“This is a decision that will have far-reaching implications for betting shops on the high street,” the Association of British Bookmakers said. “The independent expert advice warned that this would simply shift people, the majority of whom gamble responsibly, to alternative forms of gambling.”<\/p>\n
\n
FOBTs generate more than $2.3 billion in annual revenue for the betting shops, and roughly $525 million for the UK government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
To offset expected revenue losses, Treasury has announced a tax increase on online gambling that will now likely take place before the FOBT betting reduction.<\/p>\n
Defending Delay<\/b><\/h2>\n
The regulatory changes were unlikely to take effect until 2019, as the betting reduction requires parliamentary approval. But now bookmakers are assured they’ll enjoy at least two more years offering terminals that accept \u00a3100 bets every 20 seconds.<\/p>\n
The UK Gambling Commission estimates that 14 percent of those who play FOBTs are problem gamblers. The gaming regulatory additionally reports that each FOBT nets nearly $70,000 a year for the betting shops.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nA spokesperson close to the bookmakers and Treasury deal told the Guardian <\/i>the delay is to make sure the new rules are rolled out in the best manner possible.<\/p>\n
“We are changing the rules so they balance the needs of vulnerable people, those who gamble responsibly, and people who work in this sector. But we must get this right, and are engaging with the industry to ensure it has sufficient time to implement these technological changes,” the anonymous person stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UK bookmakers and the Treasury are being heavily criticized by government after the two parties struck a deal late last week to delay the implementation of the reduced max bet on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson called the government “fundamentally weak” after learning bookmakers successfully lobbied Treasury to wait until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":81202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,61,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
UK Bookmakers and Treasury Strike Deal to Delay FOBT Betting Change<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n