High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age
We have taken into account that these machines currently account for approximately two thirds of Category D slot style machines. While many welcomed this voluntary move, some respondents called for the restriction to become mandatory, while others like the Gambling Related Harm APPG wanted it to be extended to ticket-out slot style machines too. The distinction with ticket-out machines was drawn on the basis that while cash can be reinserted for further play (potentially facilitating behaviours like chasing losses), tickets cannot and have no value beyond what they can be redeemed for within the venue. Industry has recognised the concerns around slot style machines and in March 2021, Bacta members updated their Social Responsibility Charter and Code of Practice to voluntarily implement a ban on under 18s using cash out slot style machines. 18% of 11 to 16-year-olds had played on fruit style machines where you win tickets to ‘buy’ prizes and 10% on fruit style machines with small cash prizes. The tickets these machines pay out can be exchanged for a small physical prize such as stickers, sweets or a toy.
We think that behavioural science provides valuable insights around how the design of platforms and processes can be improved to better empower consumers and reduce the risk of harm. The ICO stressed the importance of licensed operators upholding the information rights of data subjects. Gamblers commonly resort to self-exclusion as a way to close a gambling account, with evidence suggesting this as a motivating factor for 37% of self-exclusions. Stakeholders also had concerns that there is rarely a simple way to close an online gambling account without speaking to a customer service representative. There are no specific provisions relating to how information is presented on screen, but where a product carries an underlying risk of harm, it is in the best interests of the consumer that material information is as easy as possible to access and understand. Licensed operators should be transparent with customers, both at the start of the relationship and throughout, about how, when and why an account might be restricted, and ensure customers are aware of any restrictions prior to placing a bet.
- Eligibility for a British gambling licence depends upon the Gambling Commission’s assessment of a variety of factors, primarily the integrity and probity of the applicant and the applicant’s ability to conduct gambling in a solvent and responsible manner in compliance with law and regulation.
- You may also contact them to seek independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing.
- In contrast with some jurisdictions, only casinos form part of the “regulated sector” for AML purposes, though all operators are required to conduct detailed risk assessments and implement AML policies, procedures and controls.
- Members’ clubs and miners’ welfare institutes may offer up to three gaming machines if they hold a club gaming permit (CGP) or a club machine permit (CMP).
Likewise, our understanding of gambling-related harms and gambling disorder has developed enormously over recent years. Land-based gambling also finds itself in a very different place in light of these changes, with some of the assumptions which prevailed 18 years ago looking increasingly outdated. Newly available data and technology can both increase risks to players and facilitate innovative protections. Multinational tech businesses now provide gambling services which customers can engage with from almost anywhere and at any time of day or night. In the past year or so, the Gambling Commission has introduced a series of curbs on gambling, including raising the age limit for playing the National Lottery and banning the use of credit cards.
The knock-on impact of the gambling White Paper on the horseracing industry will be minimal, but there will be a review into the current horserace betting levy to make certain racing continues to be appropriately funded for the future. The call for evidence showed that while millions of people enjoy an occasional bet every year without issue, particular groups such as those suffering addiction and harm, are at greater risk from certain aggressive advertising practices. Without the right support in place gambling can easily become harmful – especially for at-risk players – leading to devastating impacts on people’s savings, relationships and health. But for some people the availability of 24/7 online betting has compounded or created problem gambling, which can lead to life-changing financial loss and in the most tragic cases suicide. Technology has transformed the industry and people can bet 24 hours a day through ‘mobile virtual casinos’ in their pockets.
Evidence we have received indicates that there could be serious financial impacts, particularly for sports and leagues outside the Premier League, including at grassroots level, if gambling sponsorship were removed without an alternative source of funding in place. As gambling operators are held responsible for their affiliates and third parties they were in clear breach of CAP’s rules and Licence Conditions and/or Codes of Practice imposed by the Gambling Commission, with West Ham’s sponsor Betway incurring a £400,000 penalty as a result. As with advertising more broadly, it appears that while sponsorship is rarely the factor causing the development of harmful gambling, it can still exacerbate impacts for those who are already suffering harms. This is also reflected in polling commissioned by a major operator, which found that only around 20% of past-month gamblers would view a gambling sponsor for their team negatively, and that they were perceived slightly more positively than other possible partners, such as airlines or lager brands. In addition, research by Steve Sharman and others looking at matchday programmes in English football found that the industry of the sponsor was a significant factor in the proportion of pages containing adverts. It did not find any correlation between exposure to gambling sponsorship and participation in 11 to 18-year-olds, or significantly higher levels of betting participation from fans of a club or league with betting sponsorship.
