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Getting to Know the UK Gambling Commission

The Casinos Gaming Machines and Mandatory Conditions Regulations 2025: impact assessments RPC opinion green-rated

Beyond the 10x wagering cap, the new rules require casinos to display all bonus terms clearly and in plain language before a player opts in. All UKGC-licensed casinos must offer deposit limits, loss limits, session limits, and wager limits. Responsible gambling sits at the heart of the UK casino regulations 2026. To understand exactly what to look for, read our guide on how to choose a UK online casino.

casino regulation UK

With the current evidence base, we do not support the prohibition of all Category D machines such as crane grabbers and coin pushers for under 18s. There is currently no substantive research or evidence clearly identifying harms resulting from general Category D machine play. Based on evidence submitted to the call for evidence we estimate that those that pay out money (known as “cash-out Category D slot machines”) currently account for approximately two thirds of Category D slot style machines. The economic value of FECs, which rely heavily on Category D machines, was highlighted in responses to our call for evidence.

casino regulation UK

Several operators claim they are holding on to players longer because clearer rules and a safer environment build trust. Public-health groups mostly cheer the rules, but many operators say the new tech adds cost and shakes up tried-and-true business models. Larger operators are now pooling resources in head office compliance units and leaning on automated identity checks to keep up with the rising paperwork.

While this is certainly a reasonable belief to hold, the Financial Conduct Authority is responsible for spread betting. Many British bettors incorrectly assume that spread betting is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. All gambling business must use an approved alternate dispute resolution body to handle unresolved player complaints. The Commission offers guides on gambling safety, consumer rights, and other pertinent topics.

CIAs for alcohol licensing also cannot include considerations of demand, which would be consistent with section 153(2) of the Gambling Act 2005. An option suggested by licensing authorities and the Gambling Commission was to introduce cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) as used in the Licensing Act 2003, which created CIAs for alcohol licensing. It would also like customers to be able to choose to place a bet when they wish rather than pay for a fixed number of bets up front via the participation fee.

A further safeguard to ensure that credit will not be available more widely is the fact that it will be offered at the casino’s risk following extensive anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (ECDD) checks at the point at which credit is offered. Alongside the removal of the prohibition, the Gambling Commission will specify in licence conditions and codes of practice the conditions under which credit may be offered, including checks which must be made. The Gambling Commission has made clear that it expects casinos to bank customer cheques in accordance with their normal banking arrangements. Until recently, casinos in Great Britain have been able to accept a cheque from the customer, which is a permitted payment mechanism under the Act.

Based on our experience of investigations to date, licensees should ensure that data which relates in any way to regulatory compliance should be available for a minimum period of five years after the end of a relationship with a customer. Licensees should ensure that their retention policies ensure that such data will be available to the Commission if requested6. Where data which is relevant to a licensee’s compliance with the regulatory regime has been obtained, licensees should have regard to the fact that we may wish to investigate whether a licensee has complied with their obligations.

Getting to Know the UK Gambling Commission

The commitment made in 2020 by four major operators to direct increased contributions to the independent charity GambleAware, including a cumulative £100 million for treatment services, will continue to be delivered in full to provide funding certainty and support the delivery of planned programmes of work. When Parliamentary time allows, we will seek to further tackle illegal online operators by legislating to give the Commission powers to require for example internet service providers (ISPs) and payment providers to stop providing their services to black market websites. We are challenging the sports and esports sectors and the industry to set a high standard for social responsibility, with the potential not only to improve standards in gambling sponsorship but also to provide a model for responsible sponsorship by other sectors. We will engage with video games stakeholders such as industry bodies, tournament organisers, and publishers of popular esports games to develop and implement ground rules, for example potentially limiting gambling sponsorship in competitions that are accessible to under 18s. Options might include individual sports governing bodies’ rulebooks incorporating the Code’s provisions or through inclusion in the gambling industry’s IGRG Code.

The personal information we collect and process is the data provided to us directly by you in the responses to this consultation. This notice sets out how DCMS will use your personal data as part of our legal obligations with regard to data protection. For the purposes of personal data collected in the course of this consultation, DCMS is the data controller.

