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West London: Over £100 Million Spent on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals Last Year

By Dale Shelabarger, Updated:

Gamblers in seven West London boroughs spent over £100 Million on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in 2016.

The figure comes from a new study by Landman Economics, that seeks to determine the economic effects of the controversial gaming machines.

Betting Shops can contain up to 4 FOBTs as regulated by the 2005 Gambling Act. Up to £100 can be staked every 20 seconds and campaigners have argued that the machines target problem gamblers.

The Fixed Odds Betting Terminals APPG have called in parliament for the maximum bet to be reduced to £2. However, the gambling industry asserts that such measures would lead to thousands of jobs being cut and reduced tax revenue for the government.

Here are how the 7 West London Boroughs FOBT Spend Rank:

BoroughSpent on FOBTsNumber of FOBTs
Brent£24,083,670350
Ealing£17,131,683249
Hounslow£16,138,542*227
Hillingdon£16,138,542*231
Hammersmith and Fulham£15,641,971227
Harrow£13,903,974202
Kensington and Chelsea£8,441,699123

*IC Notes: These figures came from an article in getwestlondon entitled “Staggering amounts lost at gambling shops’ fixed odds slot machines.” They sourced their figures from a sponsored study by Landman Economics, but this report is not wholly available online. Presumably one of these figures is incorrectly reported (or not but what are the odds?)

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