Losing badly even though you don't feel like a gambler

[Sussex Nomad]

FOBTs are addictive by design, not least because you can spin every 20 seconds. The hit of a win is followed by an immediate chance to chase a loss. Spend any time at all in a modern "betting" shop and you will see people standing in front of FOBTs in what is essentially a hypnotic trance, burning through everything they have. It's only when the last pound has gone that they snap out of it and realise what they've done (again). The machines are toxic.

They are, I agree, very much a trance, I'm out of it, having always remembered how much I lost in one day.

 

[NooBHA]

FOBTs are addictive by design, not least because you can spin every 20 seconds. The hit of a win is followed by an immediate chance to chase a loss. Spend any time at all in a modern "betting" shop and you will see people standing in front of FOBTs in what is essentially a hypnotic trance, burning through everything they have. It's only when the last pound has gone that they snap out of it and realise what they've done (again). The machines are toxic.

The reason there are so many Betting Shops on the high street is because you can only have so many slot machines in each shop. Hence it is actually worth say Corals having 4 shops within a mile radius to get the extra slot machines available for use. So if you imagine what high street business rates and rents are not to mention manning the shops. Thats how profitable these machines are.

They have a payout rate of 25% of what they take in ( That's Legislative ) - So they keep £750 of every £1000 they take in.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I was going to say "are you mad?" but probably not that helpful.

Yeah I was mad, but I won't be now. This is as much for those out there that have a problem as it is for me that had a problem today. Chasing the dollar just doesn't work.

 

[The_Viper]

I worked in a bookies at uni, I saw this attitude a lot at the start of big addictions, stick to it please, it's horrible seeing everything going so horribly wrong. You can only tell someone so many times not to do it, even as an employee, we dislike the slots.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

I worked in a bookies at uni, I saw this attitude a lot at the start of big addictions, stick to it please, it's horrible seeing everything going so horribly wrong. You can only tell someone so many times not to do it, even as an employee, we dislike the slots.

I thank you young man, but mine is not an addiction, mine is losing seriously silly money over a day. Tony Bloom thrives on this, hence we never see a losing gamble magnet. I will walk away now, knowing, for the rest of my life, what I did today.

Happy New Year!

 

[kingcole]

The reason there are so many Betting Shops on the high street is because you can only have so many slot machines in each shop. Hence it is actually worth say Corals having 4 shops within a mile radius to get the extra slot machines available for use. So if you imagine what high street business rates and rents are not to mention manning the shops. Thats how profitable these machines are

They have a payout rate of 25% of what they take in ( That's Legislative ) - So they keep £750 of every £1000 they take in.

Sorry. That's utter crap. The payout rate is between 90% and 94%.

They are bad news for some people. And what you say is correct about the number of machines. It's actually 4

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Average FOBT makes around 50k a year. 4 in a shop. Most located in the most deprived areas in the country. That's 200k for some lecce.
[MENTION=1078]Mtoto[/MENTION] has done a great job highlighting these issues on other media forums but we are a long way off making these obnoxious machines dissappear.

 

[dazzer6666]

Sorry. That's utter crap. The payout rate is between 90% and 94%.

They are bad news for some people. And what you say is correct about the number of machines. It's actually 4

Always thought it was about that too.....

Had a big argument with a pal who used to play them who used it as his justification for playing them (yes, deluded). Hadn't worked out that if it's 90%, all things being equal you put in £100, you get £90 back, so all good right ? Yes...then you put that £90 in, and get £81 back........and so on, until you're skint because of the slightly hypnotic, trance inducing machines.

I wasn't great with them myself when I was younger, spent a lot of my student-job wages on them. Now steer well clear, other than a few quid on the pier for once or twice a year.

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Because of shitty saving rates I've just bought £10k worth of premium bonds. The return is forecast at £150 a year, or 1.5%. That's about as much as my gambling ambitions go.

 

[Sussex Nomad]

Average FOBT makes around 50k a year. 4 in a shop. Most located in the most deprived areas in the country. That's 200k for some lecce.

[MENTION=1078]Mtoto[/MENTION] has done a great job highlighting these issues on other media forums but we are a long way off making these obnoxious machines dissappear.

They mug off people like me that is far from needy, has to be a bad problem.

 

[Rugrat]

Sorry. That's utter crap. The payout rate is between 90% and 94%.

They are bad news for some people. And what you say is correct about the number of machines. It's actually 4

100 x 90% = £90
£90 x 90% = £81
£81 x 90% = £73

etc, etc, etc keep going and it ends up at zero

Of course you can stop whenever you want, nobody forces you to carry on. But that isn't what people that play FOBT's do (have a bit of previous )

 

[kingcole]

Because of shitty saving rates I've just bought £10k worth of premium bonds. The return is forecast at £150 a year, or 1.5%. That's about as much as my gambling ambitions go.

I'm on one today..... The return is 1.25%. It was reduced from 1.35% around the middle of last year. But that's a very large average. The chances are you will get less than £125 back, but there is a very very small chance you might get £1m. Good luck!

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

As I mentioned I work in the industry and the FOBT'S are the industry's 'Golden Goose'.
Published figures from last year, gross gambling yield (GGY) - the amount retained by bookmakers after winnings have been paid out = £1.7 billion. At the end of September 2016 there were 8,709 betting shops in Britain. This would give an average profit of £195,200 per shop for the year. You can understand why they will not let their Goose be taken for slaughter!

 

[Sussex Nomad]

For me, it was just a waking up point, I used to do slots at pubs when I was a kid. I really thought I could sit on my arse at home and make money. I lost over a grand today, I've woken up. I won't mention that the NSC promotion of winning money helped.

 

[The Clamp]

What is FOBT? I have been into a bookies once in my entire life.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

What is FOBT? I have been into a bookies once in my entire life.

Fixed Odds Betting Terminal.

 

[The Clamp]

Fixed Odds Betting Terminal.

cheers

 

[Baldseagull]

For me, it was just a waking up point, I used to do slots at pubs when I was a kid. I really thought I could sit on my arse at home and make money. I lost over a grand today, I've woken up. I won't mention that the NSC promotion of winning money helped.

Having mentioned what you said you wouldn't mention, by mentioning that you won't mention it, what promotion was that?

 

[dazzer6666]

I'm on one today..... The return is 1.25%. It was reduced from 1.35% around the middle of last year. But that's a very large average. The chances are you will get less than £125 back, but there is a very very small chance you might get £1m. Good luck!

Better than the 0.1-0.2% typically being paid on savings accounts.......

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Better than the 0.1-0.2% typically being paid on savings accounts.......

I can remember when saving rates were 10%, but then mortgage rates peaked at 15%. If saving rates were still 10%, I wouldn't be going into work on Monday