James Petherick is a former Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FOBT) addict who created the YouTube series
Diary of a Compulsive Gamblerand was
featured in the Sunday Peopleon 1st December.
James is a hero who devotes his time to helping other FOBT addicts. He has been relentlessly attacked by sad internet trolls doing dirty work in the interests of the bookmakers. Ultimately, there should be a full investigation into whether any pro-FOBT internet trolling was conducted as a paid-for activity.
Meanwhile, “
Campaign to rid Britain of terrible new addiction – The crack cocaine of gambling” was the headline in a two page spread in the Sunday People the previous week. The newspaper’s “voice of the people” opinion declared “that’s why today the Sunday People is launching a campaign to crack down on this destructive trade.”
The newspaper has endorsed the
Early Day Motionproposed by Tom Watson MP to reduce the maximum stakes per spin on FOBTs down from £100 to £2 which can be done by the Minister responsible for gambling, Helen Grant MP at the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), by applying the precautionary principle.
Yet the current stance of the DCMS is still to do nothing on FOBTs, despite the Prime Minister saying that he wanted to take a “
proper look”. DCMS has not yet even provided any information regarding what a “proper look” would encompass and when it would start. The current diluted and behind schedule Responsible Gambling Trust research, that is being used to kick the issue of FOBTs into the long grass, cannot be considered a “proper look”.
Helen Grant received three related letters last week from the Campaign. First were copies of letters to the
Gambling Commissionand the
Association of British Bookmakers(ABB) demanding that the ABB cease its FOBT misinformation.
Secondly, we advised that DCMS should distance itself from the non-evidence based new ABB code.
Thirdly, we advised what a “proper look” at FOBTs would need to consider.
The Campaign recently submitted written evidence to the
scrutiny Committee of the Gambling (Advertising and Licensing) Billin respect of both remote gambling and FOBTs. Our recommendations regarding changes to FOBTs, in addition to our recommendation for a reduction in the maximum stake, are in paragraphs 130 to 134. A “proper look” would consider these recommendations.
The bookmakers have now agreed with our statistics THREE times!
Firstly, in communication with Tom Greatrex MP, William Hill provided information on win per FOBT, which was only around 1% higher than the Campaign’s estimate.
Secondly, the ABB advised Liverpool councillors that the win per year from Liverpool was around £22 million, whereas we estimated it as £21 million.
Thirdly, in a recent piece for Central Lobby the ABB state that approximately £46 billion was staked in a year on FOBTs, which we estimated at £45.9 billion.
These admissions are very significant as the ABB had been advising politicians and the media that we have been exaggerating our figures.
The bookmakers cannot continue to deny the validity of turnover as a measure of gambler engagement. They themselves use turnover as a tool to limit their payoffs to remote gamblers. The free credit bonus for signing up to a remote gambling site could be £20. But the true value could really be as little as £2 or less because the terms and conditions require so much turnover before funds can be withdrawn, as explained in a Campaign letter
which was printed in the Daily Mail.
Following the recent change of course by government against the both tobacco sector and the £2 billion per year payday loan sector, respected political columnist
Isabel Hardman commented on FOBTsin the Daily Telegraph. She speculated that the next government U-turn would be about FOBTs.
It is politically toxic to advocate for maintaining the status quo bookmaker market monopoly on high street gambling machines at stakes in excess of £2 per spin – machines that are extracting £1.5 billion per year from, primarily, poorer communities.