Irish gambling not as bad as UK gambling

It would appear that problem gambling is never far from the Irish gambling news bulletins although recent articles suggest that the UK might be suffering more than Ireland. The criticism comes in the form of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) that fortunately we do not have in Irish gambling but are prevalent in many betting shops in the UK and they are called the crack cocaine of gambling. Gambling.ie has pointed out on several occasions that the criticism of these machines is that it is possible to bet large amounts very quickly usually when gambling on roulette but in online gambling it is also possible to bet large amounts on roulette but that does not seem to come in for criticism. The Irish gambling news reports that back in 2013 the operators of these machines which are found in bookmakers shops were forced to introduce a code of conduct which entailed better training for shop staff to spot problem gambling and voluntary spending limits. Recently in the Irish gambling news there is a report from the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) that suggests that these measures have had no effect at all. Online gambling has had voluntary limits for years whereby a player simply selects how much they can deposit into their gambling account within any given period of time and it cannot be changed without a certain time lapse thus preventing instant increases being made. It is also much easier for online gambling companies to stop accounts of those that they think have an issue with problem gambling.  We can imagine the result of a member of staff in a betting shop approaching a customer and saying “don’t you think you ought to stop now?” Voluntary measures were never going to work so it is not surprising to read this in the Irish gambling news.