Gambling free-for-all as ban on betting in pubs is lifted
25.01.07
Drinkers in pubs across Britain will be allowed to play poker for cash in a move fuelling warnings of gambling addiction.
Ministers published proposals today to limit stakes to a maximum of £5 per game of poker in pubs and £10 in clubs.
Pubs would also have to limit daily and weekly stakes and prizes to £100 and £500 respectively.
Ministers insist the low stakes would keep poker in pubs 'fair, crime-free and ensure children and the vulnerable are protected'.
However, the Tories immediately raised concerns that the relaxation of gaming laws could fuel an explosion in poker in licensed premises.
In the past, pubs had to apply for permission from local licensing panels to allow poker.
However, under Labour's new Gambling Act, drinking venues will no longer need such permission.
Shadow culture secretary Hugo Swire said: "It's hard to see how these plans will be enforced. Is the barman supposed to stand counting and then call 'last gambling orders' when the limit is reached?"
The legal shake-up has sparked concerns of 24-hour drinking and gambling. However, gambling minister Richard Caborn insisted regulations would aim to stop excess.
The goal is to limit money people spend to around the same they might use in a slot machine.
Mr Caborn said: "These proposals set out a comprehensive set of rules governing gaming in pubs and clubs that will keep it fair, crime-free and ensure children and the vulnerable are protected.
"Many people have enjoyed low-stake games like bingo, cribbage and dominoes in clubs and pubs for decades."
The proposed reforms, to update the 1968 Gaming Act, would apply to pubs, members' clubs, commercial clubs such as snooker halls, miners' welfare institutes and pubs and nightclubs.
The operator must not take a cut or make a charge.
Clubs would be limited to £10 per person per game, a maximum daily limit on stakes or prizes of £200 and a weekly maximum of £1,000.
Also today, the senior official charged with enforcing gambling laws Phillip Brear, director of operations at the Gambling Commission, predicted 60 more casinos within five years, many in commuter towns in the South-East.
Next week, a panel will recommend sites for 17, including the first supercasino — possibly at the Dome.
Mr Brear said he believed that by 2012 the number of casinos would rise from just under 140 to about 200.
This is partly because of a wave of applications before new gambling laws in September.
He said: "We have seen significant investment to appeal to the middle classes. The market they are appealing to is, generally speaking, intelligent enough to know what the risks are about gambling." |
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