They really should be banned, how can they legally take £100 per 10 second spin! Iv been very bad in the past with my gambling, i just never learn even after the worst of consequnces, the latest incidence was my dad given me £400 as i gambled away all money abd couldent pay any rent/bills!!
Iv seen myself recently back in the shops im not excluded from and then roulette machines, they are the devil! Although i was fortunate enough to loose £150 then one spin luckily got me it back and i was relived but i know that wasent going be the end of it, and have been more then today lost £100 on the online roullette and that has really annoyed me and atm im not working and currently drinking 70cl vodka every night, this i cant afford, but iv sold things and 'dad' has been giving me some for sone odd jobs im doing at his, i was trying to win money to pay for my drinking habbit but after losing £100 that could have paid for 5 days drinking! Its literally £15 per day, i know it has to stop but aswell as drinking loads and getting very fat im now causing more stress by loosing money i need! Currently im lucky not to be in any really huge depts and i have about £200 to my name which is needed for coming months rent
So as the title says can we not do anything to get these machines banned? They are as people say the crack cocain of gambling and destroy lives, i just feel im always going to be vulnerable whilst these are still around
Im also not really with it atm and currently trying to apply for universal credit but i feel this is going to cause me even more stress if they think im well enough to work and want me at the job centre every week! The state my mind is in i could kick off in them places as they are really intimidating And so much pressure.
So as you can probably hear guys im having alot of stress and could really do with some advice
Dear Darren,
Welcome to the Forum!
There may be little you can do about having FOBTs banned but there are many things you can do to address the problem you are having with them. You may always be vulnerable whilst they are around and I think it’s very important that you acknowledged that. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t develop the skill to control your urges. GamCare provides a lot of support if you want to give up gambling so, I would encourage you to get in touch with our services and speak to an advisor. Our lines are open from 8am until midnight, 7 days a week. I hope you take this next step and seek help because it’s not easy to deal with this problem on your own.
Best wishes,
Forum Admin
Hi thanks for the response, sureoy there must be good reason to get these banned, its as bad as an ilegal drug yet its legal! And yes i have councling in place thanks, im sure it will help but its not certain i will end up in a bad situation again as these machines will still be there destroying peoples lives
I don't think it's going to happen, in fact I'm sure it's not. You need to focus your energy on you.
While I appreciate the devastation the FOBT cause it's no different then any other form of gambling I was a sports gambler and I've put £xxx's on a point in tennis, baseball,volleyball, a ball in cricket the next corner in football. I could go to my local shop and buy 1000 scratch cards
To ban one you'd have to ban all it's not in the governments interest tax wise employment wise and vote wise from the majority of voters of don't have a compulsive gambling problem and can gamble responsibly.
It's down to you ban yourself from using them, I don't just mean physically banning your self what I mean mentally banning yourself.
Do all today can to avoid making that first bet build your blocks high but the most important thing is your mindset remember you can't win because you can't stop once that clicks you realise who pointless it all is.
Oldhamktf wrote:
I don't think it's going to happen, in fact I'm sure it's not. You need to focus your energy on you.
While I appreciate the devastation the FOBT cause it's no different then any other form of gambling I was a sports gambler and I've put £xxx's on a point in tennis, baseball,volleyball, a ball in cricket the next corner in football. I could go to my local shop and buy 1000 scratch cards
To ban one you'd have to ban all it's not in the governments interest tax wise employment wise and vote wise from the majority of voters of don't have a compulsive gambling problem and can gamble responsibly.
It's down to you ban yourself from using them, I don't just mean physically banning your self what I mean mentally banning yourself.
Do all today can to avoid making that first bet build your blocks high but the most important thing is your mindset remember you can't win because you can't stop once that clicks you realise who pointless it all is.
Yes i agree i totaly have to focus a lot on me and trust me im putting loads in place but i feel it works both ways, it shouldent be so easy to loose so much money and seconds, i think you coupd literally loose a million in a day if you had it, personaly for me i could loose quit a bit on the football or horse racing maybe in the hundreds but the fobt machines have took thousands off me and trust me iv betted on football and horse 500 times more than them machines, as i know they are the Crack cocain of gambling and like any drug addict its not as easy as just avoiding them hence i am banning myslef from every website and allready banned myself from around 15 book makers, it is what it is but i think if they wernt around i may of at early days been able to maybe bet responsible and never loose 10,000's and had health problems, i do however understand i cant change that so im looking forward not backwards but doesent stop me from having very high views about these machines and i would do anything in my powers to get them banned
Hi Darren .
My problem was alway's the Fobt's so I understand where your coming from .
Although I can't ever see them being banned , it's more about the speed and amount you can lose in such a short time that's the biggest issue , as Martin above has said it's just gambling in another form so if they go something will replace them , maybe if as was talked about once the amount was limited to a couple of quid a spin max and a bigger waiting time between spin's was there then it might not be so much of a problem .
In the good ole day's when I first started gambling and everything was powered by coal :(( all there was were 2 horse meetings and 2 dog meetings a day , so no virtual , no racing from outer Mongolia and No machines Yeeeeeeah !! , so you also got plenty of time to think about either placing the next bet or simply walking away and that was a luxury that once were in that crazy frenzy on the Fob't we simply don't have :((.
all the best my friend !
This is an email I sent to the gambling commission,
I would like a response with regards to the profits that have been posted up until September 2016.
You stated that gambling firms made 13.8 billion gbp profit in this Financial year. A large part of this profit was due to fixed odds betting terminals, 1.8 billion gbp for the same year. This is roughly equates to 13% of the market share.
After reading a few articles and visiting a few betting shops, The odds on these terminals are stated at 97%. So by this logic close to 100 billion gbp has been staked on these terminals throughout that financial year.
The reason for my email is, that figure is almost 5% of our gdp. Now I don't think I am rain man or anything but I find it extremely hard to believe that almost 270 million gbp is staked on these machines everyday for 365 days. There are close to 9000 betting shops in the UK, If every shop had 4 of these terminals, every terminal would of staked just over 30000 gbp every day for 365 days.
I have seen various articles stating that these machines are rigged and others stating they are randomly generated numbers.
The first statement seems far more believable when you look at these figures.
If this is true I can not believe a government agency as big as yourselves has not looked into this. I believe they are stealing and very much deserve to be put before the courts.
Figures dont lie. The machines are rigged. Every player loses most of their money irrespective of amount and staking. It is a scandal fixed odds betting terminals are allowed to exploit weaknesses of gambling addicts.
@oldhamktf They could move them into Members Only areas tho couldn't they!
Affected by gambling?
Looking for support?
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.