The Gambling Act 2005 Gaming Tables in Casinos Definitions Amendment Regulations 2025

This difficulty is further exacerbated by data availability and the difficulty of measuring changes in gambling harms as explored in the introduction to this white paper. We also recommend that licensing authorities make more use of their powers to attach conditions to premises licences, such as opening hours and security measures. This does not prevent the authority from granting a licence, or allow them to issue a blanket refusal to applications, but a CIA does encourage the gathering of more evidence for assessing applications and requires the operator to evidence how it will mitigate risk. CIAs will complement existing powers by supporting licensing authorities to capture and regularly review a wide range of evidence, such as density of premises in a particular area, health and crime statistics, and residents’ questionnaires.

The minimum legal gambling age is 18 for every product except the National Lottery and equivalent society lottery draws, where the minimum is 16. The thresholds below are the headline LCCP triggers; individual operators may layer stricter internal rules on top. These are sometimes called “affordability checks” in the press but the Commission now uses the terms financial vulnerability and financial risk. The 2023 White Paper proposed maximum online slot stakes of £2 per spin for 18–24-year-olds and £5 per spin for players 25 and over.

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.

The responses received from the third sector also raised concerns about the potential for increased gambling-related harm to occur alongside greater numbers of Category B machines being made available. One operator, under both options, stated that it would increase the number of Category B cabinets machines by 2 to 3 per venue, while removing the vast number of smaller in-fill gaming machines. Evidence provided for Option 1 suggests that increases in Category B cabinet gaming machines would be moderate in the short-term. The arcade sector similarly reported that Option 1 and Option 3 would result in the removal of underused Category C and D machines, whilst Option 2 would have no impact or result in increased numbers of Category C and D gaming machines. This relates primarily to underused Category C and D gaming machines.

What Kinds of Gambling are Legal and Illegal in the UK?

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For example, high and medium risk accounts placed 37.4% of stakes over £10, which given only 2.4% of players were flagged as medium or high risk highlights their overrepresentation among high stakers. Nonetheless, accounts flagged as high and medium risk account for a greater proportion of stakes in higher value staking bands. However, some operators pointed out that while the spins at higher levels are relatively uncommon, individual players often vary their stakes. Among respondents outside of industry, there was a broad consensus that stake limits on slots are needed.

Under the Act, licensing authorities in England and Wales have the role of issuing premises licences for casinos and monitoring those licences. It is noted that, for the casino sector, this proposal will be taken forward in the context of plans to harmonise the operating and premises licence fees between 1968 Act casinos and 2005 Act Small casinos. The consultation sought evidence as to the current level of funding received by licensing authorities in the form of gambling premises fees, alongside the number of premises licence applications which they receive and the number of live premises licences in their areas. We believe that the implementation of voluntary test purchasing is an important safeguard for ensuring that premises are abiding by the proposed ban on the use of ‘cash-out’ Category D slot-style gaming machines by those aged under-18.

Further, the terminal must only allow participation in one activity at a time and should not permit simultaneous bingo and machine game play. Retail bingo clubs have highlighted that recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been slow and fragile due to the vulnerability of many of their customers and that the proposals set out by the sector could allow clubs to modernise and extend their offer to customers. It said that side bets on a main stage bingo game could allow customers to increase their opportunities for a return (for example, on the colour of the final ball, the number of the final ball to be drawn or which segment of the room the winner of the house will be sat). The sector cited evidence of the social and community benefits of bingo (particularly for older people).

Perhaps the largest day-to-day change centers on data transparency and affordability. The UK government’s shake-up of gambling rules, first promised in early 2023, is now done and dusted thanks to a phased roll-out in 2024 and 2025. Well, spotlight the sections still feeling the most pressure and show how guides, including the updated one on our site, are stepping in to keep punters informed in the new scene. Including information on how we carry out assessments, your responsibilities under the LCCP and our new sector guides with detailed guidance and policies by the sectors we licence. In July 2026, the Gambling Commission faced backlash for newly announced affordability and responsible gambling checks, which critics described as “rushed, flawed and hugely problematic”.

Some operators will benefit from both. This option balances our 2 key priorities, the first being to support arcade and bingo premises through increased commercial flexibility within the context of many businesses operating at a loss post-COVID-19. While not as liberalising as Option 3, responses from some operators indicated that increases in Category B cabinets would not be vastly different to projections provided for Option 3.

Those who lead on these fronts will be best placed to grow sustainably — and defend their licence — in a sector under increasing scrutiny. Operators should keep non gamestop casino a clear audit trail of all actions taken —  as the ability to evidence compliance is just as important as achieving it. This elevates frontline teams into a key role within the broader safer gambling ecosystem, further emphasising the importance of accountability. The Gambling Journal covers the global iGaming industry through daily news, sharp analysis, and editorially independent company profiles.

If you’ve played online casino in the UK for any length of time, you’ll know the rulebook never truly sits still. £1 million is a hefty fine, but it is more of a statement to operators out there and showcases how serious the UKGC is about protecting consumers from problem gambling. Self-exclusion helps problem gamblers and allows them to request gambling operators to deny them service. A recent example of how much the UK takes this seriously can be seen with SkyBet, one of the largest online betting providers in the country. The UKGC does not go after individuals who are participating in illegal online gambling. Online gambling, also known as remote gambling, is considered legal in Great Britain if the operator possesses a licence from the UKGC.

