{"id":52314,"date":"2017-06-13T16:32:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T23:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=52314"},"modified":"2017-06-13T16:32:31","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T23:32:31","slug":"uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament’s Squeeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bookmakers in the UK may have slashed the odds on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the country\u2019s next prime minister. But they\u2019re likely not too thrilled about the prospects a \u201chung parliament\u201d presents their industry.<\/p>\n

\"Pull
Emboldened by surprise election results, UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn could put fixed-odds betting terminals, and their betting limits, in the crosshairs for gambling reform. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Britain woke up to last week after Friday\u2019s shock election result<\/a> already a bit nervous about what lay ahead. For bookmakers, at issue suddenly becomes the fate of their growing reliance on revenue from fixed-odds betting terminals.<\/p>\n

Shares in major retail bookmakers have fallen since the election result.<\/p>\n

\n

Barclays estimated this week that Ladbrokes Coral, the market leader for retail betting, would lose \u00a3439 million in revenue next year if FOBT stakes were cut to \u00a32, while rival William Hill would lose \u00a3288 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Safe Moneymaker Under Tories<\/h2>\n

FOBTs now account for nearly 50 percent of land-based bookmaker profits.<\/p>\n

Under a Conservative government, the British bookmaking industry could reassure itself that FOBTs would be kept relatively safe, thanks to the millions in tax revenue the machines currently generate. But with a hung parliament in control, that status is suddenly less clear.<\/p>\n

The highly controversial machines, 35,000 of which are installed in betting shops throughout the country, allow customers to bet up to \u00a3100 every 20 seconds on digital fixed-odds casino games, typically roulette.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Critics say FOBTs contribute to an increase in crime and problem gambling, and liken them to crack cocaine. A recent cross-party review<\/a> recommended slashing the maximum stake from \u00a3100 to \u00a32, a proposal met with alarm by the bookmaking industry.<\/p>\n

But the Association of British Bookmakers balked, claiming such a move could cost some 20,000 jobs and force hundreds of betting shops to close.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s Last Stand?<\/h2>\n

Having formed an unstable alliance with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Theresa May\u2019s government now has a slender majority against an handful of opposition parties, all of whom could be gunning for FOBTs.<\/p>\n

The Labour Party\u2019s Jeremy Corbyn has been leading that charge, and even the DUP has voiced opposition to the machines.<\/p>\n

From his party’s manifesto: \u201cWe will reduce the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals from \u00a3100 to \u00a32 … Labour will also legislate to increase the delay in between spins on these games in order to reduce the addictive nature of the games.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The ABB disputes any suggestion that the machines are harmful or that changing the betting limits would have a dramatic impact. “It is important to recognize that recent independent evidence has shown that there is no link between gaming machines in betting shops and problem gambling,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bookmakers in the UK may have slashed the odds on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the country\u2019s next prime minister. But they\u2019re likely not too thrilled about the prospects a \u201chung parliament\u201d presents their industry. Britain woke up to last week after Friday\u2019s shock election result already a bit nervous about what lay ahead. For bookmakers, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":52317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-13T23:32:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-13T23:32:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/\",\"name\":\"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-13T23:32:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-13T23:32:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1536,\"caption\":\"Emboldened by surprise election results, UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn could put fixed-odds betting terminals, and their betting limits, in the crosshairs for gambling reform. (Image: Getty)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament’s Squeeze\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze","description":"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze","og_description":"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2017-06-13T23:32:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-13T23:32:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1536,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/","name":"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament's Squeeze","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-13T23:32:04+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-13T23:32:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"Fixed-odds betting terminals with maximum \u00a3100 stakes are uncertain to be safe following the post-election political order in the UK.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/v218-Jeremy-Corbyn-Get-v2.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536,"caption":"Emboldened by surprise election results, UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn could put fixed-odds betting terminals, and their betting limits, in the crosshairs for gambling reform. (Image: Getty)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uk-election-implications-fobts-could-feel-hung-parliaments-squeeze\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UK Election Implications: FOBTs Could Feel Hung Parliament’s Squeeze"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}