UK to slash FOBTs maximum stake in 2020

The limit amount that can be wagered in fixed odds betting terminals is set to be slashed 98 per cent but not before 2020.

UK.- The maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will finally be reduced but it won’t happen in the immediate future. The reduction on the top limit is set to be slashed 98 per cent from £100 to £2 but it won’t be before 2020.

Despite the recommendation by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) to allow £30 bets or Chancellor Philip Hammond and Treasury officials’ opposition to the reduction, Culture Secretary Matt Hancock succeeded after campaigning against what he considers to be the “crack cocaine” of gambling machines.

Despite the potential tax revenue loss, Prime Minister Theresa May brokered a compromise deal under which taxes on the gambling industry will rise to pay for lost tax revenue estimated at £400 million a year.

Companies had voiced their strong opposition to the measure, and Roger Devlin, the new chairman of William Hill even sent a letter to Mr Hancock which said: “Consolidation within our sector continues and I would… not want to see the impact of a disproportionate triennial (review) outcome being a factor in the name of William Hill being added to the list of companies now in foreign ownership.”

However, their claim seems to have had little or no impact at all on the campaign against FOBTs.