£1BILLION in one month... what Ladbrokes made from 'crack cocaine' machines: Secret document reveals huge profits as Downing Street announces crackdown on terminals

• Memorandum showed machines were played 5million times in four weeks
• Industry regulator has warned all gamblers could be harmed by rates
• Government plans to set limits on playing times and loss caps
  

By Tamara Cohen for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:22 EDT, 6 April 2014 | Updated: 06:31 EDT, 7 April 2014

A single bookmakers’ chain took £1billion from highly addictive gaming machines in just one month, a leaked document has shown.

An internal memorandum from Ladbrokes has revealed the vast scale of the profits that are made thanks to roulette machines, dubbed the ‘crack cocaine’ of gambling.

Customers played the machines nearly 5million times in just four weeks, according the document, and punters can lose £100 per spin on the games.

Enormous profits: Customers played the machines in Ladbrokes nearly 5million times in just four weeks, according the document

Over the last four years, annual player losses from the fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) have risen from £1.3billion to around £1.5billion.

And last year the gambling industry regulator warned that the machines expose ‘even normal leisure gamblers to potentially harmful rates of loss whether or not they would be classified as problem gamblers’.

Downing Street has now signalled that it is ready to crack down on FOBTs – with penalties for bookmakers who fail to limit punters’ losses and enforce limits on playing times. The proposals will also give councils the power to stop the clustering of betting shops, particularly in deprived areas where relaxed planning rules have made it easier for them to open.

But the leaked Ladbrokes document suggests that the plan to cap betting time at 30 minutes and losses at £250 a session could fail to make an impact – as the average spend is £93 and only 8 per cent of punters play for more than half an hour.

Meanwhile one of the other high street chains, Betfred, has come under fire for linking staff pay to the output of the FOBTs.

Shop managers from the chain – Britain’s biggest independent bookmaker – spoke to the Mail about the toll they are having on staff and customers.

Dangers: Last year the gambling industry regulator warned that the machines expose 'even normal leisure gamblers'

One manager in London said: ‘No one wants to see more any dependence on FOBTs – they are horrendous. They’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to the betting industry, either customers or staff. Since these machines came in, the industry has totally changed.’

They added: ‘They are there for hours like zombies spending all their money. People who bet on the horses or the dogs are stoical if they lose, it’s entertainment.

‘People who play these machines have a totally different mentality. Comparing it to crack cocaine is exactly right.’

Another said: ‘I will usually go and talk to a customer who is getting agitated before it escalates, but a lot of managers don’t because they worry that the takings will drop.’

Adrian Parkinson, of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: ‘The bookmaking sector is tarnished by controversy surrounding the highly addictive gaming machines they have based their entire commercial strategy on.

‘They are slashing managers’ wages with the incentive that if they sell more revenue on fixed odds betting terminals their hourly wage will increase. It’s a callous, cruel and socially irresponsible move.’