More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Betting machines dubbed the 'crack cocaine of gambling' are costing Kent players millions of pounds, it's been revealed.
Across Kent and Medway, players gambled hundreds of millions of pounds on so-called Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) between September 2011 and the same month last year.
Of that, a whopping £33m was lost - often in high street stores - according to figures just released by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling.
Now campaigners are calling for ceilings to be placed on the amount anyone can bet at anyone time - on machines where players can lose up to £300 in just 60 seconds.
The total lost of the fixed odds machines in the year was nearly £33m.
Worst affected in Kent were gamblers in Rochester and Strood, who lost £3.5m, while those in Folkestone and Hythe came away with £3.1m less than they put in.
Gamblers in Faversham and Mid Kent lost the least - at just over £622,000.
Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Maidstone and the Weald, Jasper Gerard, is calling for better education.
He said: “I am not in favour of banning things but we need to show people where gambling leads.
“I meet so many people who are facing broken lives due to addiction – be it through gambling, drugs or alcohol.
"I was knocking on doors in Marden and some of the stories were tragic.
"Sadly it is often families, especially children, who pay the price."
Across the South East, more than £5.7bn was frittered on the addictive games, contributing £192m to the betting industry’s profits.
But last week the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, opted not to reduce stakes or prizes on FOBTs, where punters can gamble £100 per play and win a jackpot of £500.
The department said that it considered “the future of these machines to be unresolved pending further work”.
"These aren’t pub fruit machines; these are high stake, high speed, high risk gaming machines in easily accessible high street locations" - Adrian Parkinson
Mr Gerard had backed a campaign to see the machines reduced from £100 to £2 per spin and is urging Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant to use her new position in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to take action.
He said: “There are few local economic benefits to this type of gambling.
"These machines tend to suck money out of the local economy, and generate few jobs.”
Adrian Parkinson of the Stop the Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals campaign says Britain should have banned high stakes immediately, like Ireland.
He added: “You can easily lose £300 in a minute.
"These aren’t pub fruit machines; these are high stake, high speed, high risk gaming machines in easily accessible high street locations.”
Cash lost in Kent on fixed odds machines
Canterbury £2,074,938
Chatham and Aylesford £1,659,950
Dartford £2,282,431
Dover £1,659,950
Faversham and Mid Kent £622,481
Folkestone and Hythe £3,112,407
Gillingham and Rainham £2,489,925
Gravesham £2,282,431
Hastings and Rye £2,697,419
Maidstone and The Weald £1,867,444
North Thanet £2,074,938
Rochester and Strood £3,527,394
Sevenoaks £1,659,950
Sittingbourne and Sheppey £2,074,938
South Thanet £2,489,925
Tonbridge and Malling £1,659,950
Tunbridge Wells £1,452,456
