High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age
Today, casino online sites must make an application to the UKGC if they want to operate and advertise legally in the UK. While the UK Gambling Commission was previously tasked with regulating internet gambling sites based in the United Kingdom, the purview of their powers increased significantly. In November, 2014, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) became the controlling body for British iGaming and any operator wishing to serve residents were required to hold a valid gaming licence.
The government proposes that gaming machines accepting direct debit payments must allow customers to set time and monetary thresholds. The majority of responses stated that there should be the ability for customers to set voluntary limits on gaming machines accepting direct cashless payments. Having considered the consultation objectives, stakeholder responses and supporting evidence, we are proposing to lift the prohibition on direct debit card payments on gaming machines subject to the introduction of the player protection measures detailed within this chapter. The government will introduce regulations through a draft affirmative statutory instrument to ensure that, for every 2 Category B gaming machines sited in AGC or bingo premises, at least one Category C or D gaming machine of a similar size is also sited on the premises. This will allow for targeted supportive measures to be taken for the sector, potentially including a more liberalised ratio of Category B gaming machines in these venues.
Children and young adults
We will also look at the legislative options and conditions under which licensed bingo premises might be permitted to offer side bets. Therefore, we will work with the Gambling Commission to develop specific consultation options for cashless payments, including the player protections that would be required before we remove the prohibition. However, in the light of the availability of remote gambling, the characteristics of a product and quality of monitoring have now assumed greater importance. This is due to a combination of common life stage factors including continuing brain development impacting impulsivity control, changing support networks, and common financial circumstances such as managing money for the first time. Self-reported gambling participation by 11 to 16-year-olds has fallen substantially over the last decade and most forms of gambling are already illegal for under 18s, but we will continue to strengthen protections.
The impact of online financial risk checks (to be implemented by the Gambling Commission) are explored in detail in Annex A to this white paper. The researchers conclude that young people and young adults experiencing problem gambling should be considered at risk for suicidality. Evidence from people with personal experience of gambling harm highlighted that this may make individuals more susceptible to developing a gambling disorder.
The minimum table gaming area for Small 2005 Act casinos, which is currently 500sqm, will be reduced to 250sqm to align the minimum space requirements for these different regimes. Land-based casinos, which provide employment and contribute to the night-time leisure and tourism economy, were like other sectors of that economy severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We also intend to permit a smaller increase in machines for venues that do not meet these size requirements, proportionate to overall size and non-gambling area. The white paper set out the government’s intention to bring the two regimes closer together, with similar requirements on machine numbers proportionate to size, non-gambling area and gaming tables.
Some industry stakeholders questioned the necessity of the sliding scale given the numbers of SSBTs where they are currently permitted are low, and this could be seen as adding to an already complex regulatory framework. This would mean any table gaming area would only count towards the minimum table gaming area if it constitutes 12.5% or more of the total table gaming area in the venue. Exempt venues will be prevented from increasing their gambling area further, from 16 May 2024. Those opposed to the reduction preferred a larger minimum table gaming area requirement in place such as 350sqm. With regard to venues currently operating with a gambling area of 1500sqm or more, the strongest preference from consultation respondents was for these venues to be made to reduce their gambling area below 1500sqm.
- We will consult on the protections needed for gaming machines to be able to accept cashless payments directly.
- It has taken steps to increase existing protections on machines as well as exploring ways to build friction and safer gambling measures into cashless payments.
- Industry responses suggested that the projected uplift in GGY under Options 1 and 3, and conversely, the decrease or no impact in GGY under Option 2, corresponds directly with the ability to site Category B gaming machines.
- The Commission found that Camelot had poor fraud prevention controls in place and that it had breached the terms of its licence.
