Horseracing-Automatic betting terminals leave Ascot bookies all a flutter
ASCOT, England, June 20 (Reuters) - Punters at Royal Ascot this week have, for the first time, been able to place bets using self-service electronic terminals as the course looks to modernise the age-old system of rows of in-person bookmakers displaying their odds to eagle-eyed racegoers.
The machines, which resemble the ordering system seen in many fast-food restaurants, take punts of up to 100 pounds ($134.96) and offer a smaller range of bets than traditional bookmakers and larger pool-systems like The Tote.
The gambling industry is the most substantial revenue stream for British racecourses and funds prize money, horse welfare and racecourse costs with over 13 billion pounds bet annually on horseracing in Britain.
For many racegoers, handing over a crisp tenner to a brusque bookmaker is a core part of the experience, but Ascot says its technology makes betting more accessible to a wider range of people.
Early responses suggest the terminals make it easier for people who know their selections and can make decisions in their own time, said Chris Collard, director of Ascot Racecourse Betting & Gaming.
On the first two days of the Royal Meeting, some 60 million pounds of bets were placed via the World Pool, an international pool system into which Ascot's new machines feed.
For the track's over 200 on-course bookmakers, the self-service machines with their low maximum bet are a curiosity, though they are staying alert should they feel them becoming a threat to their business.
Alan Stadler, of A&A Racing, who the Racing Post reports paid 160,000 pounds for his pitch at Ascot in 2018, cautioned that remote gambling via machines could make it harder to assess those who can't afford to make the bet.
"In the Royal Enclosure, you can take 5,000 pounds back from people who can readily afford it, but maybe in the Heath Enclosure, you possibly can't," he said. "So there are lots of issues going to come up with remote gambling via machines."
For now Ascot has no plans to expand the rollout and says limiting the bet to 100 pounds is for the protection of customers.
"Our customer base is largely recreational and our average bet size is much lower, around 10-20 pounds," he said, adding that only a fraction of total bets would come via this service.
Barry Pinnington, a bookmaker who has been in the business for 30 years, said any offering that takes business away from the track-side is a concern. But the incursion of pool kiosks, online betting and exchanges is more of a worry than the new terminals themselves.
"The bottom line is that they take money away from us the closer they are to the betting rings, where the traditional bookmakers long have stood and taken the money," he told Reuters.
While Pinnington traded around 60,000 pounds on Ascot's opening day, Stadler said he took a quarter fewer bets compared to the opening day last year. This still amounted to 55,000 pounds.
"Online is having a bigger and bigger effect," Stadler said. "People are betting on their phones more and more. We like to think as bookmakers we're part of the day's attraction."
All bets placed through Ascot's new system will feed into a global betting pool known as the World Pool, which mingles money bet at tote operators in 25 different jurisdictions from Hong Kong, through South Africa and the United States. The World Pool turned over some $8.15 billion in 2024.
Trackside bookies recognise the World Pool brings important revenue for British racecourses but caution that wider adoption, and betting via mobile phones risks losing the human face.
"I've seen racecourses around the world which have gone to a tote mechanism, and they're just like graveyards and there's no appeal," said Stadler. "There has to be a balance and I'm not sure the balance is there at the moment."
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