"My idea would be to make bookmakers who want FOBTs in their shops re apply for a license as an amusement arcade rather than a bookmaker, and remove their ability to take bets on sport in that shop if such a licence is granted.
Wouldn't it be easier just to ban FOBTs or limit the amount of money people can put into them?
This seems a complicated attempt to achieve largely the same result.
Maybe. Could they be banned though? I think it's more practical to make them difficult to access or separate them from skilled punting. Being in bookmakers gives the appearance they can be beaten by skill like normal betting
If the government wanted to ban them they easily could. They can change the law and set whatever restrictions they want in a law change. There's no human right to FOBTs. They could require them to only be inside casinos which have tougher regulations (and lower availability) rather than betting shops.
Understandably since alcohol is involved there is a restriction on fruit machines that the highest possible payout is £100 and maximum possible spin is £1. Even if you doubled or tripled that for bookmakers you could have terminals that could be used without being as voracious as FOBTs.
Well my idea was to only allow them in Casinos!
Then I completely agree! I thought you wanted them in amusement arcades sorry.
Sorry, you are right, I did say amusement arcades.
Amusement arcades are not my style.but the name conjures to me images of penny arcades, fun games, those coin drop games etc
2-3 year ago the opportunity for the "retail gambler" was in DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) as again it was new, lots of people with very poor understanding and lots of the big boy gamblers for whatever reason didn't jump on the bandwagon.
Probably not my bag, that, anyway. Having said that, I did beat thousands of other people to win a well-known cricket magazine's (free-entry) fantasy league once - top prize was an MCC cricket shirt from the Lord's Bicentenary Match, signed by the players: Tendulkar, Chanderpaul, Dravid, Lara, Brett Lee, Vettori, Warne, Afridi, Gilchrist, Murali, Pietersen, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and a few more.
Might have been worth a few bob, though my goal was to frame it in my living room. Unfortunately the magazine were terribly disorganised and by the time they were sending the prizes out, it transpired that they could no longer get hold of the signed shirt. Free entry competition, though, so hardly had the right to complain. I did a bit of googling and discovered that an item matching that description was now in the catalogue of Lord's museum - where, to be fair, it probably belonged.
A couple of years later (!) I unexpectedly received a moderately expensive cricket bat through the post, as the magazine's apology!
As for my idea, any party is free to run with it. UKIP seemed keen, although Carswell didnt deign to reply. Conservatives would be best as they can actually implement it! Or maybe Sadiq Khan could start it off in London?? Newham is one of the worst affected areas
Tackling FOBTs? Newham Council are the infamous Council under Sir Robin who are driving Landlords out and rents up. Quite extraordinary to watch. They boast of 2/3 of all landlord prosecutions in London, with more than over 1,000 prosecuted. Meanwhile rents in the private sector have risen at 3rd highest rate of increase in London. Up 50%* since 2011. Socialism in action!
"My idea would be to make bookmakers who want FOBTs in their shops re apply for a license as an amusement arcade rather than a bookmaker, and remove their ability to take bets on sport in that shop if such a licence is granted.
Wouldn't it be easier just to ban FOBTs or limit the amount of money people can put into them?
This seems a complicated attempt to achieve largely the same result.
Maybe. Could they be banned though? I think it's more practical to make them difficult to access or separate them from skilled punting. Being in bookmakers gives the appearance they can be beaten by skill like normal betting
If the government wanted to ban them they easily could. They can change the law and set whatever restrictions they want in a law change. There's no human right to FOBTs. They could require them to only be inside casinos which have tougher regulations (and lower availability) rather than betting shops.
Understandably since alcohol is involved there is a restriction on fruit machines that the highest possible payout is £100 and maximum possible spin is £1. Even if you doubled or tripled that for bookmakers you could have terminals that could be used without being as voracious as FOBTs.
Well my idea was to only allow them in Casinos!
Then I completely agree! I thought you wanted them in amusement arcades sorry.
Sorry, you are right, I did say amusement arcades.
Amusement arcades are not my style.but the name conjures to me images of penny arcades, fun games, those coin drop games etc
There's nothing amusing about FOBTs.
I meant the kind of High Street ones with blacked out windows, not the seaside ones you describe
"My idea would be to make bookmakers who want FOBTs in their shops re apply for a license as an amusement arcade rather than a bookmaker, and remove their ability to take bets on sport in that shop if such a licence is granted.
Wouldn't it be easier just to ban FOBTs or limit the amount of money people can put into them?
This seems a complicated attempt to achieve largely the same result.
