Bookie calls for high stakes gambling machines ban after punter hangs himself

Fixed Odds Betting Terminals

A bookie has called for high stakes gambling machines to be banned, after a punter hung himself, and another customer attempted to commit suicide, the Sunday People reported on the weekend.

Betting shop owner, Mike Simons was so distressed by the events that he is now calling on the government to act on the controversial Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, which are commonly referred to as the ‘crack cocaine of gambling’.

Mr Simons, 53

The newspaper, the Sunday People is campaigning for a £2 maximum stake on these machines, which can take up to £100 of a ­punter’s cash within 20 seconds.

Mr Simons, 53, is the first bookmaker to recommend a ban of the machines, said:

“They can kill. They’re as bad as the worst kind of drug.

“That’s why they’re called the crack ­cocaine of gambling. People who use them just can’t stop.

“I had one customer who won £8,000. The next day he was back and shovelling it all into the machine.”

Mr Simons has worked in the gambling industry for just under 40 years and he has worked in amusement arcades, as well as a cruise line croupier and as a betting shop manager.

He now has his own shop near Birmingham and turns over a £1 million a year.

He said: “There’s not much I don’t know about gaming and gambling.

“But Fixed Odds Betting Terminal machines really frighten me as they’re so addictive.”

Speaking about the punter who committed suicide, Mr Simons said that the customer regularly had a £5 flutter on the horses but then turned to gambling on Fixed Odds terminals.

“He was very respectable. But he must have lost at least £100,000 on the machines. He hanged himself at home,” Mr Simons said.

Known as the ‘Crack Cocaine’ of gambling, these high stakes machines are highly addictive.

When another punter recently tried to take his own life, the shocked betting shop boss finally decided to speak out.

“I want these machines banned, plain and simple,” he said.

Mr Simons has three Fixed Betting Terminal machines in his shop but cannot get rid of them unilaterally because of the risk to his image.

“If they weren’t there, it would give the impression we can’t afford to pay out winnings.

“For a ban to work, it has to be across the board.”

He asked his supplier to remove roulette, the riskiest game, from the machines in his shop, but they refused.

Mr Simons recalled trying out a Fixed Odds machine for himself in a rival betting shop – and losing £1,000.

“Even knowing all I do about gambling, I got carried away. When I lost I just wanted to get my money back,” he said.

“I knew what these machines can do to you. But I also knew I might win! I’m no different to anyone else.”

Adrian Parkinson of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling said: “As an independent bookmaker, Mike is saying what many in the industry say privately.

“These machines are dangerous and should not be on the high street.”

Mr Simons claims that most punters also would like these machines to be banned, in order to remove the temptation.

Research by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling shows punters believe the machines are addictive and nearly eight in ten admit they sometimes spend more on them than they intended.

Adrian Parkinson added: “We need more people from the industry like Mike to stand up to bosses of large book­makers – who are addicted to the huge bonuses they earn from the machines.”