Gambling Commission face another problem with FOBT

This report will be an analysis of the current issues which face Great Britain, one of the biggest being, how the Gambling Commission plan to deal with the FOBT dilemma. To be fair, there were three topics up for discussion in the UK concerning video games, the National Lottery and credit card gambling. Let’s take a look. 

As it has already been pointed out on the latest online gambling news, the National Lottery in Britain has come under criticism. The current age-limit to participate is 16 years old, causing confusion and critics to ask for changes to be made. Right now, there is a movement to change the age-limit to make it for 18 and above, which would put it in line with all other gambling activities in the UK. 

The FOBT problem in the UK

However, despite those three interesting dilemmas the UK has to deal with, the greatest one of them all is the FOBT issue. The fixed odds betting terminals maximum stake was reduced from £100 to £2 in April. 

Since then, many gambling firms have already stressed their problems with the new rates, for example William Hill, who will close 700 betting shops because of the new rates, causing them unable to pay rent. 

Currently, the Gambling Commission has prioritized the credit card gambling issue. The Commission is planning to make necessary adjustments to avoid players going overboard and becoming in debt to gambling. They wish to ban members who are putting too much money towards the gambling scene. 

However, this could prove to be another FOBT issue, where they wish to do too much. After all, a player could be gambling and playing a lot without experiencing any gambling harms. 

The FOBT issue was a huge mess-up by the Gambling Commission, who reduced the limit to £2 instead of listening to the voices of millions and reducing it to £30. It would have made much more sense had they done the latter, but the Commission decided to make their point heard and went over the top. 

In truth, it seems as though the Gambling Commission are as aware as anyone that they made a big screw-up concerning FOBT and that they should avoid doing similar mistakes in the future. 

We can only hope that the FOBT will be adjusted to becoming more in line with what’s best for both, but we should not forget the experience of the FOBT.