FOBTs

On a positive note , Cor als have just closed one of their high street shops down , it was only 3 doors away from another shop they owned and was first opened as one was supposedly a no smoking shop and the other a smoking one before the complete ban came into force , that obviously gave them the opportunity to fill it with Fobt's so no coincidence there then !.

As It was one of my main haunt's while in full blown addiction mode on the Fobt's , I can't help but give myself some credit for the demise ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Mhhhhhhhh ! ............Well done me :)) LOL !

A smoking shop? Yuk! 🙂 The smoking ban was in place when I started gambling.

Thanks for the article link Gem1209.

It really highlights how far down the wild west route we've gone.

Back in 1998 all gambling advertising was banned. Bookies had only just been allowed to have two machines with jackpots of £10 whole pounds.

Note the gambling industry big cheese who expresses annoyance at resistance to deregulation as -'molly cuddling by the nanny state'. That pesky, democratically elected state which we agree to allow take decisions on our behalf. That pesky state that stops us wasting all our money and lining the pockets of a few mega rich people.

Whenever the nanny state argument comes out it's ALWAYS by big business interests who see regulation as a barrier to mega bucks (or MPs in their pocket).

The article shows how the current situation is not 'inevitable' but the result of undemocratic policies in pursuit of private profit.

Yes and just looking up deregulation of gambling tell us so much.

Oh how the labour government regret it but its just crocodile tears." 110 million PER DAY spent on gambling." Spent is not a word I would use.

It is now a wild west. Its not even about the government caring but they seemed to have more sense back in history that they couldnt get away with gambling being considered an acceptable social activity..

Even the Gambling dens have to state its for entertainment purposes only. All the truth is there is we care to look. A truth I was ignoring which is why a gambling addiction is complex and why someone yes someone! should be there to regulate it for the good of society

Before deregulation it was an issue with people registering by post with casinos......an issue they soon brushed over and more

I know my life would have been immeasurably better without one armed bandits. If that machine had not been in the chip shop on holiday..heaven forbid I would have had to admit I was empty and bored senseless. I may have joined the local sailing classes and met a lifelong friend. I accept I was always making excuses why I couldnt do something but good grief gambling was never the answer

I may have actually had to talk to someone or actually made the effort to do something more productive. My life would have been better without those false fixes which developed an addiction and cost me tens of thousands of pounds ranging up to an amount I dare not think about...certainly the price of a house

On any level I fail to see how it benefits society. On a roundabout on the outskirts of town everything looks to be struggling apart from the chain supermarket and gambling dens. Everything else is closing down or for sale.

It simply must suck money from more wholesome ventures. Its a regressive tax because the rich naturally gamble less. Its not morally acceptable when you think about it and it has become the wild west.

I keep coming back to the thought that money talks. Its simply profit from the misery of others and that is the definition of predatory capitalism. Thats something I know the government turn a blind eye to in this and other areas. You could argue that many things are a con but not much comes close to deregulated gambling policy