I think this is great. These machines are evil. As a former gambling addict I know only to well.... Also statistics show that crime in betting shops has increased by 70% since these machines were introduced with angry punters smashing them up after losing all their money.

Don't waste your time with jealousy. Sometimes your ahead, sometimes your behind, the race is long. But in the end it's only with yourself!!

It is an addiction just like many other things and it is absolutely right to lower the levels.

I quite enjoy a flutter now and then and the trick is not to chase a loss. These machines unfortunately force the punters to do exactly that.

I admit I have put the odd couple of quid in one now and then. I always do zero and then a few random numbers. I set a goal such as £10 for the £1 or £2 I have put in and if I reach it I take it out.

I normally have a few bets a week on the footy and whilst doing that I have witnessed people losing hundreds and hundreds of pounds, getting extremely angry, hitting punching and even spitting on the machines before storming out. A few months ago I went in to my local bookies for my weekend footy accumulator and there was a guy playing one with over £1000 in winnings and by the time I left about 15 minutes later he was at the counter using his debit card to add more money.

This has to stop as it is out of control and the government have got it right.

My gran always said "you never see a poor bookie", never a truer word spoken.

Some people are like Slinkies … not really good for anything, but you can’t help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

I think this kicks in next year and it will be interesting to see how many bookies will close down, and how many shops will stay open until 9 or 10pm when the racing finished in the winter at around 5pm!

The machines make them their profits so time will tell.

My fear is unless they also do this on line then these punters will just log on and carry on. At least in a shop some shop managers may try and talk them out of betting everything away...

Some people are like Slinkies … not really good for anything, but you can’t help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

I was in a shop once and this chinese women was on a machine with a glum look like she'd lost a fortune, had a quick peek and her balance was 3 grand !! Had much had she lost !!

I think the machines differ from sports betting in that if you bet on a horse or footy it can win or lose and you can take it, leave it, carry on or whatever. The principle behind the machines is that if you keep on feeding it money it will eventually pay out, so people just keep on pouring in the money , hoping it will pay out, taking more and more risk the more they lose

Paua oouaarancì Irà chiyeah Ishé galé ma ba oo ah

I didn't say all gambling is equally addictive, I said they will simply move on to something else if they are addictive gamblers.

As I said already, they're more profitable. You don't need to employ teams of people to assess markets, set odds, take bets, follow strange betting patterns etc.

Optimistic as ever

I think you mean fallacy.

That logic is like thinking the next time you flip a coin it'll be different to the last time, when it is exactly the same starting odds regardless of what preceded it.

Optimistic as ever