The core of the gambling problem was recently linked to the inflation in bookmaker's profits, which in turn is a direct outcome of the high stake gaming machine incorporation.
The recent numbers, presented by the Telegraph reveal worrying signs, as punters in Fixed Odds Betting Terminals wager £100 every 20 seconds, which equates to the rising amount of debts the problem gamblers had to face over the past year. This result goes against the concluding report issued by Association of British Bookmakers who found no evidence pointing to FOBT's close involvement in gambling ailments. Yet, GamCare, one of the more prominent charities for problem gamblers, has had some trouble trusting these results.
The GamCare helplines receives about quarter of phone calls assigning their gambling problems to FOBTs with similar numbers of phone calls blaming fruit machines and horse racing. But the real jeopardy is evident when the percentage of people engaged is compared. The 0.6 percentage of FOBT players is negligent in comparison to the 3.3 percent of those who are into horse racing and 2.9 percent of fruit machine fans. This places FOBTs on the most wanted position on the agenda, as currently there are about 20,000 FOBTs in betting shops, each raking annually £500 million.
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| Source: gamblingsmart news writer
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Friday, 11 February 2005 |
Sunday, July 20 2008 
