[user104658]

Originally Posted by michael21

https://news.sky.com/story/maximum-s...-to-2-11375598

I said it would happen some bookies will close

But the mp has not given a timetable on when this will happen

2020 at the earliest I would imagine, by which point I'll be out of the game anyway . It's a complicated one really; it barely affects my shop at all (for reasons described above, plus we're a large profit-making shop OTC [over-the-counter] and not dependant on gaming machines to stay in profit. However, it will affect the upper level company line in ways that mean "machine shops" (shops that barely take anything OTC and depend on high staking machine customers) are likely to close, since most bookmakers changed their shop policy to "profit driven" over "brand awareness" a few years back (shops used to stay open at a loss for the sake of presence and brand loyalty).

The REALLY ironic thing about all of this, is that the FOBT addicts will simply move online, and the bookmakers will refocus (even further) online... and that is EXACTLY where the major addiction problems have been for the last few years! Forget about losing £100 a spin on the highstreet; you can do it on your phone from your bed at 2am. But people don't see it happening there so they're not focussed on it. An invisible addiction in your pocket.