Maybe. Could they be banned though? I think it's more practical to make them difficult to access or separate them from skilled punting. Being in bookmakers gives the appearance they can be beaten by skill like normal betting
"My idea would be to make bookmakers who want FOBTs in their shops re apply for a license as an amusement arcade rather than a bookmaker, and remove their ability to take bets on sport in that shop if such a licence is granted.
Wouldn't it be easier just to ban FOBTs or limit the amount of money people can put into them?
This seems a complicated attempt to achieve largely the same result.
Maybe. Could they be banned though? I think it's more practical to make them difficult to access or separate them from skilled punting. Being in bookmakers gives the appearance they can be beaten by skill like normal betting
"My idea would be to make bookmakers who want FOBTs in their shops re apply for a license as an amusement arcade rather than a bookmaker, and remove their ability to take bets on sport in that shop if such a licence is granted.
Wouldn't it be easier just to ban FOBTs or limit the amount of money people can put into them?
This seems a complicated attempt to achieve largely the same result.
Maybe. Could they be banned though? I think it's more practical to make them difficult to access or separate them from skilled punting. Being in bookmakers gives the appearance they can be beaten by skill like normal betting
They are banned in certain Australian states (WA I think) so yes, it can be done.
I know it sounds like a crazy thing to say, but the people of Barcelona got very lucky.
We need to face up to the likelihood that other terror cells will seek to copy them and may not be as incompetent.
It is worse than that, isn't it? This is not sophisticated, needs no centralised planning, coordination or (crucially) supply of arms and explosives. Filling a van with gas cylinders is only one step ahead of just using a van or even a kitchen knife. It is available to anyone malcontented or mentally ill.
I know it sounds like a crazy thing to say, but the people of Barcelona got very lucky.
We need to face up to the likelihood that other terror cells will seek to copy them and may not be as incompetent.
It is worse than that, isn't it? This is not sophisticated, needs no centralised planning, coordination or (crucially) supply of arms and explosives. Filling a van with gas cylinders is only one step ahead of just using a van or even a kitchen knife. It is available to anyone malcontented or mentally ill.
Yes, the problem with this new kind of terrorism is that it’s completely impossible to do anything about it. We can’t ban or monitor cars and kitchen knives like we can with explosive chemicals, and we can’t redesign every street in the country with concrete bollards between cars and people. We’ve just got to put up with it, and hope our security services can pick up the bad guys before they strike.
The idea that private sector is a model of prudence, personal sacrifice and efficiency is absurd.
In the height of the crash I took a pay cut (a real one, not by the easy way of attrition through inflation) along most of my colleagues to avoid major job losses in our division. For three years we survived on -3%, 0% and 1% iirc. The executives took an even bigger cut of -10% and -3% for two years. It is one area where Japanese "honour" culture helps ease the way for pay cuts for everyone else.
What is difficult for me to take is where the ordinary workers in the public sector are expected to live with 1% while the executive levels are taking anywhere between 5 and 10% per year, complete eroding any gains made in the budget by keeping wage inflation down for the plebs.
The SNP is turning into Scotland's Fianna Fail - a mildly nationalistic party, rhetorically standing up for Scotland, that does more patronage than ideology or policy. There are worse things it could be.
The party isn't interested in policy because the SNP is the broadest of churches, containing right wing adherents like our Malcolm as well as unreconstructed communists, who have nothing in common except the desire to see Scotland take its place in the pantheon of independent states. And also because policy for things like pensions is tricky and unrewarding. It isn't what motivates its adherents who are just looking for a new dawn.
Well said , it has to tread a fine line given the breadth of its make up. However this mild blip is no big deal. We already see the Tories have no clothes on , their feeble 13 have no policies, just muppets picked from rotary club , led by the big windbag who is publicly asking people to send her ideas for when she is FM ( LOL ). Labour don't have a policy for more than a day either and the Lib Dems are just lying cheating rats. Normal service and ,march to independence will continue soon.
Love the phrase about muppets from the Rotary Club, Malc.
Comments
There's nothing amusing about FOBTs.
Might have been worth a few bob, though my goal was to frame it in my living room. Unfortunately the magazine were terribly disorganised and by the time they were sending the prizes out, it transpired that they could no longer get hold of the signed shirt. Free entry competition, though, so hardly had the right to complain. I did a bit of googling and discovered that an item matching that description was now in the catalogue of Lord's museum - where, to be fair, it probably belonged.
A couple of years later (!) I unexpectedly received a moderately expensive cricket bat through the post, as the magazine's apology!
*ONS data 2011 to 2016.
What is difficult for me to take is where the ordinary workers in the public sector are expected to live with 1% while the executive levels are taking anywhere between 5 and 10% per year, complete eroding any gains made in the budget by keeping wage inflation down for the plebs.