FOBTs to be banned in Irish bookies

It seems that a row may be brewing over the use of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in high street bookmakers premises in the Republic as recommendations to reform gambling laws will probably ban them. FOBTs are the machines at which punters can play online casino games such as Roulette or Blackjack and in the UK each shop is permitted to have two machines; Ladbrokes for example has them in their UK shops but not in the shops in the Republic. There was some thought given to introducing them as the laws at the time did not cover them but the Government advised that the machines would be illegal and they were never introduced. They are however a good source of income in bookmakers shops as the public uses them whilst waiting for races to start; some estimates say the average take per machine could be in excess of €9000 per annum per machine. The Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) asked for their use back in 2008. The Department of Justice is tasked with making the proposals that will act as a basis for reformed legislation of gambling and they are believed not to be in favour of having them in betting shops despite a separate Government commission recommending that they be introduced into Casinos which seems a bit strange to us as why would you play on a machine having made the effort to go to casino in the first place? Nothing is yet fixed but it is hoped that outline recommendations will be available in the first half of this year.