Bookies to reopen 15th June?

[BlindHaze]

Just browsing through the BBC and this story came through as ‘breaking news’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52801727

And according to the Gov website, bookies and arcades come under ‘non-essential shops’

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches

I may be putting 2 and 2 together and making 5, but it looks like the FOBTs will be raking it in once more very soon as long as they can maintain social distancing. But I bet I still get some idiot standing right next to me telling me how I should play my 20p stakes....

[Stepandstop]

You know what I’m looking forward to watching somebody play on a fobt

i collect all the odd amounts that people leave on them like 4p and when I’ve got to £1 i play fishing frenzy 😁😁😁

[Lukew1678]

Would anyone still be happy to go in there? The only thing staff can really do is to disinfect the machines after each use and maybe not allow more than 4 people to watch the races in store. 

[Mentholdan]

1 hour ago, BlindHaze said:

Just browsing through the BBC and this story came through as ‘breaking news’

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52801727

And according to the Gov website, bookies and arcades come under ‘non-essential shops’

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches

I may be putting 2 and 2 together and making 5, but it looks like the FOBTs will be raking it in once more very soon as long as they can maintain social distancing. But I bet I still get some idiot standing right next to me telling me how I should play my 20p stakes....

Hold your plums! 

[cazza6565]

Is this just the date for businesses in England.

[cazza6565]

Just ignore me didn't read it properly.

[StopandStep]

As far as I can tell bookies won't be open until July, but it looks like arcades and service station arcades will be able to open on the 15th of June.

[StopandStep]

Scrap that, here's a link for June opening. 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/may/26/talking-horses-betting-shops-may-reopen-in-time-for-royal-ascot

[The crisp man]

5 hours ago, StopandStep said:

Scrap that, here's a link for June opening. 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/may/26/talking-horses-betting-shops-may-reopen-in-time-for-royal-ascot

It almost ties up with the start of the "maybe" footie season too.

Will you be going in Darren, I imagine distancing will be easier in arcades and instead of the free coffee the staff will wipe down machines constantly. 

 

Do you think the RTP may lower due to fewer people, I'm assuming you can amend on individual machines in an arcade?

 

[StopandStep]

2 hours ago, The crisp man said:

It almost ties up with the start of the "maybe" footie season too.

Will you be going in Darren, I imagine distancing will be easier in arcades and instead of the free coffee the staff will wipe down machines constantly. 

 

Do you think the RTP may lower due to fewer people, I'm assuming you can amend on individual machines in an arcade?

 

Individual machines can be adjusted in arcades, not bookies, but I doubt an arcade would do that as a result of this. The types of arcades to lower their percentages would have done it already, before any lockdown, so those places probably can't go any lower. William Hill were always the lowest in the bookies, Coral and Ladbrokes were often 92% to 94%, I hope they don't follow William Hill's lead. 

Will I be going in? Probably not the bookies for a while, but you're right, arcades will be easier but I certainly won't be there for doors!

[The crisp man]

11 hours ago, StopandStep said:

Individual machines can be adjusted in arcades, not bookies, but I doubt an arcade would do that as a result of this. The types of arcades to lower their percentages would have done it already, before any lockdown, so those places probably can't go any lower. William Hill were always the lowest in the bookies, Coral and Ladbrokes were often 92% to 94%, I hope they don't follow William Hill's lead. 

Will I be going in? Probably not the bookies for a while, but you're right, arcades will be easier but I certainly won't be there for doors!

Cheers, I remember an old video from hypalinx showing that you could change it on an old machine, wasnt sure if you still could.

As for the bookies I'm assuming the bookies are centrally controlled or something and the exec team decides of any changes. Although I have noticed classic games have generally decreased even further in bookie, I think worms was 92% before the £2 stake and is now 88-90%.

I'll look forward to seeing what the arcades are like, I may wait for a video of you fully suited in your haz mask before I risk going in though.

[BlindHaze]

18 minutes ago, The crisp man said:

Cheers, I remember an old video from hypalinx showing that you could change it on an old machine, wasnt sure if you still could.

As for the bookies I'm assuming the bookies are centrally controlled or something and the exec team decides of any changes. Although I have noticed classic games have generally decreased even further in bookie, I think worms was 92% before the £2 stake and is now 88-90%.

