FOBTS but machines in pubs

Hi you say 'ridiculous amounts of machines in pubs are causing him to continue to gamble.' He is choosing to gamble. It's not about people stopping a cg, it's about a cg wanting to stop.

I agree that he's choosing to gamble (I should have made that clear) but if it's that in your face it must be much more difficult to stop?

Hey,

One that is pretty close to me.......a landlord can suggest you stop but not enforce any kind of ban. But, if it is a £500 bandit, it shouldn't have any place in the pub. If it's a fruity my local landlord has a great policy where if I was playing it she would give me a pint and a packet of crisps to leave it alone. In hindsight my mate probably paid for these but it helped.

Cheers!

How I handled it was I found a pub that I actually liked and I made myself known to the bar man and staff who I know by name. I told them that I am a compulsive gambler and I am not to be seen on the one machine they have.

We had a friendly chat about it and it drew a line under it for me. I could sit quite near the thing and not have any urges to play it. They play some unusual music in there and I have a quick pint

However this bar has more of a Cheers atmosphere where there arent many people in and we can sit at the bar talking. Im not really a big pub goer but I wanted one place for a refreshing beer when I felt like one. I will most often go and sit on my own and enjoy a pint. I cant keep them out of every pub and I like the bars that have no machines but there are none locally

Now I would say this probably would not work in one of these large anonymous pubs but I dont go to those. I made a point of no longer going because I think its a disgrace putting gambling machines in pubs. Two drugs mixing along with addicts....not good.

If your friend goes in its a difficult one if he doesnt see the danger there. I dont know if you can mention it to him or the landlord. It comes down to your friend staying away from machines. I have to say that the addiction will use it as an excuse as if the pub environment is an acceptable step down from main gambling.

It isnt really as a compulsive gambler can lose as much money in pubs as in an arcade or bookies.

I think the landlord has a duty to act on information given. I think you should say something

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Thanks for taking the time to post on the thread I started JD. Best wishes, Phil.

Got another one to throw in here . As*ers casino has a few outlets and I was on business in Walthamstow . It was my cg days and I had self excluded with SENSE .There is a chain that you can just turn up and gamble no questions asked . It was in the Stratford Shopping Centre . As it happens my friend with me knew I had issues and when I had a win , he collected the money as they ask for ID when over a certain amount . Prettty bad really when you can pay as you go . Coral island in Blackpool is the same . I guess for me right now I can’t go into bookies or online but if I really wanted to I could drive for 40 minutes to a motorway service station . Basically you can put all of the blocks in place but if you are hell bent on gambling it would be possible to find a way . You could never have a total blanket exclusion . That’s why personally I am relying on a) the blocks b) my mindset c) my support network d) common sense ! That’s in no particular order by the way

well yes when I first blocked it was locally as I just tend to hang around locally. However I know it was first proper test backed up with family monitoring. I made sure the gambling dens know who I am on record and it drew a line of shame for me. I wouldnt dare walk in based on all sorts of feelings until the urges subsided. I dont have any wish to walk into them now and Ive passed by loads of times without even thinking of them

I lost my gold ring a year later in the next town and I was very nearly off gambling. I stopped and started planning to walk straight down to the local arcade. Only something random to do with train times held me back at that moment. Only a random anti trigger held me back that day

I extend my blocks to areas where I am training, working or travelling past. If the self exclusion blocks dont work then an allowance scheme is essential. It has to be discussed and talked through.

I know that there will probably always be a little spark in me that doesnt want bad news or stress when Im near a motorway service station for example. Ive always been a runner or a drifter who likes my own space. Having money on a trip to Blackpool is not a test I would not like to put myself up for. The reality is I could only go to a place like that if someone is controlling the money and Im on an allowance. I would also need a set of things to keep me busy and entertained. I wouldnt go alone and only with the right company. Ive found that if Im having a good time with people I dont want to gamble

The blocks have to be shaped for each person but there is no room for half measures. Its back to the fact that willpower alone wont do it when you have access to money and travel

Ive passed certain tests but I am never complacent.

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

I agree with putting the blocks in place and having a strategy for the area that you go. I also think we have to take a responsibility for ourselves too when we didn’t in the past . On occasion there will be an opportunity to gamble and you have to dig in and not do it

Phil,

I understand where you're coming from. Going back a few years, FOBT's and pub fruit machines were a world apart. Those addicted to random 5 line slots with £500 jackpots may have resisted the draw a £35 jackpot on a complex machine they didn't know how to play. Now many pub machines have FOBT style slots on them (albeit at an horrifically low RTP) and some even have Roulette (again, albeit a horribly controlled low RTP version of the game).

I completely understand why the machine manufacturers have done it. A lot of people are put off from playing the traditional AWP as there's 'too much' going on with features, nudges, gambles etc. and they are primarily seen as something the 'young lads' play. Now you've got machines offering simple 'one button' games (with AUTOPLAY) such as 'Reel King' 'Cops n Robbers' etc they appeal to a much more diverse audience but, sadly, also to the FOBT addict.

The reason I've gone into so much detail about the machines themselves is that many people reading this may not have seen these machines and not understand the correlation.

I had a problem with FOBT's (and online slots) and this began to manifest itself in pub machines too with the release of the latest digital incarnations (iPub et al). I was self-excluded from bookies and had blocks on my laptop but I wasn't exactly keen on the idea of giving up my post-work pint (or two!) at my local.

So...what did I do? Well, I told EVERYONE that I had quit gambling. The landlord, my drinking buddies, the regular 'old boys' I'd sometimes chat to, the other regular machine players etc. Four months on, it's worked, from playing the machines virtually every day, I have not put a pound in one since. Why do I think this has worked, because I had people looking out for me, not just in a kind-hearted way but I knew the grief I'd get if i did play (and who wants to look like a weak-willed addict in front of a load of half-cut blokes who are ready to take the preverbial).

I was actually amazed how effective this was and would recommend it to anyone in my situation. I'm lucky in that the majority of my 'pub time' is spent in my local. However, this has kept me off these machines long enough that, when I do venture further afield the mindset to 'not gamble' remains strong.