The aftermath of the UK’s decision to reduce the maximum stakes in fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in bookmakers shops from £100 to £2 has been almost immediate.
In a report, Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) of London has outlined the consequences. Its Lorien Pilling wrote this week that one major high street betting firm had written to staff asking for voluntary redundancies and informed them that over the next 18 months hundreds of shops will close.
“An independent bookmaker told GBGC that his FOBT revenue has been slashed by half in his shops since the announcement. How has this happened in just a few days? Betting shop customers seem to have assumed that the new lower stake came into force on the day it was announced by the DDCMS Secretary of State, Matthew Hancock MP.”
The problem, says Pilling is that the minister did not announce an implementation date, so players are already reacting, income for operators is already falling and tax revenues for the Treasury are dropping. Pilling reports that little of the ‘missing’ money is going over the counter in bets on horse-racing. Pilling feels that players no longer regard FOBTs with such a low stake interesting.