4.—(1) This paragraph applies to larger converted casino premises and extended converted casino premises. (6) The premises must contain a non-gambling area, the floor area of which is no less than the lesser of— (3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), in determining the floor area of the table gaming area, any number of separate areas within the premises may be taken into account. (2) The premises must contain a table gaming area, the floor area of which is no less than the lesser of— “(1) This paragraph applies to larger converted casino premises.”, and (a)the non-gambling area may consist of one or more areas within the premises,
Gambling forms
The a represents the foundational legislation governing all forms of gambling in Great Britain, creating a comprehensive regulatory framework that replaced previous fragmented gambling laws. In the UK, gambling winnings are tax-free, whether you win £50 on a bet or £1 million in the lottery. Staff are required to check identification for customers who appear to be under 25 years old, replacing the previous threshold of 21 years. All gambling licensees must conduct test purchasing operations to ensure compliance.
Regulation 4 reduces the minimum size of the table gaming area in small casinos from 500. The Act establishes the Commission as the supervisory authority for casinos, granting them the power to provide guidance that assists operators in meeting regulatory requirements. In addition, there is a third category of casino that is permitted through transitional arrangements under Schedule 18 of the Act, which may be referred to as 1968 Act converted casinos.
While the majority of operators were supportive of Option 2(b), one small multi-site operator stated that this option would be commercially detrimental, requiring it to make an additional 12 Category C or D cabinets available to meet this ratio. As with the original consultation, Option 3 continued to be the preferred option for bingo operators. Therefore, under Option 1, we believe there is significant potential for operators to offer predominantly Category B cabinets while meeting their Category C and D ratio through in-fills and tablets. This consultation sought to gather evidence as to how best to achieve our 2 policy objectives. We are particularly concerned that Option 1 may encourage new operators to enter the market with the specific intention of maximising their Category B cabinet offer in this way. Therefore, some respondents argued that Option 3 would be the most sensible long-term approach for securing safer gambling functionality and messaging across these venues.
This would be in line with the outcomes of its consultation of online slot design, which identified the risks of harm from functionality specifically designed to facilitate simultaneous play. The Bingo Association proposed that operators should be allowed to offer a wider variety of games, including side bets on a bingo game (as is currently possible when playing bingo games online). We acknowledge that licensed premises do have an entitlement to hold machines and there are costs involved in the system of notification. Currently under 10% of pubs have more than four machines and the industry argued there would be no significant increases should the automatic entitlement and current process of notification and permits be changed.
Each sector can be broken down into terms of what each represents, the brick-and-mortar options therein, legal gambling ages, etc. There are many different legal UK gambling options for residents to partake in. To enter and gamble at a casino or horse racetrack participants must be at least eighteen. Generally, the non gamstop sites minimum gambling age in England is 18, however, the minimum age to purchase a National Lottery ticket is sixteen. They work to vet spread betting brokers for proper and legitimate business ethics.
These reforms aim to identify at-risk customers, ensuring their protection while betting. Similarly, online casino Ireland operate under different regulations, ensuring fair play and secure transactions, providing players with a safe and regulated gaming environment. The Gambling Act 2005 remains the cornerstone of UK casino regulation, dictating gambling activities’ licensing, regulation, and control. You can also check the casino’s website footer, where licensed operators must display their UKGC licence number. Visit the UKGC’s public register at /public-register and search for the operator by name or licence number. However, it is illegal for those casinos to offer their services to UK residents without a UKGC licence.
Gambling Commission
Evidence from industry suggests effective age verification by on-course bookmakers is more challenging at high-profile racing events, due to the high volume of customers. This introduces an inconsistency as children’s risk from gambling participation is unlikely to vary by licensee size. The Gambling Commission provided evidence on the removal of the test purchasing exemption for smaller operators. The gambling sector has been heavily disrupted by COVID-19 and therefore test purchasing data is predominantly from before the pandemic. Since 2015, the Gambling Commission has required larger operators to carry out test purchasing, or take part in collective test purchasing programmes, to assure effective policies and procedures are in place to verify the age of gamblers and prevent underage gambling. The most comprehensive evidence on the efficacy of existing age verification policies and procedures comes from test purchasing at venues Figure 19 by operators, local authorities, the Gambling Commission, the police and commercial testing companies.
