Good morning all,
Once again it seems gambling is in the papers for all the wrong reasons, (is there a good reason these days? Seems not…) this time with some of the on-course bookmakers facing hefty fines for serving under 18s at Royal Ascot last year. My take on that is on the main piece, along with a selection from Leicester.
Gambling is once again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, this time for seven bookmakers failing an underage test at Royal Ascot last year and being fined 2.5% of their profits as a result.
As someone that occasionally works on the frontline for on-course bookmakers, and also as someone that spent some 10 years in retail with HMV, I feel I’m fairly qualified to say my piece on the subject. Some of my bookmaker friends may not like what I’ve got to say, but I’ll be saying it anyway.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the why’s and wherefore’s, let me say that I think the fines are over the top. 2.5% of a bookmaker’s yearly profit is a lot of money and it is only right that they point out that when a high street bookmaker falls foul of the law, the fines are considerably less as a proportion of their overall profits. That I will say, and on this, I agree.
However, the language used by bookmakers on Twitter yesterday rather suggests that the Gambling Commission are, in some way “out to get bookmakers.” Honeypot, entrapment, that sort of thing. I do not know whether that is the case or not – I suspect not, in truth – but regardless of that, bookmakers are merely being asked to be vigilant when serving potentially underage gamblers. That is a fairly simple open-and-shut case, as far as I can see.
When we serve someone we believe to be underage, we always ask for ID. No valid ID, no bet. It’s a simple process that repeated over and over again simply becomes part of your repartee with customers. And you can often make a joke of the situation. “Wish I looked as young as you!” That sort of thing. Light-hearted bantz, as the kids these days say.
If they show you valid ID, great. They have a bet, and you record the fact that you have done an underage check on the laptop. Student days are great, you end up pressing the “check” button so many times you lose count.
No ID, you send them off, and press a separate “refusal” button. Again, this shows your doing your job. No more and no less than that.
What some of my friends/bookmakers seem not to grasp is the reason for this. If, by some misfortune, someone under 18 does slip through the net and is served on a test purchase, you then have evidence to back up the fact that, most of the time, you are doing your job. You can point to your refusals log and say, look, here’s all the refusals we have done. It doesn’t alter the fact you’ve served someone underage, but you do have some evidence to back up the fact you do your job. As such, you may get a slap on the wrist and told to be more vigilant, rather than facing the prospect of large fines and possible loss of license for repeat offenders.
If you have NO evidence then frankly, you’re in trouble. No evidence means you’ll get the book thrown at you, and there’s nothing at all you can do about it. No counter-arguments to give, and the weight of the law will come down hard on you.
As I say, 10 years with HMV taught me a few things, one of which was not to sell underage DVDs/games/parental advisory stuff to minors. It’s pretty much drilled into you on Day 1. The principle was much the same – but if you refused someone with no ID, we had a proper log book to write in. You wrote down a description of the customer, what they were trying to buy, signed it, got it countersigned by someone that had seen the transaction (if possible), time and date. The reason for this? Up to a £50,000 for the individual found breaking the law – not the company, the worker him/herself – and possible imprisonment for constant repeat offenders. But if you had the evidence – the log book – you could turn around and, much as we do now with the refusals button, say “we do our job.” That might not get you off the hook but the fine would be greatly lessened.
Monthly – yes, monthly – refresher courses on not selling to minors was a given, as were frequent written tests. That’s how seriously it was taken. I saw one bookmaker yesterday say “underage gambling on tracks is not a problem.” Probably true. However, neither is the underage selling of DVDs, games and CDs a widespread problem. That doesn’t mean checks shouldn’t be carried out. Prevention is better than the cure, after all.
Bookmakers moan that “oh, these test people get sent in at busy times.” That’s as maybe, but unless you’re getting tested three times a week during December, when you’ve got queues out the door buying Christmas presents, don’t come moaning at me. And ten bookmakers passed the Ascot test anyway, so that excuse doesn’t wash for a single second.
There’s a lot of “whataboutery” with this issue – some point at the fact that you can take part in the lottery and buy scratchcards when you’re 16, so what difference does it make anyway? Those facts are true. But there’s nothing we can do about that as an industry until the government changes the law. We can only do what we are being asked. And whether I think the law is an ass or not is irrelevant – if I do what I am being asked, and check when in doubt, I can do no more. And yes, before you ask, I have failed a Serve Legal test. That’s why we gather the evidence. The on-course books need to stop making excuses and do what they are being asked here, before someone really does lose their license.
To that end, I’ll once again throw this out to any bookmakers reading this – I’m more than happy to run the odd course before racing with some tips to help you identify and ask potential underage customers. I ran them for a few years with HMV, after all, so I do know what I’m on about! Feel free to ask, anytime…
Anyway, onto today's racing. My form has fallen off the largest possible cliff you could imagine, so it's with trepidation that I go with Aintree My Dream in the 3.45 at Leicester. The hood has come off, and I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or bad, but this is a much easier race than the one he contested at Ascot, where I thought he shaped okay, and he goes fine in heavy ground too. Small win bet for me.
Good luck with all your bets today,
David.
Slip of the old typing finger there David – it’s the 3.45 at Leicester.
Whilst we might agree that the proposed fines are disproportionate, the Ascot bookies are at fault having failed a similar test in 2014 and not taking the action that you and your colleagues do now.
Betting shops also failed in their initial tests, but have improved their practice today, so the Ascot books have clear models to follow and no excuses.
The idea that the course introduce age appropriate badges supports them too.
I agree with you Chris, clearly some of the books have learnt nothing and you wonder how many more fines/warnings it will take before one of them loses their license.
You are spot on about the betting shops too – their Serve Legal figures are much better compared to their on-course counterparts.
I took a youngster to Exeter with me a year or two ago and part of the day was pointing out the bookies and explaining all about them. After a while she asked if she could have a pound on a horse( she was 16) after some humming and harring I agreed to put the pound on for her and we stood in front of the bookie and I explained the odds etc, she gave me the pound and I put it on for her . Now the bookie could see what was going on and took the bet . It was only after that I realised that I could have been in trouble for putting the bet on for her. I had been betting since the age of about 8 so I suppose I couldn’t see the problem. Btw the horse lost so she learned an early lesson on the joys of gambling
What we’ve been told by the GC in those circumstances Steve is to “use your common sense.” By that, they mean – they know these practices go on, but the bottom line there is the adult is putting the bet on. Effectively, we have to cock a deaf ear as if we hear the child asking for the bet, we are not supposed to take it, even if the adult asks. But as they say, “use your common sense” when this happens.
I always ask the adult for the bets, then I know I can’t get in trouble!
Great post David.
Thankyou Kenny, means a lot from you mate.
I think that is the right approach, rather like the small glass of wine with a meal idea, which gets kids used to grown up things while being supervised
It’s just that Steve, teach them things in moderation and they grow up having respect for those things. Tell them “gambling is wrong and drinking is wrong” and they’ll want to find out what all the fuss is about as soon as then can!