hi I wanted to update people that there was a debate on the FOBTs in the Lords this week and they were debating lowering the max stake to £2.
what I thought was interesting was when one Lord, who used to own a casino, said something along the lines of "I believe these machines are a complete rip off and that they do not offer the customer a fair game or roll of the dice". Then he went on about how the software isn't regulated properly and it was completely unfair on the players.
yet why do we still have the urge to play them?
i just find it amazing also that if someone said to us 20 years ago that there would be dodgy machines in every bookie, in every high street in Britain where you can bet £100 every 20 seconds...who would believe it? It's madness.
if these were casinos instead of machines would we really go in, change up £100 at a time into chips to let some croupier rake in all the chips, talking now long term.
Also amazing to me is how we are willing at times to place all our money into these things when no one has a clue how the software works. Where does it even say how these machines determine their payouts or where the RNG is regulated or how it determines the next number. It's not random in the true sense, as all who've played these for years can attest to. What are we wagering against? It's not luck in the random nature of chance sense of the word, every number clearly doesn't have the same chance? Why, when we punt or punted, don't or didn't we demand to know exactly how they work? Where is the evidence, I want to see it. In my opinion what we do; it's like a bloke walking up to us on the street and saying give me £100 to guess what number I'm thinking of! It's bananas that the f*****g bookie b******s can't provide video evidence, documentation, evidence et cetera. Why do we not care enough to get the truth!
Big conspiracy...has to be - RANT OVER.
I know what your saying but the odds are stacked against the player so much anyway do they really need to fix them ?
People should be a member of the bookie befor they play sign up with photo ID. No cash direct in to the machine has to be uploaded at the cash desk on to your members card to then sign in to the machine witch will tell you and the bookie if you are self excluded.. Much easier to control people who have taken steps to stop gambling because you can't get on.. Instead of throwing 20 after 20 in you have the shame off walking up to the till and in that time most people might say forget it and leave the dreaded place.. They won't change because they are making too much money. They are rigged for the shop to win your money why would they change anything it's for the councils or the government to change it for them. Just my thoughts
Yes it should be heavily regulated and my view is that it should be banned altogether.
Ive come through decades of fruit machines so I can see how this would be a logical progression for an industry intent on raking large sums of money in. Lets not be under any illusion that they dont rake in massive amounts.
Just the deregulation of allowing note slots was a major problem for gamblers.
Fruit machines were and are just as dangerous. I wont seperate them as if fruit machines are just for dabblers and kids. They ruin lives becuase 20p a spin eats money more than fast enough. I should not be able to walk in just off a high street and I know that membership or stricter controls on cash input would put people off.
The only thing that sometimes knocked me out of a trance was somebody angrily bashing the machine next to me or getting in my personal space. I never want to see that sort of thing or that environment again
Add the fact that many gamblers like me were playing for escape and highs. They call it entertainment but thats not how I would word it.
I was ignoring the odds and even allowing 90% payout figure and false wins to lull me into a false sense of security. Ive read as much as I can about random number generators and random machines. I still dont fully understand because I never wanted to understand. I wanted to ignore reality and believe in lucky clover.They created an addict as far as Im concerned. They are programmed to create the red mist of one more go
The arcades were my main draw for escape. I didnt like the bookies but was drawn in from June to Dec 2015 to play the "fruit" machine games.
Anyway the best thing I ever did was self exclude. I have never even thought about attempting to break such a ban or finding other places
....sorry duplicate post again
I work in financial services in an area where we use software that derives probabilities of hurricanes, money market movements etc. Probability means nothing without stating the time period that it relates to. It is, at best, massively misleading to put 95% payout on a game. I think if someone seriously looked at it, there would be flaws in the software as there always is.
More interesting though is the 15% reduction in w**********l share price due to favourites winning at Cheltenham and a trend for self exclusion. a) good and b) if the majority of betting shop gamblers don't have a problem, why does a smallish number of self exclusions lead to a profit warning being given?
I think this thread is on to something - time for more scrutiny and then get rid of these terrible machines.
the machines are outright rigged i havent played one for around 3 years now i lost my fair share
i was in the bookies on saturday afternoon looking at international freindly prices lol
there was a guy playing the FOBT he was in his 60's had lost 2 grand in the machine and there was a crowd of people around him begging him to get off it , but of course he couldnt he was desperate to win the money back so kept loading 200 after 200 in
i was in there for around an hour and he had loaded another grand in between that period , i was watching the machine play with his mind
the ball dropping next door to the number he had loaded, reverse number comming in all the usuall tricks
i tried explaining to him that the machine didnt care how much he put in, it would drain him empty but he wouldnt have it
in the end he was kicking and punching the machine the staff did nothing but just ignored it and contuined to load more of his money onto the machine
disgusting
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