Additionally, the Commission’s research into why consumers gamble found that of the 14% of past month gamblers who reported binge gambling, 24% had done so on online slots — more than any other gambling activity, including online casino games (Figure 7 below). Some industry respondents viewed these as poorly targeted as they would apply to all consumers, including those not experiencing harm, so advocated for a greater emphasis on protections targeted towards individual accounts showing signs of risk. We therefore see merit in reducing the reliance on account-based harm reduction systems through universal measures to make the online gambling environment safer for all participants, with a particular focus on the products themselves and how they are designed. For operators, clearer obligations and greater confidence in the identity of the account user will support more effective prevention of harm, while closing off compliance risks around the prevention of illegal underage gambling and anti-money laundering due diligence.
We will also non gamstop work with the relevant trade bodies and operators to understand the feasibility of implementing voluntary test purchasing to help understand whether operators are abiding by this new restriction. For example, the information could be displayed to customers at regular intervals (such as every 5 minutes for a 30 second period) or be readily available to customers, at their discretion, no further than one button press away. However, we believe that a variant of this feature would help customers to keep a track of their play. They also argued that it is an invasion of a customer’s privacy and that many people would not be comfortable with other players knowing how much they have spent and how long they have played on a machine for. The split was mainly between non-industry and industry respondents, with industry opposing this proposal.
Gambling Commissionwebsites
DHSC is working with NHS Digital to enhance the NHS ‘Help for problems with gambling’ webpage as part of its response to the report. This, they argue, can help make safer gambling tools and interventions as appealing and frictionless as the gambling products themselves. 38% reported they were trying to ‘tap out’ before placing a bet and 24% reported that they were actively using ‘tapping out’ to help cut down on their gambling. Some respondents also argued that current narratives, particularly ‘play responsibly’ messaging, could stigmatise those experiencing harm and transfer responsibility to prevent harm from the operator to the individual. While GamCare’s Industry Code for the Display of Safer Gambling Information has improved standards for the display of information on operators’ own websites, there is not an equivalent standard in place for the display of messaging in advertising. Good practice guidance and mandatory inclusion of safer gambling messages in broadcast ads are set out in the IGRG Code, and Betting and Gaming Council members are required to dedicate 20% of broadcast advertising to safer gambling adverts.
1968 Act casinos will be entitled to an enhanced gaming machine entitlement if their gambling area is at least 280sqm. 1968 Act casinos with a gambling area of at least 280sqm will be able to exercise the increased gaming machine entitlements shown in Figure 3. For example, a casino with two premises licences that meets the size and physical separation requirements could site 160 machines – more than a Large 2005 Act casino. Where 1968 Act casinos are smaller than these requirements, we have proposed that they are able to benefit from an increased number of machines on a pro rata basis commensurate with their size and non-gambling area, and subject to the same ratio. The number of gaming products that land-based casinos can provide will always be constrained by physical space in a way that online casinos are not, but this is made worse by the existing caps on numbers.
This would be in contrast to the review and potential implementation of improved verification protocols within online gambling. While app-based digital payments have been encouraging in facilitating customer verification and providing customers with increased choice in payment types, their uptake and level of transactions have been low thus far. However, completely removing the prohibition on the direct use of debit cards within the Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007 would be ineffective in addressing the increased risk of harm from cashless payment methods. The need to future-proof the land-based gambling sector provides the rationale for change. This is because allowing people to gamble with money that they may not have exposes players to a higher risk of harm. The societal shift towards cashless payments threatens the future of gaming machine GGY.
We will consult on raising the cap for the fees licensing authorities can charge adult gaming centres, betting premises, bingo premises, casinos and family entertainment centres for premises licences. In the land-based sectors, operators and industry bodies highlighted high pass rates for test purchasing and the adoption of ‘Think 21’ and ‘Think 25’ policies in licensed betting offices, bingo premises and casinos. The Patterns of Play data project, commissioned by GambleAware and based on industry-provided data, has been an important step forward in maximising the value of the rich data which operators collect to inform understanding of how players and online gambling interact. Unlike land-based gaming machines, such as in casinos, they have no statutory stake limits.
