FBO's on the wane

[Beerpig]

Those who know me know I have a real downer on these roulette machines that populate high street betting shops.
I've seen from clients and people I know what they can do.
I've played them once or twice myself and was astonished how utterly addictive they can be.
I was therefore delighted to read that at long last it seems the government are taking action to reduce the maximum stake per spin. At present it is £100 but there is a spin every 20 seconds so it goes so quickly. There was a recommendation the stake should be reduced to £30 which is a step in the right direction and now we hear it could be as low as £2 bringing them almost in line with the electric one armed bandits.
I expect the level will be between £10 and £30 but anything, anything at all to reduce the stake on these satanic machines that bring so much misery to so many is good news for society.
I understand how it was necessary they had to put together a think tank to include all the relevant parties although I do wonder how many of them looked beyond the statistics and actually went into a shop to see these machines plying their hideous trade. You only have to look at the faces of the players. They are totally addicted. In an age where everyone wants everything for free the flashing lights and pound signs represent easy money. Easy money for the old and especially for the young. For the lonely and for the groups. For the sober and especially for the drunk.
Once bitten you are so easily hooked. Time stands still. Nothing else matters apart from your next winning spin.
I know the bookies are bleating saying it would close hundred of shops and put thousands out of work. And poor William Hills - their shares fell by more than 10% on the news.
My view is tough.
How about the miserable thousands who lose everything? The broken families? The bankrupts? The young kids stacked up in mounds blowing all their money. The old lady fumbling in her purse.
Most of the shops only exist in the first place to accommodate the machines. They import horse racing from other countries late into the night- not because the public are interested in what goes on at an remote flapping track in the USA, but because they want to keep the machines running and catch the drinkers.
As a sap to Government and Gamblers Anonymous and the like all bookies/gaming adverts are now endorsed with the slogan 'When the fun stops, stop.' Yeah, right. You might as well say that to a heroin addict for all the good it will do.
If I ruled the world I would go into every single one of these shops, smash up every one of these machines and chuck them in the tip.
However I don't rule the world and never will but if enough people get to understand how destructive these machines are, perhaps between us we can change it.

[YeadonLad]

Two quid - I make the limit 20p myself.

[Beerpig]

Fantastic!
Its 2 quid maximum stake every 20 seconds (down from 100).
Well done the government who listened to the people on this one.

[kiloran]

Fantastic!
Its 2 quid maximum stake every 20 seconds (down from 100).
Well done the government who listened to the people on this one.

Don't hold your breath....

The government said the stake limit would come into effect some time next year, but would not set an exact timetable.

--kiloran

[vrdiver]

I have no sympathy with the bookies on this.

What puzzles me (and this is real puzzlement, not a weird attempt at trolling) is how is it addictive?

I am not particularly interested in sport or fruit machine style gambling. I know one horse will run faster than the others, and that one footballer will kick a ball better than another, but I have no interest in wagering as to which it will be.

I worked on fixed odds machines many, many years ago and can also thank an understanding of probability mathematics for part of my career. Knowing the payout ratio of a fixed-odds machine tells me it is going to win. It's going to win today, tomorrow and every day. The more I play the more crushing the statistical chances of beating the odds become.

Since I find gambling fundamentally boring, I accept that my understanding of other's perception of the siren call is limited. Actually, it's non-existent. I don't understand it at all.

And with that, I am confused as to why anyone would need a government imposed limit? I accept that such a limit will reduce harm in the high street to those unfortunate enough to not comprehend what they are doing, but I am left perplexed that they even exist...

VRD

(No, it's not a snide attack on mathematically illiterate punters or any other form of criticism of gambling addiction - just a completed puzzlement that such a thing exists, having tried very hard to be interested in gambling for reasons not relevant here, but only being intrigued by the odds, not the stakes.)

[tjh290633]

Many years ago, in the 1950s, I spent my summers working as a bus conductor. In our canteen we had a fruit machine adjacent to the serving hatch. If you has a penny in your change it went in the machine and you walked on, only to return if it had paid out for your three cherries, or whatever.

One year, one bright spark discovered that, if you did not release the lever completely before the third fruit had clicked, you could set it spinning again. That way you could keep playing for free until you had a win, 3d for 3 cherries say, and you had to reinvest 1d to carry on. We worked out that, for every 3 pennies fed into the machine, one went into the jackpot, one went into the paying out pot and one went into the owner's profit pot. Eventually the paying out pot was exhausted, after which the jackpot was the only objective.

Needless to say, once the owner found out, the required adjustment was made to prevent the technique being used, but it was fun while it lasted. Not really addictive.

TJH

[AleisterCrowley]

I do like the occasional go on fruit machines, but i'd never;
(a)Leave company in a pub to play one
(b)Go somewhere specifically to play a fruity
Slough High St seems to be going downhill (from a low starting point) - lots of bookies and several 'amusement arcades' full of gambling machines.
They seem to proliferate in poor/'working class' areas - although Slough isn't technically poor as there's a lot of employment, and plenty of money sloshing around

[UncleEbenezer]

Come friendly bookies and fall on Slough?

[bungeejumper]

Proper old fashioned pinball, with proper American machines, and with a maximum payout of a free game. It passed many cold winter evenings during my student years in Berlin. The only slot machine game that was ever worth playing.

BJ

[robbelg]

In the late 70's the pub we frequented at lunchtime had a bandit with a "nudge" feature. Two of my colleagues mapped out the reels so that we always got the best possible result. We usually made a profit.

Rob