These rates are lower than the majority of other gambling products, although remain above the at-risk and problem gambling rates for ‘any gambling activity’. We would like to understand whether these types of protections are already available on these machines, or whether it would require investment in new machines or software. Therefore, this option would need to be accompanied by a requirement that Category B3 machines in these venues would have certain player safety controls, such as staff alerts where a player meets spend or time limits. For example, as previously highlighted, evidence provided by Bacta shows that the average stake placed on a Category B3 game is between £1.20 – £1.30, compared to 40p – 60p for a Category C machine.

Branded ‘safer gambling’ ad spots containing calls to action such as ‘enjoy award-winning online casino safely’ were also heavily criticised. Most responses to our call for evidence agreed that awareness-raising campaigns have a role to play in mitigating gambling-related harms, but there was a lack of consensus on the most appropriate way to design and implement them. However, this effect was more pronounced amongst participants not at risk of gambling-related harms, and those in the ‘moderate risk’ and ‘problem gambler’ categories had significantly lower comprehension scores overall. It was also suggested that point of purchase messaging could also be used to communicate a wider range of risks including potential health harms. However, many respondents to our call for evidence thought this was inadequate to ensure informed consumption of potentially risky gambling products, particularly high volatility slots games. In addition, the distinct responsibilities and activities of affiliates would require an entirely new licensing regime to be created; and the size of the sector means that it would distort the Commission’s remit, which concentrates on gambling operators themselves.

One registration blocks your accounts across every UKGC-licensed gambling site for your chosen period of six months, one year, or five years. The caps apply to online slots only, not to table games such as roulette or blackjack. Regulatory action is published openly, and repeat offenders face escalating consequences up to licence loss. Penalties range from financial fines to criminal prosecution, and they apply to operators, affiliates, and marketing partners alike. The UK Gambling Commission has broad powers to enforce gambling laws and monitor operator compliance.

Please provide any evidence you have on the potential harm of implementing Options 1, 2 and 3 on customers. If available, please provide evidence of the potential impact of Options 1, 2 and 3 on the GGY of operators and on the wider gambling sector. A healthier land-based gambling sector, able to compete on a more even basis with similar online gambling opportunities, is likely to support local employment opportunities, regeneration effects and contribute to business rates. We do not currently have sufficient data to estimate the likely uptake of additional Category B machines under each option, nor on how the average GGY per machine will change as a result. In the financial year to 2022, the average GGY per Category B machine (across all licenced land-based venues) was £30,360, compared to £2,030 per Category C machine and £1,350 per Category D machine. Category B machines are significantly more profitable for operators earning considerably higher GGY than Category C and D alternatives.

casino regulation UK

If you are a local authority/ licensing board, how many premises licence applications did you receive in the 22/23 financial year? We expect that wider benefits will arise from the increase in oversight and enforcement activity by licensing authorities of gambling premises in their area and are seeking further information to better understand these benefits. The primary cost of this measure is the additional costs incurred by gambling operators resulting from the increased licensing fees. Note that the different fees currently charged for large and small casinos may be subject to review and harmonisation following the consultation outlined in Chapter 1. The Gambling (Premises Licence Fees) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 established the maximum level of fees that local authorities in England and Wales can charge for gambling premises licences. This activity may include inspecting gambling premises to ensure that they are complying with their licence or dealing with complaints from residents or neighbours.

  • The majority of these responses came from respondents who submitted evidence to the original consultation.
  • All UK licensed online casinos and sportsbooks are mandated to perform anti-money laundering checks, and mental and financial welfare checks on their customers.
  • Every casino we recommend is fully UKGC-licensed and independently tested for safety and fairness.
  • This consultation sought to gather evidence as to how best to achieve our 2 policy objectives.
  • As well as a fixed numerical maximum, the number of gaming machines must not exceed a specified multiple of the number of gaming tables used in that casino.

We intend to take a similar approach by giving the Gambling Commission the power to apply to court for such an order and use these powers to disrupt illegal gambling operators. In the most serious instances of non-compliance or risks of harm, Ofcom will also have the power to apply to the courts for “business disruption measures”. The Gambling Commission, as well as evidence from the Review, has shown that unlicensed sites pose an increased risk to the most vulnerable consumers. The black market is relatively easy for people to access who are actively trying to find and gamble with illegal operators online. From the limited evidence that is available, we would assume that the size of the black market does not currently account for more than 2.5% of remote gambling that takes place in Great Britain. The Danish Gambling Authority’s 2022 Report on illegal gambling estimates that the online gambling channelisation rate (the percentage of all gambling that takes place legally) is 98% in Great Britain and therefore the black market accounts for 2% of online gambling.

