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The UK Government released its long-awaited white paper on the 2005 Gambling Act in April 2023. This 260-page white paper outlined important updates to the gambling industry and focused on moving it forward into the digital era.
Many of the policy recommendations in the paper are based on 24/7 access to the internet or smartphones by the general public. It also included a few changes for venues on land, like allowing casinos to accept sports bets.
The government has said that it will allow all casinos to have sports betting available on site. Prior to 2005, sports betting was only available at casinos that were licensed by the Gambling Act.
Players are protected by land-based rules
The land-based specification in the white book was primarily focused on measures to protect players. Lucy Frazer, secretary of state at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said that this was one of the main reasons for creating the white book.
In the white paper, it was stated that under-18s are not allowed to play on slot machines of category D (also known as Fruit Machines). DCMS and the GB Gambling Commission will work together to develop options for consultations on contactless payment. The reason for this is that land-based establishments have been largely cash-based.
Consultations on the White Paper’s recommendations have been initiated by the Commission. First round consultations started in July, and finished in October. The second round will begin in November and end in February.
Tim Miller, Executive Director for Research and Policy at the Commission, said that after the publication of the whitepaper, there would be “very limited space” available for the Commission in the coming years to deal with policies not covered by the document.
For land-based venues, the Commission may also consider changing its slogan for age verification from “Think 21 to Think 25”.
Land-based industries’ reaction is positive
iGB spoke to a variety of experts in the industry and heard a largely favorable response to the policies contained within the whitepaper.
Simon Thomas, the executive chairman of Hippodrome Casino, praised its publication following “a wait of two and a half years”. The DCMS consultation regarding contactless payment at land-based machine was also highly praised by Thomas.
He was concerned about the fact that the document did not provide any details on the mandatory legal levy.
He said, “We’d like to know more about the levies imposed.” In terms of the amount, we would like to know how it will be calculated. You should have a rough idea about how money is going to be spent and distributed.
Dan Waugh of Regulus Partners, a strategic consulting firm, said that there is still a lot to do before the policies in the whitepaper are fully implemented. He said that the Commission could also be controversial because of its “reputation”, which is based on how it conducts consultations.
