Betting machines can swallow a whole family’s daily income in less than a quarter of an hour, an ECHO investigation can reveal.
Fixed-odds machines or FOBTs have been dubbed the “crack cocaine” of gambling, with critics alarmed by how swiftly they can hoover up cash and fears they could be addictive.
John Myers, whose son killed himself in shame at his gambling addiction in 2014, called the rapid losses “horrendous” and said the machines shouild be banned altogether.
