Furious gambler smashes up a bookmaker’s shop after losing £500 on a ‘crack cocaine’ fixed-odds fruit machine
- The angry gambler lost £500 while using a fixed-odds fruit machine in Croydon
- He got up and made his way to the shop door before he stopped and turned
- The punter picked up a stool and drove it into the machine multiple times
A gambler who used a chair to smash a ‘crack cocaine’ fixed-odds fruit machine after it swallowed hundreds of pounds is at the centre of a police hunt today.
The punter lost £500 to the ‘high stakes gaming machine’ before he admitted defeat and moved towards the shop’s door at around 8pm in Thornton Heath, Croydon, south London.
At the door he stopped, turned around and walked back inside.
The punter made his way to the door but stopped, turned around, lifted a stool and drove it into the machine that swallowed £500
He then picked up a seat and drove it into the electronic betting machine before smashing it repeatedly.
After his frustration is vented he picks up his backpack and escapes the shop.
And CCTV captured the unfortunate reaction on March 4 with Croydon police now appealing for anyone with information to get in contact.
The moment he picked up a stool and lifts it in the air before driving it back down into the machine
CCTV captured the unfortunate reaction on March 4 with Croydon police now appealing for anyone with information to get in contact
The punter lost £500 to the ‘high stakes gaming machine’ before he admitted defeat at around 8pm in Thornton Heath, Croydon, south London
The man was described as black, in his thirties or forties, with short dark hair and wearing a white striped shirt with a green parka-style coat.
A police spokesman said: ‘At a betting shop in Thornton Heath on Monday, March 4, at around 8pm, a man who had been losing money in a high stakes electronic gaming machine appeared to get angry and smashed the screen of the machine with an object.
‘He then walked out the shop. His anger was clearly directed at the machine in which he had lost so much money and no one else was involved.
‘Police attended but no suspects have been arrested at this stage.’
The crack cocaine of gambling: What are fixed-odds betting machines
Punters can play blackjack and roulette and on B2 games place stakes of up to £100
A Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (FOBT) is a games machine that usually hosts blackjack and roulette.
Gaming machines have been in betting shops since 2002 but since the introduction of the 2005 Gambling Act betting shops are now allowed a maximum of four gaming machines per shop.
There are two kinds of games available and while B3 games have a maximum stake of £2 a turn, B2 games have a maximum stake of £100.
Source: Association of British Bookmakers Ltd