I'll look forward to seeing what the arcades are like, I may wait for a video of you fully suited in your haz mask before I risk going in though.

88%? Wow, that really is on the take if they’ve dropped that low!

To put it in perspective, over the long term on £2 play, the machine will pocket 24p per spin. If you take into to account the time spent with features/gambles as well, you may average 10 spins a minute. That’s £2.40 per minute for that machine.

Now... if you have 4 machines in shop which are in use (it’s a very common sight in my local Coral), that’s £9.60 per minute. For ease of calculation, I’ll call it £10.

A quick google search shows me that Coral has 1845 branches in the UK. I guess you know where this is heading, but that equates to £18,450 per minute.

I know I’m making a lot of presumptions with my calculations (all the machines being in use, people playing max stake etc), but even if they take 1/4 of that, that’s still £4500 per minute which is an obscene amount of money. And that’s just for Coral alone. 

No wonder bookies are keen to reopen...!

And I’m not sure about StopandStep wearing a facemask, however I think we should club together to get him a bookies sombrero so he can block that ever troubling glare from the lights in one corner of the screen... 😉

[Stepandstop]

I’d like to see Darren do another live stream inside the bookies not sure if he would be allowed now though 

[simon1988]

29 minutes ago, BlindHaze said:

88%? Wow, that really is on the take if they’ve dropped that low!

To put it in perspective, over the long term on £2 play, the machine will pocket 24p per spin. If you take into to account the time spent with features/gambles as well, you may average 10 spins a minute. That’s £2.40 per minute for that machine.

Now... if you have 4 machines in shop which are in use (it’s a very common sight in my local Coral), that’s £9.60 per minute. For ease of calculation, I’ll call it £10.

A quick google search shows me that Coral has 1845 branches in the UK. I guess you know where this is heading, but that equates to £18,450 per minute.

I know I’m making a lot of presumptions with my calculations (all the machines being in use, people playing max stake etc), but even if they take 1/4 of that, that’s still £4500 per minute which is an obscene amount of money. And that’s just for Coral alone. 

No wonder bookies are keen to reopen...!

And I’m not sure about StopandStep wearing a facemask, however I think we should club together to get him a bookies sombrero so he can block that ever troubling glare from the lights in one corner of the screen... 😉

they are not 88% on £2, they never have been, they are 90 to 91%... then you said no wonder bookies are keen to open for the machines, I work in one, and I very much doubt that we will have more than 2 machines on at one time because on the 2 meter rule.... and yet again people don't really play machines at £2 anymore, the average customer now only plays 25p which are at between 86% and 87%. and they only put £20 max in, people don't put in lots n lots no more, unlike stopnstep, and btw that's not a dig, ive watched his vids from day one on youtube and their great...

but since roulette is now down to £2 ago, and 10 to 50 quid fortune spins have gone.... not many people play machines anymore at high stakes  

[BlindHaze]

2 minutes ago, simon1988 said:

they are not 88% on £2, they never have been, they are 90 to 91%... then you said no wonder bookies are keen to open for the machines, I work in one, and I very much doubt that we will have more than 2 machines on at one time because on the 2 meter rule.... and yet again people don't really play machines at £2 anymore, the average customer now only plays 25p which are at between 86% and 87%. and they only put £20 max in, people don't put in lots n lots no more, unlike stopnstep, and btw that's not a dig, ive watched his vids from day one on youtube and their great...

but since roulette is now down to £2 ago, and 10 to 50 quid fortune spins have gone.... not many people play machines anymore at high stakes  

I did think 88% sounded low (more like 50p stake percentage) but I only occasionally play them on 20/25p play so I’m a happy low roller.

I guess it depends on how busy your branch gets, but every time I go into my local Coral, all 4 machines are generally in use on a variety of stakes. However saying that, over the road is a BetFred and they always have machines available... although the service in that branch is terrible and I have been told to come back to claim my £50 winnings as they have no cash available...!

I suppose with the FOBTs, if the shop is large enough then they could spread them out. I’m not too sure if they need to be hardwired by Ethernet to the internet or WiFi will do, maybe you could let us know on this.

As I said, my calculations were best/worst case scenario (depending on whether you’re the bookie or the punter) so took 25% of that as a rough estimate. I agree with you that they’re not the cash cows they once were, although I believe they contribute a vast percentage of the overall takings.