COVID-19 had a significant impact on all land-based gambling sectors with venues required to close and then operate under restrictions for large parts of 2020 and 2021. In September 2019, the GGY generated by remote gambling overtook that of land-based gambling for the first time (excluding lotteries). We support allowing specific proposals for new machine games to be tested within planned industry pilots under certain conditions with the close involvement of the Gambling Commission, and will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.
All operators should continually explore how they can further mitigate these risks through new technologies or procedures. As part of its wider 2019 consultation on age and identity verification procedures online, the Gambling Commission proposed requiring online operators to verify that payment information matches an account holder’s identity. Equally, allowing gamblers to use another person’s funds (such as friends, family members, businesses or potential victims of theft) comes with clear risks as operators cannot easily ascertain whether the funds are being used with or without permission. Where restrictions are to safeguard against harm, any circumvention by the customer may exacerbate the risk. The first leaves open the possibility for individuals to continue gambling when their legitimate account has been restricted, either by the gambler themselves (for instance because of self-exclusion or pre-commitment tools), or by the operator (for instance because of commercial or safer gambling risks).
In updating this ratio, we intend to amend the definition of “gaming table” for the purposes of section 172(3) to (5) of the Gambling Act 2005 so that only tables where the apparatus is controlled or operated by casino staff count for the purposes of the ratio. These respondents would prefer to see table games as the most common activity under a casino licence, highlighting that table games are more likely to lead to breaks in play. We will give further consideration to these casinos having the option of reverting back to the existing (current) regime, as this will be a decision unavailable to 2005 Act Small casinos. In making this proposal we acknowledge some concerns from industry stakeholders about the necessity of a table gaming area requirement.
As the Commission has set out, experience has shown that such applicants are normally unable to provide complete and satisfactory evidence to answer the questions used to determine applications, including those to assess whether criminal activity has been a source of funds. Similar issues have been raised by the Commission in relation to operating licence applicants seeking to use cryptoassets as evidence of source of funds. The volatility of cryptoasset prices may also impede safer gambling measures, including setting financial limits and identifying unaffordable gambling, and can effectively create a double unknown where the theoretical value of the stake fluctuates alongside the actual bet. Operators must declare to the Commission any changes to the payment options (including cryptoassets) through which they accept deposits and provide assurance this would not pose any risks to compliance. This will include further reinforcement on the due diligence checks necessary to mitigate risks to the licensing objectives. To ensure all licensees fully understand their responsibilities when entering into such arrangements, the Gambling Commission will consolidate existing information and good practice for operators on contracting with third parties, including white labels.
These are £10 for Category B1, B2, B3 and B3A machines, and £5 for Category B4 and C machines. This “deposit limit” is currently set at £20 for Category B and C machines, and £2 for Category D machines. There is currently no limit on the amount that can be inserted into a gaming machine, which for simplicity will be known as the “transaction value”.
Advances made in online advertising and adtech in the time since the Gambling Act was passed are no less significant than the growth we have seen in online play, and it is only right that the advertising rules see reform to reflect the risks and opportunities of the digital age. In particular, we are already clear that any direct marketing to self-excluded customers by affiliates will be regarded as a breach of licence conditions by the licensee on whose behalf the affiliate is contacting the customer. While we welcome efforts from industry to raise standards for affiliates, this does not dilute the clear responsibilities the Gambling Commission will continue to place on operators for all activities undertaken in their name. New licence conditions were introduced on operators and their affiliates in 2018, following a series of cases (LeoVegas, Lottoland, and BGO) where the Gambling Commission took action against an operator for failings by its affiliates. In the gambling sector, online affiliate marketers range from large and well-established sites to individual ‘tipsters’ working on social media. Affiliate marketing is predominantly online and widespread across many sectors, with common forms including influencer marketing on social media and ‘advertorial’ content on news sites and blogs.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is the independent regulator for all commercial gambling in Great Britain and also oversees the National Lottery under the National Lottery etc. The big 2025–26 moves are the 1% statutory levy on operators (from 1 April 2025) and the 40% Remote Gaming Duty (from 1 April 2026), both enacted via the Finance Bill 2025–26. Those changes are being delivered through updates to the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and through the annual Finance Acts, rather than through a new gambling statute.
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