{"id":42583,"date":"2016-12-06T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T02:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=42583"},"modified":"2016-12-06T17:46:02","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T01:46:02","slug":"paddy-power-founder-secretly-lobbied-fobts-contrary-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-founder-secretly-lobbied-fobts-contrary-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"Paddy Power Founder Secretly Lobbied Against FOBTS, Contrary to Own Interests"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_42585\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42585\" data-style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-42585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248.png\" alt=\"Paddy Power chief Stewart Kenny lobbied against FOBTs\" width=\"460\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248.png 300w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248-142x142.png 142w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248-120x120.png 120w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/248-110x110.png 110w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-42585\"class=\"text-description\">Stewart Kenny, former boss of Paddy Power, told the Irish government that its British counterpart was \u201cas addicted to the tax revenue [from FOBTs] as vulnerable customers are to losing money in them.\u201d (Image: James Morgan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p2\"><i><\/i>Stewart Kenny, former CEO and co-founder of Paddy Power, fought the introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to Ireland, contrary to his company\u2019s own interests, according to documents seen by UK newspaper <i>The Times<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Despite Paddy Power today owning almost 1,400 FOBTs in roughly 350 betting shops thoughout the UK, and positioned to benefit greatly from a 2009 proposal to introduce them into Ireland, Kenny wrote to the Irish government to warn against it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/paddy-power-slapped-by-regulator-over-poor-anti-money-laundering-measures\">Paddy Power<\/a> brings in around \u00a393 million ($117 million) a year from FOBTs in the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">In his letter, he labeled the machines \u201cdangerously addictive\u201d and \u201cparticularly enticing to younger gamblers in disadvantaged areas,\u201d an assertion that the Association of British Bookmakers has always vigorously denied.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>In No One\u2019s Interest<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cThere is no public demand, other than from sections of the betting industry, for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-bookies-slammed-for-offering-perks-to-fobt-players\">FOBTs<\/a> to be legalized in Ireland,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is in no one\u2019s interest, neither betting shop customers nor wider society\u2026 Let us learn from the mistake in the UK of allowing them into betting offices, once they are in it is impossible to get rid of them or even curb their more addictive elements.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p2\"><strong>Kenny, who left the Paddy Power board this summer, added that the British government was \u201cas addicted to the tax revenue as vulnerable customers are to losing money in them.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p2\">The hugely controversial machines, dubbed \u201cthe crack cocaine of the high street by British media,\u201d a phrase repeated by Kenny in his letter, allows gamblers to wager up to \u00a3100 per spin on virtual casino games like roulette and have been blamed for a rise in problem gambling, antisocial behavior and crime.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p2\"><b>Bookies Say Concerns are Overblown <\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p2\">The government\u2019s Department of Culture, Media and Sport has launched a long-promised review into the machines, which it says seeks to strike the right balance between \u201callowing the industry to contribute to the economy and enabling people to bet responsibly whilst ensuring consumers and communities are protected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">But the ABB recently snubbed an All-Party Group parliamentary hearing on the machines, branding it a \u201ckangaroo court\u201d with a \u201cpredetermined\u201d agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u201cFixed Odds Betting Terminals have been played in betting shops for over 15 years and yet problem gambling levels have remained stable before and after their introduction, at 0.5 percent of the population,\u201d said the ABB in official statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Bookmakers point out the retail betting sector is in decline and they will be forced to close betting shops if the deployment of machines is curtailed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stewart Kenny, former CEO and co-founder of Paddy Power, fought the introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to Ireland, contrary to his company\u2019s own interests, according to documents seen by UK newspaper The Times. Despite Paddy Power today owning almost 1,400 FOBTs in roughly 350 betting shops thoughout the UK, and positioned to benefit greatly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":42585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Paddy Power Founder Secretly Lobbied Against FOBTS, Contrary to Own Interests<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paddy Power founder Stewart Kenny warned Irish government about proposal to introduce FOBTs, according to The Times.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paddy Power Founder 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