The Times Online reported today that U.K. Cultural Secretary Andrew Burnham has approved a resolution to relax slot-machine limits. According to the new guidelines, slots in the nation’s clubs, pubs and brick-and-mortar bookmakers can now accept wagers of up to $1.47 and pay out a maximum of $102.88.
These limits are nearly double the 74-cent bets and $51.47 payouts previously allowed. Officials expect the increases to boost tax revenue by 20 percent, an increase of over $40 million.
Currently, U.K. slot machines generate over $14 billion in total revenue and return about $12 billion in prizes. The new increase is the second time in as many years that regulators have agreed to raise the imposed limits.
However, as the Times Online reported, critics are already voicing concerns that the new limits will encourage gambling addiction during the present recession. Methodist Church spokeswoman Anna Drew said that as a gambler’s initial losses increase his likelihood of making more wagers also increases.
“People do chase their losses on slot machines,” Drew said. “They pump money in to get back the 5, 10 or 20 pounds (they) have already spent.
“Britain has around a third of a million problem gamblers according to GameCare, and we wouldn’t want that to increase.”
Detractors also point out that the new limits could create more opportunities for problem gamblers to bet. A rise in betting limits, they say, will cause pubs and clubs to increase the number of slot machines on their premises.
To date, there are about 80,000 slot machines with an estimated 8.1 million regular players throughout Britain alone. Approximately one-third of these players are 24 years old or younger, and according to the country’s Gambling Commission, a majority of them are male.
Religious groups have long accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of promoting greed in the U.K. and view the new limits as evidence of fact. Yet Brown’s supporters argue that the prime minister’s continued opposition to casino expansion, including his veto of the planned Manchester “super casino” project, is testament to the contrary.
Brown supporters also said that Parliament had considered smaller increases but that no less than twice the prior limit would substantially increase tax revenue.
It was a necessary step, Brown said, because “the economy is not moving.”
What’s more, a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sports maintained that the Gambling Commission would enforce a strict code of conduct on machine operators.
“The protection of children and vulnerable people is at the heart of the Gambling Act and this remains our priority,” the spokesman said.
- Phill Provance
phill.provance@gamblingplanet.org
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