Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals?

[SteveO]

All the major bookmakers have online poker sites, so surely it would make sense to have some poker terminals in their betting shops. This way a punter could walk in hand over a set amount and then play until his heart's content. At the end of his session he can then cash in his winnings if this is the case. It amazes me how much money some guys stick on the roulette games and fruit machines where there is no skill involved at all, unyet the won't gamble on sports or play poker (low intelligence me thinks) :lol.

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Re: Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals? Got a feeling its due to the Gambling Law. I know as from Sept 1st the Gambling law changes as Ladbrokes FOBT's will carry video poker (Jacks or better) and slot style games.

[philossify]

Re: Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals? Even if they could I doubt they'd be interested. IMHO the rate of return (sepecially if you work it out at cash per minute) from fruit machines, roulette and betting on the horse, dogs, football etc. is much better than they'd ever make from the poker playing. Any big roller online poker player is going to want to concentrate on the poker and therefore not be interested in the public environment of your average betting shop. Also a game of poker (as partly a game of skill) requires too much attention - no time left for the punters to make up their minds which bet to do next . The little you gain from the guy playing poker is small compared to the profit missing by him placing less bets. Heck, one of my brothers even bets on the cartoon racing to get his fix - typical over-round probably 120%+ - its like flushing money down the drain (again IMHO). And the way your average player throws money on the roulette machines is crazy - splattering the board with numbers probably means the house has at least a 5% profit margin... and if you play at speed that means you can easily lose a couple of quid every two minutes.... Anyway thats my 2p worth .... :ok

[spireitedaz]

Re: Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals? From 1st of September there will be a version of Poker on the Ladbrokes machines as was pointed out earlier. It will be a fixed odds game, as far as I am aware. There should be a machine in most shops from then, that will be a video slot, where a top prize of £500 will be up for grabs. The date is the 1st September due to the new Gambling Commission, and some of the old restrictions are being lifted, 1 example being the ability for a betting shop to be able to stay open as late as 10PM all year round. This was only available previously from 1st April to end August, to allow night racing to be shown in shops.

[voiceofjoe]

Re: Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals?

1 example being the ability for a betting shop to be able to stay open as late as 10PM all year round. This was only available previously from 1st April to end August' date=' to allow night racing to be shown in shops.[/quote'] I bet your really chuffed about that daz - 3 staff and 1 punter playing the slots !!

[Dodger]

Re: Why don't major betting shops have poker terminals? Our local manager insists that the profit from the 3 games machines (and 1 fruit machine) far outstrips the profits made from all betting. I've watched people playing on them and they are just lunatics, feeding the machine with twenty pound notes every ten minutes, then crowing ''I've just won £120'' as they take their ticket to the counter, not mentioning that they lost two hundred yesterday, the wife walked out three months ago and the kids have been taken into care!