Betting shops across the UK are making plans for the reduction in the stake levels of fixed odds betting terminals in April of next year, which is going to sadly see many betting shops closing and possibly thousands of betting shop employees made redundant.
Cost cutting exercises are also being planned not only by betting companies but also by racecourses and the sponsors of horse races across the UK, as prize money offered on horse races will be negatively affected by the reduction in income generated by gambling firms which operate FOBT’s.
One thing that most can agree on is that gamblers who enjoy playing casino styled games such as Roulette, Blackjack and slot machines on FOBT’s are still going to want to play such games.
That is one of the main reasons that for the next few months, many betting shop operators are going to be massively cross-promoting their online casino sites.
Those casino sites quite bizarrely though, offer all types of casino games players could access on FOBT’s, some with much higher staking options than FOBT’s have ever offered.
So whilst those campaigners that have forced the hand somewhat of the UK Government to lower the stakes of fixed odds betting terminals, will now force people to play online whereby they can risk much higher stakes than they ever could playing FOBT’s in a betting shop.
It is extremely difficult if not impossible for the UK Gambling Commission to regulate and oversee casinos that are not licensed and operating in Great Britain, and as such there will possibly be just as many people experiencing gambling problems when FOBT stakes are reduced, due to those players moving online to high risk casino sites and then setting about playing for some much higher stakes.
