William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) has confirmed it is looking to close around 700 of its high street betting shops, putting 4,500 jobs at risk.
Shares in the FTSE 100 bookmaker were steady following the news, down 0.1% to 163.5p.
READ: William Hill falls to huge loss as it writes down value of UK retail business by £900mln
Bosses blamed the potential closures on the government’s recent decision to slash the maximum stake on in-store gaming machines to £2.
Previously, punters could wager up to £100 on every spin of the virtual wheel.
The rule change forced William Hill to write down the value of its UK retail division by almost £900mln ahead of its implementation, as bosses predicted it would dent profits by as much as £100mln a year.
Although the new law only came into force in April, William Hill said it had already seen a “significant fall” in gaming machine revenues, as it had forecast.