West London lost 100 million to slots in 2016
According to a study by Landman Economics, west London gamblers lost over £100 million to slot machines last year.
UK.- Slot machines are among the most criticised gambling forms in existence and a new study has revealed shocking figures regarding the activity in the west London area. According to Landman economics, gamblers lost more than £100 million to slots in 2016 and an estimated 8.680 jobs were lost in the area due to fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The staggering numbers have provoked several requests to operators in order to get the maximum stake to be reduced from £100 to £2, getwestlondon reports.
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) also revealed information on FOBTs in June and reported £1.82 billion was spent in the UK. Brent gamblers led the ranking with £24,083,670 lost on 350 FOBTs in 97 betting shops. Kensington and Chelsea locals did a little bit better with losses of £8,441,699 last year on 123 FOBTs.
“These figures underline the damaging impact of high-stakes FOBTs, right across the UK,” chief executive of the British Amusement Catering Trade Association (BACTA) John White said. The official of the top trade association for the amusement and gaming machine industry in the UK stated that the Parliament “must help more” and said its Parliamentary candidates should recognise the danger these hardcore machines pose.”
White believes a maximum stake reduction is “the only way to protect consumers” and urged “the next Government to pursue this as a matter of priority.”
A spokesman for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling also believes FOBTs to be source of havoc on Britain’s high streets and said: “It is time for all political parties to commit to reducing the maximum stake on these machines to £2 a spin.”
