Shops Offering Perks for Losses on Addictive Machines

Gamblers & Coral Staff Might Be Getting Exploited with FOBTs Introduction

Gambling is an exciting activity, but that does not mean there are no problems when it comes to gambling. The UK government knows this, which is the reason they have passed several measures to protect gamblers. One such measure is the fact that betting shop staff members must keep a watchful eye on gamblers who bet 50 pounds or more at a time.

But, apparently there was another problem brewing in a casino in the UK, and it dealt with FOBTs or fixed-odds betting terminals. The BBC broke out a scary allegation against these terminals not too long after a few employees decided to come forth and talk about them. They came out as BBC investigated a few allegations at Coral casinos.

FOBT Tactics

One formal manager came out to shed light on some of the questionable tactics that the casino took regarding FOBTs, like the fact that they were trained to coax customers into gambling longer. Yes, apparently managers were trained to instruct staff members on how to coax gamblers to continue playing.

The tactics were subtle, but effective. Apparently one act that was encouraged was purchasing food for customers and bringing it to them. This is done so they do not leave their FOBT and continue betting. Not only that, some managers instructed the staff to prepare the entire meal or bring extras, like cheese or any other condiment that might have been missing from the meal. The idea was to pretend to make a gambler feel pampered, but the goal was to keep him or her betting away.

The practice was so embedded in the casinos that some managers received an incentive for reaching the quota on the machines. The formal manager–who decided to call himself John–said that some casinos based the wages the staff might receive completely on the amount of money that FOBTs were able to make in the given month. This–in essence–could be seen as a form of extortion to the staff, not to mention the abuse the gamblers were receiving.

FOBT BBC Investigations

BBC investigators were also able to attain an internal email from Coral’s central department of operations where they explicitly say to introduce gamblers to the new FOBT game called Big Banker. Then they were supposed to do everything possible to encourage them to use their own money to bet on the game after the introduction. Coral and the entire company has rejected the allegations. Coral argues that FOBTs have actually helped gamblers. They were referring to a recent study done on the relationship between gamblers and FOBTs, which showed that gambling rates have decreased. Coral says that FOBTs are to be thanked, as it has helped gamblers lose a lot less money than before.

But–even if the study is true–it does not mean that FOBTs are not at least partly to blame for the way that Coral has been allegedly exploiting their staff and gamblers. In fact, FOBTs are under investigation by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling. Hopefully, everything can be resolved so that gamblers can have their fun without having to worry about questionable tactics.