However, over the longer term, some industry representatives have suggested that operators would likely further reduce their number of Category C and D cabinets in favour of multi-staking Category B cabinets. Under the scenario outlined in Option 2, it is anticipated that a genuine balance and choice of higher and lower stake machines would be achieved across venues. Indeed, we reviewed data that showed some operators, particularly in the bingo sector where tablets are in widespread use for playing bingo games, have significantly greater numbers of Category B cabinets than Category C and D cabinets. It would also provide greater flexibility in determining the make-up of their machines and potentially lead to the removal of machines, such as tablets and in-fills, that are infrequently played. Consequently, it would deter operators from offering tablets and in-fill devices as a way to increase the number of Category B cabinets on their premises.
We are also open to any other proposals for how table gaming areas should be calculated for 1968 Act casinos which trigger their enhanced gaming machine entitlements. We propose that the table gaming area for casinos that have less than 500sqm of gambling space must be equal to or greater than half the size of the gambling area. We will also amend the current inconsistency in the regulations which requires Small 2005 Act casinos to have a table gaming area of at least 500sqm (identical to their minimum overall gambling area) by reducing this requirement to 250sqm. Option (1) would provide fairness and consistency across all casinos that are able to site 80 machines. This would ensure that regardless of the size of venue, most casinos will be able to site the same proportion of machines to tables. This would mean the introduction of a machine-to-table ratio for 1968 Act casinos that seek to increase their Category B gaming machine entitlement above 20, and a change to the machine-to-table ratio currently in place for Small 2005 Act casinos.
Sports with strong appeal to children and vulnerable people
Given how gambling harms are distributed across society, reducing gambling harm is part of addressing wider economic and health disparities. We nonetheless have high confidence that our proposals will reduce the risk of significant unaffordable losses, play that is designed to be intense, and aggressive advertising, which have all been shown to contribute to harm. The Gambling Commission is currently developing a new approach to participation and prevalence statistics which, alongside the policy in Section 3.5 of making more regulatory data available for researchers, should improve our understanding of how changes to regulation impact harm. Therefore we cannot straightforwardly quantify the likely reduction in gambling-related harm for individuals or at a population level from this package, although we hope to revisit this in future policy-specific impact assessments.
Please explain your answer, providing any supporting evidence where available. However, it should be noted that respondents were most likely to have spent their own money on types of gambling activity that are legal or do not feature age restricted products, such as penny pusher or claw grab arcade games. Bacta’s members make up approximately 70-80% of the market for family entertainment centres and adult gaming centres. We propose to move the industry’s voluntary commitment into legislation, making it an offence for a person to invite, cause or permit a child or young person to use ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style games. Further details on machine types and permitted locations can be found at Figure 11.
However, it would be disruptive and potentially impose additional costs onto those casinos with a gambling area of 1,500sqm or more that are already established. For 1968 Act casinos that have a smaller gambling area, the requirements set out in the sliding scale will apply. Relaxing the machine to table ratio for Small 2005 Act casinos and applying it to 1968 Act casinos that take up their new machine entitlements is also a tested concept as it is already in place in Large 2005 Act casinos.
The legal age for lottery is different than other gambling forms. No one under the age of 18 is allowed entry into a brick-and-mortar casino. Casinos – There are multiple brick-and-mortar casino establishments in the United Kingdom offering varied games like baccarat, blackjack, poker and more. While bingo is considered more of a game of leisure and chance, it is still popular amongst online gamblers.
Relatedly, studies have shown a relatively small proportion of players access activity statements (which summarise a customer’s recent gambling activity, including spend). Research was shared with us that found 69% of those who suffered financial harm from gambling had not set a limit, despite having some idea of the amount they were willing to lose. This could be an inappropriate distraction at a time when customers are trying to reflect on appropriate controls on their gambling. They argued such tools can put too much responsibility on the individual gambler and are therefore unlikely to be effective for those in the grips of an addiction, and may even backfire in increasing the guilt of those participating in harmful gambling.
