Categories: Sports News
| Published On Mar 13, 2017 4:51 pm CET  |  Updated on May 2, 2021 1:23 pm CEST | By iGaming Team

Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals Allegedly Cause Losses of Over £10,000

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Seven gamblers who played on allegedly compromised fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in the course of 10 months lost over £10,000 per day, according to the GambleAware charity.

The investigation made use of data from betting sessions and revealed that 3% of all those involved at least one bet of £100 (the highest possible wager that can be staked every 20 seconds according to regulatory rules). Typically those who wagered the maximum did so more than once per session, which resulted in huge losses. For instance, seven sessions ended with more than £10,000 in negative balances, while one gambler parted with £13,777.90 over seven-and-a-half hours of play.

According to the UK Gambling Commission, operators and bookmakers’ shops should intervene if they believe customers are exposed at risk of problem gaming, and potentially, criminal transactions.

GambleAware has stated that there is insufficient evidence to blame FOBTs for causing problem gaming. However, the charity said it was “irrefutable that gaming machines are associated with harms.”