A close look at the effects of the 2005 Gambling Act in the UK is under way by a government ministry committee.
The biggest inequality in that act was to permit bookmakers to use fixed odds betting machines (FOBTs) in their shops. Despite the ability of players to wager huge sums on the machines, it is likely that nothing will be done to curb them because the horse-racing industry has a lot of political influence. And the country's arcades and pubs, often in the same streets as the bookies' shops, have to struggle to compete with far more restriction.
Indeed, the big bookmakers are now agitating for lower tax levels on their FOBTs “to help the gambling industry” and to have more of the machines.
