Fixed-odds betting terminals take billions from gamblers

British gamblers have lost a total of £11bn on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) since 2008 - an average of £8,000 per person, according to new figures.

However, adds research consultancy Landman Economics, a core of 300,000 "problem gamblers" account for around 40 per cent of total, losing almost £15,000 each.

Campaigners and gambling awareness charities say FOBTs, which offer quick-fire computerised versions of popular casino games, are uniquely damaging because they allow users to spend extremely large sums of money in an extremely short time.

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Players can bet as much as £100 every 20 seconds, causing a "gambling frenzy", says The Times.

There are an estimated 34,890 FOBTs in the UK's high street bookmakers and casinos, says the Gambling Commission.

However, while they make up only 20 per cent of all gaming machines, which includes fruit machines and slots, the Campaign for Fairer Gambling says they account for two-thirds of all gaming machine losses.

It adds that FOBT users are more likely to be "young men (aged under 35), unemployed and/or from low-to-middle income households".

Campaign groups have long urged the government to limit how much a player can bet. A damning cross-party parliamentary report earlier this year called for a £2 cap, although the study has since been censured for receiving financial backing from bookmakers' industry rivals, such as casinos, amusement arcades and pubs.

Theresa May is reportedly in favour of action, but lobbying by the gambling industry and Treasury concerns about the impact on tax revenue have put the issue on the back-burner, the Times says.

The Association of British Bookmakers, which argues that a crackdown on FOBTs would lead to the closure of thousands of bookmakers, said the Landman research was"pure fantasy".