$135 In a Slot Machine Every 20 Seconds Is Crazy
British limits on fixed-odds terminal betting will hurt companies and cut jobs, but not by enough to justify letting things carry on.
Forbidden fruit machines.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images
You can make a lot of money selling unhealthy things, especially when they’re addictive. Tobacco companies, sugary drinks makers and gambling firms enjoy some of the fattest gross margins in the U.K. (up to 80 percent), a sign of high pricing power. So it’s wise to treat corporate protests against more taxation and regulation with a dose of sobriety. The furor over a political clampdown on British betting shops is no exception.
The U.K. government has delivered on its threat to slash the maximum bets on so-called “fixed-odds betting terminals,” the brightly-colored, casino-style games played on a screen in-store. The upper limit will now be 2 pounds ($2.70), down from 100 pounds ($135), every 20 seconds. Politicians have given a very clear and succinct reason for the cap: Problem gamblers are a greater cost to society than to themselves. And, given how easy it is to get hooked, it takes drastic measures to make progress.