UK Betting Machines Cut Stakes for Real Money Gambling

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Published on :

21 May, 2018

According to a recent report on PlaySlots4RealMoney.com covering the topic of real money gambling, the government is taking steps to limit the impact from excessive real money gambling losses. Slot machines and other forms of video gambling on electronic machines are referred to as fixed-odds betting terminals or FOBTs in the UK. In a recent move to address the issue, the maximum stake that can be placed on these betting machines will be reduced to two pounds. Check out the best UK casinos at PlaySlots4RealMoney.com. Under current law, gamblers can wager up to 100 pounds every 20 seconds on electronic casino games. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock was quoted in this piece calling these gambling machines “a very serious social blight” that “needs to be tackled.”

According to the Gambling Commission that has jurisdiction for these forms of real money gambling, the yearly revenue generated by the betting industry is 1.8 billion pounds. This translates to $400 million pounds of tax revenue for the government. Local bookmakers have voiced their concern for the lower wager limit. Many have warned government officials that thousands of betting outlets will be forced to close. The alternative suggestion by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports would be to increase taxes. Described in this report as a way to “cover any negative impact on public finances” it would increase the Remote Gaming Duty, which is currently in place for online casino-style games such as blackjack.

The current rate in place is 15 percent for operators of these types of real money gambling machines in the UK. The current tax rate in place for FOBTs is 25 percent. This gap is expected to be closed in the upcoming budget. This political decision will have a direct impact on William Hill sportsbook and gaming house. The company derives more than half of its current retail revenue from FOBT’s. It labeled the two pound wager limit as “unprecedented” and it also noted that the negative impact on its 900 gambling shops could lead to job losses down the road. The potential loss of operating profit over the course of an entire year has been estimated to fall between 70 million and 100 million pounds.

In another direct quote from Mr. Hancock in this PlaySlots4RealMoney.com report, he stated, “Sometimes in politics you have a chance to really do something to help people and, in particular, this case to help some very vulnerable people- hundreds of thousands of people who lose thousands of pounds on these machines.” Betfred’s managing director Mark Stebbings reacted to this situation with the statement that these government actions “played politics with people’s jobs” and the decision was “clearly not evidence based but a political decision.” He went on to say that , “This decision will result in unintended consequences including direct and indirect job losses, empty shops on the High Street, and a massive funding hit for the horseracing industry.” In closing, the PlaySlots4RealMoney.com report added that the proposed stakes limits for FOBTs would take place some time next year, but an exact timetable has not been put into place.

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