Archive | November, 2018

Use your licence or risk losing it!

Earlier this month, the Gambling Commission revoked the combined remote casino, general betting standard (real event), and gambling software operating licence of Lucky 8 Limited under section 119 of the Gambling Act 2005 on the ground that it was unsuitable to carry on the licensed activities. More particularly, one of the grounds for revocation was that the […]

Remember this November as the month that changed gambling (in the UK at least)

In his monthly “Licensing Expert” article for SBC News entitled “Remember this November as the month that changed gambling” (that you can download below), David Clifton comments not only on today’s announcement of: the total of nearly £7 million in financial penalties imposed on two further online casino operators for AML and social responsibility breaches and the Gambling Commission holding individuals to […]

Gambling Commission will hold individuals to account where they are responsible for an operator’s failings

As reported by us earlier today, following operating licence reviews conducted by the Gambling Commission, Casumo Services Limited has been ordered to pay a financial penalty of £5.85 million and Videoslots Limited (t/a www.videoslots.com) will pay £1 million in lieu of a financial penalty. This has closely followed the £7.1 million fine imposed on Daub Alderney Limited. What is […]

Two more online casinos and their senior management heavily penalised for AML and social responsibility failings

As anticipated, the Gambling Commission’s ongoing investigation into the way the industry combats problem gambling and money laundering has resulted in enforcement action being taken against yet further online casino companies. We have already reported (on 13 November) on the £7.1 million fine imposed on Daub Alderney Limited. Today, the Commission has announced that, following […]

Five times more spent on gambling marketing online than on television

Just over a week before GambleAware’s 6th annual conference (the theme of which is “Reducing gambling-related harms: Diversity”), it has published new financial analysis by Regulus Partners estimating that gambling companies spend £1.2 billion marketing online, five times more than on television ads. Of interest in relation to the ongoing advertising debate is the following breakdown of the areas in […]

Right to void bet or gameplay for technical error comes under scrutiny

Betfred has been hitting the national and industry media headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last few days; see for example: “Man takes legal action after Betfred voids £1.7m jackpot win” in BBC News “Punter sues bookies Betfred who rejected £1.7m win” in The Times “Lawyer speaks about client’s £1.7m Betfred dispute” in Gambling […]

Collaborate to reduce harm and raise standards

You can download below the speech delivered by Neil McArthur, CEO of the Gambling Commission at today’s BACTA Convention & AGM. Entitled “Let’s collaborate to reduce harm and raise standards”, it contains reference to the Commission’s concern about the results of its recent test purchasing on category C gaming machines in pubs, about which we have previously reported […]

FOBTs and more subjected to a further Parliamentary debate

Notwithstanding last week’s announcement that the UK Government was bringing forward the date of implementation of the Fixed Odds Betting Terminal (Category B2 gaming machine) maximum stake reduction from October 2019 to April 2019 (and that the increase in the rate of remote gaming duty from 15% to 21% will also be brought forward from October 2019 to […]

Judicial challenge to prohibition of betting on non-UK EuroMillions fails

Last December we reported on the intended introduction – by way of the Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (“the 2018 Regulations”) – of a new operating licence condition to prohibit betting operators from accepting bets in relation to a EuroMillions draw, or the outcome of a EuroMillions lottery. This was on the […]

Young People and Gambling Report 2018

The Gambling Commission has today published its Young People and Gambling report 2018 that reveals an increase in gambling participation by 11 to 16 year olds in the last 12 months, although it remains at a lower level when compared with all previous years. However, in its website posting on the report, the Commission points out that its research study (conducted […]