Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals are some of the most unfair and addictive gambling machines around - and worse still, the lack of regulation is causing a major crisis in some of the poorest communities in the UK.

The number of these betting machines on our streets has spiralled at an alarming rate - in Reading, they took over £7 million from residents last year alone, many in some of the most deprived areas of the town.

FOBTs allow high stakes gambling at a frighteningly fast pace - making them far more addictive and dangerous. And misleading odds make it almost certain people will lose all of their money in just an hour of play.

This is causing a gambling timebomb in the UK. Regulation is desperately needed - but under pressure from the gambling industry, a review being headed by Tracey Crouch MP has been delayed until October.

Tell Tracey Crouch to back the campaign -- and regulate these dangerous machines now.

While FOBTs are games of pure chance, they often rely on misleading advertising to get people hooked.

The expected return to the player on the average game on FOBTs is around 93-97%. But this is per spin - and with a spin only taking 20 seconds, in an hour the return can reduce to under 1% - odds that almost nobody can beat.

In addition, many bookmakers often market these machines to suggest an element of skill is involved, when in reality they are based purely on chance.

Under lobbying from major bookmakers, the government has delayed a decision on the machines until October - while the machines continue to take millions of pounds per day from some of the poorest communities in the UK.

But the good news is that there’s plenty of opposition to these unfair machines -- even the DUP are in favour of lowering the maximum stake from £100 to £2 to help reduce the issues faced by problem gamblers. The gambling lobby is split over the issue too - with casinos, who face much tighter regulations, in favour of a crackdown.

This gives us a major opportunity to stop this crisis before it’s too late. We need to come together to send a strong message that we won’t tolerate these unfair machines on our streets.

Tracey Crouch - stand up to bookmakers and regulate FOBTs -- now.

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