They argued that the 80/20 rule can mean operators have to oversupply other types of machines in order to meet customer demand for Category B machines and that relaxing the 80/20 rule could lead to a reduction in the number of machines overall. This rule is intended to ensure a balance of machines available for customer use, limiting the number of machines with higher stakes and prizes and allowing larger operators to make commercial decisions on machine availability, rather than relying on fixed limits. For example, operators in certain locations are limited in terms of the number or type of machine category they can offer. Rules on stakes and prizes, and the technical standards for machine games (summarised in Figure 20), serve to protect customers from harm. Some manufacturers described a decline in gaming machine manufacturing in the UK, claiming that a lack of ability to create new games and machines stifles innovation.
Since 2018, the Gambling Commission has worked with stakeholders including training providers and the Home Office to emphasise legal requirements in training materials and guidance for the sector. The government expects the sector to prioritise and rapidly strengthen age verification procedures to ensure that children are properly safeguarded from illegal gambling through on-course bookmakers. For example in 2019, a test purchase operation at Royal Ascot found that 7 out of 17 bookmakers accepted bets from underage customers.
For example, 5 out of the 7 operators focus on betting, so the PoP dataset accounts for operators providing 86% of online betting in Great Britain, as against 38% of online gaming. We recommend that licensing authorities update their policy statements using a wide range of data and analysis, including making use of spatial tools and public health data to identify vulnerable areas and to state their position on additional gambling premises in these areas. CIAs could allow licensing authorities to put a presumption against new premises in a particular area, based on evidence related to harm, which may take the form of ‘high impact zones’ being identified within a licensing authority boundary. We consider that allowing bingo premises to offer side bets in a more flexible or expanded form as described by industry, within a defined set of parameters, would allow them to diversify their offer to customers and that conditions could be attached to reduce the risk of harm. When granting a premises licence, a licensing authority must consider the impact the premises might have on the surrounding area, for example, the risks of anti-social behaviour or of children attempting to access gambling facilities.
£5 online slot stake limit — the maximum bet on any single spin of an online slot is now capped at £5 for all players. The our tested operators came into force following the Government’s Gambling White Paper, with the bulk of legislation enacted across 2024 and 2025. This guide covers every major change under the UK casino regulations, what each rule means for players, and how to stay safe under the new framework. Please let us know how we can help you by leaving a message at the email address pr@casino.net.
Some players object to sharing financial information with gambling operators. Operating without a valid UKGC licence while serving UK customers is a criminal offence, and players at unlicensed sites have no regulatory protections. If a casino does not appear on the UKGC register or its licence has been revoked, do not play there.
The UK Gambling Commission’s mandate is to regulate gambling and oversee gaming law in Wales, Scotland, and England. Whether you gamble online or at a live casino, you can count on the UK Gambling Commission to keep you safe. Further information on these changes will be published as it becomes available on the Gambling Commission’s website and communicated to operators and licensing authorities.
Processing of personal data will continue to be required in order to achieve compliance with a gambling licence. Where licensees have genuine well-founded concerns about GDPR, we are committed to working with industry to get the right outcome – one that safeguards personal data whilst also promoting the licensing objectives. GDPR should not be improperly used as an excuse to avoid taking steps which enable compliance with licence conditions, promote socially responsible gambling, and promote the licensing objectives. We take the view that GDPR is not intended to prevent operators from taking steps which are necessary in the public interest, or are necessary to comply with regulatory requirements under a gambling licence.
Due to the age of these machines, operators have also reported that it has become increasingly challenging to procure spare parts and that in reality, they have to oversupply lower stakes machines beyond the numbers required by the 80/20 rule to ensure compliance in the event of a machine breakdown. While this research is now nearly 7 years old, the point that the headline product in retail bingo clubs is live bingo and customers tend to play machines in the breaks remains relevant. It also commits to further investigate the capacity for game labelling on multi-game machines and the visibility and prominence of safer gambling tools and help. Over recent years, operators have also brought in other increased safety measures including regular staff training and safer gambling advertising. AGC operators highlighted that modern B3 machines can incorporate automatic safety measures such as session time and spend limits.