banned, betting shops banned, scratch cards banned.... they say they would allow licensed casinos, but once that all thats left its what they would target.
When does Amusement With Prizes become gambling, though. 30p a spin would be in my book and 50p gambling. £100 a spin on roulette belongs in a casino. Everybody has a different view, I suppose ,and most should be respected.
I saw an article today that said only 48% of young people drink alcohol at weekends now, compared to 71% a few years ago. They said it was probably because of the Amie Winehouse situation, along with other celebrities' misfortunes, and the general lack of disposable income.
Bollocks.
It's due to the fact they're stuffing all their cash in the FOTB's, so they've got fuck-all left for the pub.
Urrr looking around local area, currently 12 machines, looked around earlier when in the town, only one being played.
only a matter of time before shops start closing, anything other than lifting the stake and prize limits will just mean game with flatter and flatter profiles and lower % to keep the profits comming in.
"Campaign for Fairer Gambling, which advocates a reduction in the maximum stake from £100 to £2; an increase in the time between spins; the removal of casino table game content from FOBTs; and a reduction from four FOBTs per shop to one. These recommendations would make the machines less addictive and create significantly fewer problem gamblers."
bookies would love that. £2 stakes, £500 jackpots, could create what games they liked and as whatever margin they decide since they would not need represent any odds you get on popular well known games.
70-80% the norm.
these stupid campaign for fairer gambling have no idea what the fuck they stand for, fair gambling was how the machine when they first came into the betting shops, stakes the punter could choose and the game payouts not capped.
What seems to be all forgotton now is why the machines came about in the first place, the taxation structure was changed, where the global draw machine where already sited, namely a few corals establishments, test pilots for roulette where put on the machines, quickly became popular as never had such a low margin game been offered to betting shop punters, punters won, but lost overall, they came back for more... the growth took off from there.
At this point there was not need to change the way the machines worked, cap stakes or prizes, just simply to restrict the volume of the machines and locations.
...but nope, they think they made them fairer by capping stake at £100 and prizes to £500.... now they thing they will make them fairer by capping stakes to £2... the mind boggles. The industry loved it since they had lower liabilities, got the new catergory for slots and even higher edge games.
Now the only way the operators can increase profits is changing the game profiles on the b3 games, attracting new punters, or getting a way to still offer the b2 games with a higher house edge. Could well see a £2 make stake, which would be a pre gamble, could be set at 100% then winnings can be played upto a £500 max prize, then over time the operator could just lower the pregamble to increase profits, the industry would be happy to have that compromise.
still the only plus point they have is one FOBT per shop... could get the return of catCs in betting shops?... must be dreaming
mr lugsy wrote:people don't get their giro's on a monday though , do they?
giros? average fobt punter round here ain't on giros, more people who are cash rich, business owners, boomers... benefit sorts don't seem to bother with them round here
what seems to of happened is the flow of punters is still there earlier in the day but they have done their money by early afternoon they don't seem to last through... makes sense, since when roulette was the only serious game on these machines, they would be solid from mid morning to close with punters, the house edge ground away slowly.
With all the new higher edge games it seems they are so much more effiecient that they have the punter skint in a few hours, or they hit a £500 and quit for the day.
one across the road from me has a stream of 5p chips boys all day long.they get narky if they lose their 'few quid' aswell.obviously there's the note loaders aswell and also all the chinese etc but i don't see that many on slots tbf . it's practically all roulette.
mr lugsy wrote:one across the road from me has a stream of 5p chips boys all day long.they get narky if they lose their 'few quid' aswell.obviously there's the note loaders aswell and also all the chinese etc but i don't see that many on slots tbf . it's practically all roulette.
yeah but the funny thing about the chinks is they bet at least 3/4 of the numbers, their mate on another machine doing another half a wheel, they effectively cover their own bets back n foruth and are always going to be consistant in the amount they donate since if one has a bad day the borrow it off the winning mates... would be better off setting up their own casino above the takeaway. Of course in the long run it all works out the same.
yeah but the 5p chip boys are not playing roulette are they, they are playing Hotshot roulette, which is a higher edge game?
if they can play 5p stakes roulette then its going to be low risk as they can get, unless they play blackjack, but then its asking a bit much for them to play he perfect stratagy. Funny thing I heard with some old bloke comming up to a lad playing blackjack said "hard to win at that game as you don't get very good odds", that while he was backing dogs at 140%+books
I suspect it will the same old: CCTV footage of some punter hitting a FOBT; some folks on about how it ruined their lives; some bookie industry sort talking about how bookies employ people, pay taxes etc; then some academic saying how FOBTs are evil.
