Bookies on Merseyside now have more than 1,000 “crack cocaine” gambling machines, figures reveal.
Fears are growing of a government U-turn on a promised clampdown on the controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) that line betting shops across the country.
Gamblers lose around £1.2bn a year on Merseyside’s 1,005 machines, according to campaign group Stop the FOBTs, which is alarmed by how rapidly they hoover up cash.
An ECHO investigation earlier this year revealed the machines can swallow a whole family’s daily income in less than 14 minutes.
We sent a reporter to see how long they could hold out against the odds on a machine at a William Hill on Stanley Road in Kirkdale.
He took £65 with him, the daily amount families get by on in wages or benefits in the area, which has a high number of betting shops.
But he walked out of the bookies with his pockets empty just 13 minutes and 45 seconds after he had gone inside.
A game of Roulette, virtual horse-racing and Blackjack had seen his cash vanish more quickly than the average lunchbreak.
The Conservative government had promised a review of FOBTs would be published in early 2017, with some suggesting the £100 limit on bets should be chopped to £2.
But the review has now been delayed until at least October and there are fears the government could be having second thoughts.
One source claimed the review had been shelved because the chancellor, Philip Hammond, had lobbied against any clampdown.
The Treasury reportedly warned it would hurt a significant source of tax revenues, according to a Whitehall source quoted in the Daily Mail.
Bookmakers also strongly deny claims the machines are addictive and say they are a highly popular part of betting shops.
A British Bookmakers’ Association spokesman previously told the ECHO: “These have been in betting shops for 15 years, and are there because the overwhelming majority of customers enjoy playing them. They are one of the most popular things.
“Betting shops are safe places to enjoy betting. We have several measures in place to promote responsible gambling - customers are able to set a limit on the time and amount they bet, and there is a mandatory £150, 20 minute limit. You can’t do that in any other venue, and you can lose more in an amusement arcade.”
John Myers, a Huyton campaigner whose son hanged himself after losing hundreds of pounds on a machine, has said: “These machines eat up your money - the time it takes is unbelievable, it’s horrendous. Once you lose you think you can win it back, chase your losses and before you know it your money’s gone.
“They should be banned and thrown in the Mersey, but we hope the government will at least limit the stakes.”
