Bookmakers Introduce City-wide Self-exclusion Plan for Glasgow's Problem Gamblers
People who like to gamble in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, can now block themselves from up to 36 betting establishments in the city center by making a single phone call.
Earlier, individuals could only prohibit themselves from a specific shop at a time.
The trial program, which may be implemented nationwide after proving effective in Glasgow, includes a confidential help line that offers information on seeking assistance for gambling issues as well as the self-exclusion service.
Glasgow city councilors and the Association of British Bookmakers started the three-month trial.
Under the initiative, gamblers can also keep themselves from specific shops near their homes or workplaces.
FOBT Controversy
"This is a significant stride towards aiding problem gamblers in Glasgow maintain control and secure the assistance they need," claimed Malcolm George, chief executive of the ABB. "High street betting operators aim for all customers to appreciate their leisure time while gambling responsibly.
"We also want to support those who are encounters issues, and this initiative is a significant advance toward accomplishing that goal. In addition, it will directly influence the UK-wide initiative that will start next year."
The majority of betting establishments in the UK are outfitted with fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
The controversial machines, infamously referred to as "the crack cocaine of the high street," enable customers to stake up to £100 (around $157) every 20 seconds on predetermined odds games, most often roulette.
A recent bid by local councils around the UK to reduce the maximum stake to £2 (around $3.15) each spin was dismissed earlier this month by the UK administration.
Although some applaud the new scheme in Glasgow, others, like Andrew Parkinson, Director of campaign group Fairer Gambling, argue that it's simply insufficient.
FOBTs, according to Parkinson, have contributed to a rise in crime on the UK's high streets and necessitate a more forceful approach to tackle the issue.
"Public Relations"
Parkinson feels the new scheme is merely a "public relations exercise" for bookmakers and that enforcing it will be practically impossible.
"There is nothing new about self-exclusion," he said. "It has been in operation in betting shops since the mid-2000s. The bookmakers are trying to improve a system that has consistently been demonstrated to be ineffective in assisting pathological problem gamblers to ban from betting shops.
"With only one employee working at most betting shops these days, it is unrealistic to anticipate each employee could enforce this on their own. And what any betting shop employee will tell you is that those who have banned have done so due to FOBTs, not traditional counter betting."
Glasgow housed 223 betting establishments where gamblers lost over £32 million from FOBTs last year.
Protesters against gambling want bookmakers to donate more of their earnings to funding programs for problem gambling.
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