The UK government said this month it had ratified a code of practice agreed by the Gaming Board of Great Britain and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) which will allow betting shops to continue operating fixed-odds machines, while limiting their number, maximum prize and range of games.
The Gaming Board had threatened to take bookmakers to court over the terminals, which enable punters to bet on games such as virtual horse racing.
It argued they were a form of gaming that fell outside the remit of bookmakers and were not subject to the same regulations as casinos and so could be abused by gambling addicts.
Fixed-odds terminals have been the driving force of growth for bookmakers in recent years and are forecast to make around 100 million pounds ($170 million) for the industry this year.
"Bookmakers have been under a cloud because there was big uncertainty about whether they would be able to keep that money," said Mark Reed, an analyst at Teather & Greenwood.
"This is great news for them and people are probably going to have to raise their earnings estimates," he said.
The UK government has also launched a draft bill in its latest step to ease gambling laws dating back to the 1960s.
The Gaming Board and ABB agreed each betting shop would be restricted to a maximum of four machines, whether conventional slot machines or fixed-odds terminals.
Analysts said this was in line with limits for conventional machines already being discussed by the government.
The maximum prize on fixed-odds terminals would be limited to 500 pounds and the maximum stake to 100 pounds, while the speed of the games would also be regulated and no casino games would be permitted on the machines other than roulette.
SOURCE:
Reuters.
