Last year’s triennial review looks set to further transform the UK’S AWP sector, but what will a £100 jackpot for Category C games mean in practice? Steph Norbury finds out.
AMUSEMENT with prizes, Cat C, or the fruit machine – whatever you want to call it, there’s no denying that this game, the mainstay of UK pubs, has been behind the times when it comes to jackpots.
Finally, last year’s triennial review granted the poor AWP its biggest ever payout boost – from £70 to £100. The lack of outcry from the press in the UK, which usually accompanies such deregulation, only goes to prove that this increase was long overdue; particularly given the rest of the gambling landscape, which has changed beyond recognition in the last 20 years. Players now have access to much stronger forms of betting, such as the notorious fixed odds betting terminals, where £100 can be staked on a single spin, online gaming and even the lottery and scratchcards.
The £30 uplift in jackpot is the biggest ever awarded in a triennial and will come into effect, the industry hopes, towards the end of this month. It is however, the first time that there is no increase in the stake to accompany the uplift in prize and this will create some challenges in game design in order to maintain the interest of the player.
A recent symposium, hosted by Praesepe – the largest adult gaming centre operator in the UK – revealed that players already have concerns. “Players told us very clearly that while they want to see the £100 top prize, they don’t want to see existing £70 games with the new jackpot level as they understand that it would be proportionately more difficult to win £100 on the £1 stake,” said Nick Harding, CEO of Praesepe.
Read the full article in the January issue of InterGame.
