Gaming machines (fobts) in shops

Legal in Northern Ireland  , maximum 4 per shop for the numpties .

Technically illegal in South of Ireland , but not sure how rigidly it is enforced .

lots of them in south as wel,even in some of the bigger chainsl.i would have thought they were illegal

Where have you seen them in the south kavvie?

I see a lot of the BGT betting terminals for sport which are used religiously by non nationals (completely unaware that the margins are much worse) but I have not seen FOBTs in any of the bigger chains. Somebody said before that the Dundalk based bookmaker has some in that local area but I rarely be in the town so wouldn't have seen them.

your right dv..dundalk based.

They are absolutely illegal here although the man named after a Checkov play seems to have some special dispensation.

As the wildman said absolutey illegal. Poker machines or any other term for these machines are totally forbidden from Pubs,Clubs and Betting shops even if they have a sign saying 'No prizes giving'

m8 of mine has 5 in his 2 pubs, collects a cheque end of month for 3k off the machine owner 50/50 job, and at xmass the divide up the leftovers of each month..
nice work if u can get it..

Some poor sods are funding your friends easy money , oldbean .  Just do not understand any governments sanction of these "money machines" .  No one can ever win where there is no skill involved . Bugsy and co knew that when they set up Vegas .

Agree with the general point there Kelly,tis a bit scummy,basically trying to take a few bob off a few fella,s that more than likely are after a few jars.Suppose they have the freedom of choice whether they put anything in to these machines but won,t agree they should be in a pub where drink is involved.

Are these particular machines, currently in pubs and in the bookmaker's as described above, illegal ?


If so, why is no one reporting them to the appropriate authorities ? Apart from the fact that they are illegal ie.breaking the law of this democratic state, they are illegal for a very good reason.


What was the name of that Boomtown Rats song again, something to do with fruit ?

One guy I knew was addicted to playing those sort of machines .  Eventually he bought one outright and installed it in his house so he couldn't lose --shrewd move , and his wife was happier , at least she had him at home mostly .

Are there not "free play for fun " options on the net for those who like whirring symbols / numbers ?