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What is Sea Hunter?
Betfred currently operates approximately 1,094 retail shops across the UK. Done highlighted the concrete risks of Machine Gaming Duty – taxes on gambling machines – doubling from 20% to 40%, a move reportedly under consideration by Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Betfred’s retail business still heavily depends on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and in-shop gambling. Despite the maximum stake limit being cut to £2 in 2019, FOBTs account for roughly half of Betfred’s shop profits. Done emphasised that without these machines, retail betting wass “impossible”.
According to Done, such a tax rise would lead Betfred to close 495 of its shops within a year, resulting in the loss of 2,575 jobs and roughly £67 million in foregone tax revenue for the Exchequer.
About Sea Hunter
Konstakis thanked OpenBet for its trust and lauded Jordan’s incredible contributions to the company. He said that he was looking forward to taking on the new role and helping OpenBet enter its next phase of growth.
We have an exceptional customer base, a great team and significant opportunities ahead of us. My focus will be on building on those strengths, bringing even greater pace and focus to the business and making sure we continue to set the standard in the markets we serve.
OpenBet’s leadership transition comes shortly after the company unveiled its planned acquisition of OmniLogic, a sports betting tech provider.
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Faehrmann also hit back at the NSW’s latest gaming machine data that highlighted a record loss of $2.38 billion by NSW residents on pokies during Q2 of 2026.
The MP blamed the Minns Labor government’s reforms for the losses, claiming: “The gambling industry understands exactly what this government’s approach means and they love it: more reviews, more delays and more record losses.
“The question for Chris Minns is simple: how much more harm is he prepared to tolerate before he stands up to the gambling lobby?” she asked.
