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To: UK government

Stop the FOBT/ gambling disease now!

3 options:
£2 maximum stake on FOBTs/ B2 machines.
Opt-in scheme, requiring a swipe card and registration.
Complete ban of FOBTs

Why is this important?

Fixed odds betting terminals are found all over the country, there are usually 4 of them in each betting shop and you know how many betting shops there are. They are the machines which allow you to play games such as roulette, blackjack and slots.

These machines are highly addictive and dangerous to society. The maximum stake on these machines is £100. In 1 minute a gambler could lose £300 on these machines. FOBTs have been widely described as the crack cocaine of gambling.

These games and stake limits belong in a casino. Betting shops are becoming mini casinos and they are popping up everywhere. Do you want a nation full of gambling addicts? Sign the petition, let's get this issue sorted.

The betting shops are self regulating responsible gambling at the moment but it is quite clear that these measures are extremely ineffective. They encourage gamblers to set spend/ time limits on machines which can easily be overridden or the gambler could just play the machine next to it. Self- exclusion does not work because it relies on staff recognising customers that have self- excluded rather than a sign in system which casinos have.

I am campaigning for the government to consider actions to stop this menace to society. There are 3 options:

£2 stake limits on machines- If these machines are purely for entertainment then there should be no need for larger stakes than this. The £100 stake is too high and feeds on gamblers losing control and betting more money than they should. Keep the machines safe and limit the stake to a maximum of £2.

Opt-in scheme- Gamblers will have to register with betting shops to be able to use FOBTs. Betting shops will issue either swipe or pin cards which are used to log the player onto the FOBT to play. If you are not registered and do not have a card, you cannot play. Gamblers will be able to self-exclude from playing FOBTs, meaning that they will not be issued with swipe or pin cards to play. With the opt-in scheme there will be no need to change the stake limit on FOBTs.

Complete ban of FOBTs- This will prevent the use of these highly addictive machines altogether and stop other people from becoming addicted to these machines in the future.

Updates

2018-04-10 15:35:03 +0100

500 signatures reached

2016-09-14 10:01:35 +0100

100 signatures reached

2016-03-15 22:32:53 +0000

50 signatures reached

2015-10-17 14:59:33 +0100

25 signatures reached

2015-05-14 21:45:58 +0100

10 signatures reached