Online slot games continue to be popular with players. There are moves to reform the UK gambling industry but could they simply drive gamblers to the unregulated black market?
Jordan Lea from Rhos-on-sea in Conwy county fears that may well be the case. He’s had painful experience of betting at online casinos with losses of £500,000.
Last year saw the Conservative Government publish a White Paper on gambling reform. It came nearly four years after a promise to reform the UK gambling industry was made in their 2019 General Election manifesto.
The White Paper listed a series of measures, most of them aimed at online casinos that offer new users bonuses and high stake limits for certain games. The last Gambling Act came into force in 2005 and the past 19 years have seen considerable changes in the way people gamble. Players are now able to bet 24/7 online and also do so on their smartphones. Politicians decided reform was needed but little has happened.
2024 has seen some moves being made to implement the measures listed in the White Paper. One of them is due to be introduced in September but the General Election result may change or delay this.
It’s recognised that playing online slots can be very entertaining and profitable. However, they are also very addictive and with no current maximum stake, it doesn’t take long to lose a lot of money playing them.
The current plan is that maximum stake limits will be introduced. For players aged 25 and over, it’s scheduled to be £5 a spin. It is recognised that younger players are more at risk, so for those aged 18-24, a £2 maximum stake limit will be imposed.
Other planned changes include introducing stricter affordability checks. These will have the aim of finding out if gamblers can afford the amounts that are being wagered and lost.
Jordan Lea was in his teens and early 20s when becoming addicted to gambling both online and in land-based casinos. He quit the habit six years ago and then set up Deal Me Out which gives workshops on the problems that being a gambler can cause.
Mr Lea wishes that the proposed restrictions had been in place when he was gambling. If they had, he said they would have “made a significant difference” to his life. He added: “After I lost money it would have given me time to think, ‘I can’t play again.’
He said the proposed restrictions might have “made a significant difference to my own life in that after I lost money it would have given me time to think, ‘I can’t play again’.”
There are fears that if stricter regulations came into force, then it could cause gamblers to leave the licensed sites and start playing on the black market.
This wouldn’t just see players being in danger but cause revenue problems for gambling sites. That would also see the amount of gambling tax being received by the government fall.
2019 saw a new maximum stake introduced for the fixed odds betting terminals seen in High Street bookmakers. The reduction from £100 to £2 a game caused a fall in revenue, redundancies and some shop closures. Mr Lea said that it also caused some gamblers to decide to bet online instead where there was no maximum stake limit in place.
Talking about gambling harm, he said that addiction is the big problem and people “can’t regulate themselves out of that.”
Gerald Jones is the Labour MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. He’s defending a majority of 10,606 in the upcoming General Election. Mr Jones has been a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm.
That’s a group which has suggested the maximum stake limit for online slot games should be £2 for everyone. The MP has stated that the UK’s gambling laws are “woefully behind the times.”
How will the UK General Election affect the gambling industry? The Conservative Party election manifesto does not mention the subject. It has to be presumed that if re-elected they would simply carry on with their plans to implement the measures listed in the White Paper.
Labour did mention gambling in their manifesto. They have pledged to work with the gambling industry to bring about reform. The Liberal Democrats have called for stricter affordability checks, starting on those who lose £100 a month. Action would also be taken on how gambling is advertised, an ombudsman introduced and a compulsory levy on gambling companies.
Whoever does win the General Election will have a lengthy to-do list. Gambling reform may not be at the top but it is something that is long overdue in taking place. The task though is to ensure it is fair regulation that while protecting players does not lead to gamblers heading to the black market.