Remote licence types

The 2025 changes in the UK are massive, which to many could make gambling laws as complicated as the rules of cricket. This should lead to better-informed decisions about gambling. This change is intended to reduce the number of bets people place, which should eradicate a good amount of problem gambling.

There is significant detail underneath this population problem gambling rate which the PHE review considered. There are some recent signs of a decrease in problem gambling rates, with the Gambling Commission’s quarterly surveys finding a steady fall over recent years to a low of 0.2% in the year to December 2022. Based on Health Survey data, we now estimate there to be approximately 300,000 people across Great Britain who meet the definition of being a ‘problem gambler’. Firstly, the best available evidence suggests that the large majority of people who gamble suffer no ill effects. Gambling harm is often a result of the interplay between individual susceptibility, environmental factors, the products themselves and operator actions.

casino regulation UK

Last month, the Gambling Commission fined William Hill over £19 million for failures including allowing a customer to spend £23,000 in just 20 minutes. If gambling stops being fun, use one of the free independent services below. Independent UK casino reviews and regulatory guides. NHS-funded assessment and treatment, including the National Problem Gambling Clinic. Independent charity providing safer-gambling information and tools.

A new machine for high-end casinos with higher stakes and prizes

The Gambling Act 2005 defines a casino as an arrangement whereby people are given an opportunity to participate in one or more casino games. The white paper set out the government’s plans for modernising the regulation of the gambling sector.

casino regulation UK

While we know the majority of people who use these tools do not have a problematic relationship with gambling, we have heard repeated evidence of the enormous benefits they offer to those who rely on them as part of their toolkit for stopping gambling altogether. The Commission will consult on requiring operators to improve these tools, such as by making deposit limit setting mandatory for all customers on account creation and pre-populating the limit with a reasonable default. A recent study by the Behavioural Insights Team suggested this model may support greater and more meaningful usage of financial limit setting tools, but further research including in a ‘real world’ gambling environment is likely to be beneficial. Gambling operators in Australia must now provide such activity statements to customers on a monthly basis and there is guidance setting out how information should be presented. Academic evidence has shown that online gamblers can struggle to keep an accurate track of their spend, suggesting many could benefit from objective activity statements and previously set financial limits rather than purely internal budgeting during and between sessions.

Respondents from the land-based gambling industry were generally supportive of proposals which would remove restrictions on supply, pointing to the unrestricted availability of the same products online. The casino measures section of the consultation received 41 responses from a variety of stakeholders, including gambling operators and trade bodies, local government organisations, campaign groups and academics. We will introduce an age limit of 18 and over for the use of ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style gaming machines. We will allow direct debit card payments to be made on gaming machines, subject to the player protection measures outlined within this government response. In practice, this means that 2 Category B gaming machines on a cabinet device type can be made available to a minimum of one Category C or D gaming machine on a cabinet device type. This measure will apply on a device type basis, meaning that the ratio applies across the 3 different types of device on which gaming machines content is currently offered in arcades and bingo halls, namely cabinets, in-fills and tablets.

1We expect operators to take into consideration the Gambling Commission’s views expressed in this document. The ICO report that the gambling sector is one of the most complained about sectors in this respect. Separately, concerns have been raised about the volume of unsolicited direct e-marketing (predominantly via email and SMS) for gambling products which consumers receive. Although Article 10 of GDPR provides that, usually, processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences shall only be carried out under the control of official authority, there are exceptions to this.

GambleAware uses these funds to commission treatment services, including a network of counselling services across the country and the National Gambling Helpline, both led by the charity GamCare, as well as a research and evaluation programme now focused on treatment and prevention. When the Act was introduced, the gambling industry agreed to provide financial support for tackling problem gambling. We will also consider whether such a system should allow the Commission to set fees based on the performance of operators if appropriate. Responses to the call for evidence regarding the use of financial incentives to encourage compliance from operators were mixed. This set of powers will non gamstop sites enable the Commission to disrupt illegal gambling operators without necessarily requiring the voluntary cooperation of ISPs or payment service providers.