How could Reeves hit gambling firms – and are they fearmongering over impact?

The tax hike could cost the industry anything between about £1bn and £3bn, depending on how far Rachel Reeves turns the screw. Photograph: Kumar Sriskandan/Alamy

Gambling companies don’t lose very often but nor are they usually playing a game of poker against the chancellor of the exchequer.

At next week’s budget, Rachel Reeves is widely expected to announce an increase in the duties that bookies and casinos pay to the Treasury, ending months of speculation and frenzied lobbying designed to sway the government.