One effect of the amendments made by the 2025 regulations is to make it clear that only gaming tables controlled or operated by casino staff can qualify as a gaming table for the purposes of calculating gaming machine allowances. 5.—(1) The condition specified in this regulation is attached to each remote casino operating licence, including remote casino operating licences issued before this regulation comes into force. Find out how to comply with your anti-money laundering (AML) responsibilities if you’re operating a gambling business in the regulated sector (remote and non-remote casinos).

The main piece of legislation that regulates both land-based and online casinos in the UK is the Gambling Act, passed in 2005 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In the following sections, we will examine the legislation concerning casinos in the United Kingdom, an industry that now generates more than £3.2 billion in gross gaming yield. As noted above, from 1 May 2025, operators may only directly market to customers that have consented to marketing on a granular per product (i.e., casino, bingo, betting) and per channel (i.e., SMS, email) basis. The IA should, however, provide a more robust, balanced assessment of societal costs because of the risk of increased gambling harm, as well as providing more narrative on international evidence. Costs to business include for familiarisation, and purchasing and implementing additional gaming machines. The package is intended to modernise the rules that apply to casinos and to help the sector to grow, while ensuring that appropriate safeguards against gambling-related harm are in place.

We would not object to customers being able to set their voluntary limits during these cooling-off periods. Some trade associations also highlighted the GamCare Code of Conduct for the display of socially responsible messaging, which they adhere to and requires that 20% of screen content displays safer gambling messages. The vast majority of responses stated that specific safer gambling messaging should be considered within cashless gambling. While such alerts will not require an interaction with a customer each and every time a threshold is reached, they should form an important part of the venue’s approach to customer interaction, alongside other types of markers and behaviours that could indicate harm. We expect some parts of the industry to oppose this measure due to concerns around its technical feasibility and burdens it would place on staff, particularly in a pub environment. This proposal will help build a picture of the customer’s play and is already standard in betting shops.

• Greater comprehension of the odds was also linked to fewer participants choosing to play, and other research led by Dr Philip Newall has shown including a volatility statement can lower gambling expenditure.
• In relation to measures that venues should adopt to ensure no under-18s play on these types of machines, responses included additional staff checks on customers, staff training and placing machines in visible areas near cash desks or prize bars.
• “game cycle” means, for an online slots game, the period beginning with the initiation of a game by the individual and ending at the point at which all money staked during the game has been lost or all money won during the game has been delivered to or made available for collection by the individual as the case may be.

Figure 2: Past four week adult gambling participation by product in year to December 2022

It will now take forward work to review the design and targeting of incentives such as free bets and bonuses to ensure there are clear rules and fair limits on re-wagering requirements and time limits so they do not encourage excessive or harmful gambling. The Gambling Commission has recently strengthened restrictions on online VIP schemes to make sure they are not used to exploit gamblers, and has introduced rules to stop bonus offers and other marketing being targeted at people showing significant indicators of harm. It is clear that gambling advertising can have a disproportionate impact on particular groups such as people who are already experiencing problems, and that some aggressive advertising practices can exacerbate harms. This will include options of a £2 stake limit per spin; a £4 stake limit per spin; or an approach based on individual risk. The Gambling Commission will review and consult on updating design rules for online products, building on its recent work on online slots to consider features like speed of play, illusion of player control and other intensifying features which can exacerbate risk.

Other London casinos also use this method, with one reporting that in a typical year, 48% of overall money exchanged for chips is accepted via international cheques. For the purposes of this assessment, we assume that 15% to 30% of revenue constrained by slots limits is spent on other online casino games instead. These include extending session length (to stake the same total amount), spending on different products, migrating to products in the land-based sector, ceasing gambling in the licensed sector altogether, or adjusting staking patterns. Checks will be mandatory across all operators (so customers cannot entirely avoid them by using a different operator as they might at present). This differs significantly from the present experience reported by some individual operators where they suggest the majority of their GGY above enhanced check thresholds is lost due to high non-compliance with the data requests.

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.

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.

These initial checks use publicly available data and do not require sensitive personal information such as postcodes or employment details. Additionally, a mandatory minimum 2.5-second interval between spins is required to slow down gameplay and promote safer gambling. To promote responsible gambling in the UK, it is essential to understand the laws governing these games. The firm also plays a role in observing and influencing the regulatory environment and crafting innovative structures for commercial relationships within the industry.

We also received evidence from charities that people facing challenges like social isolation or cognitive dysfunction (such as following a brain injury) could be particularly attracted to remote gambling opportunities and fail to understand or properly assess the risks. This would prevent slots play where there is an elevated risk of rapid losses and/or harm, while leaving the majority of customers who play at low stakes unaffected. This creates compliance risks and potential harms for those experiencing problem gambling and affected others. Individual operators can take steps to prevent harm on their own platform, but people suffering gambling harms often hold multiple accounts. The Gambling Commission will consult on new obligations on operators to conduct checks to understand if a customer’s gambling is likely to be harmful in the context of their financial circumstances.

As much of the risk relates to online gambling, we propose that people aged 18 to 24 should have lower trigger points for the enhanced spending checks outlined in Section 1.2, and our consultation on online slot stakes will include options for extra protections for this group (Section 1.3). However, the evidence shows that people aged 18 to 24 years old are generally more vulnerable to gambling-related harms than the wider population. These usually entail a more sensitive calibration of player monitoring systems to detect harm, but some operators take more direct action, for example requiring customers aged 18 to 24 to set their own deposit limit before they are permitted to gamble or unilaterally implementing a mandatory maximum loss limit.

Further details on how this will be progressed are outlined below and we also outline a number of initiatives to stimulate interest in gambling research, including with research council funding, and to help build the evidence base. Our aim is to improve the provision of high-quality research on gambling and align treatment services commissioned by the NHS and third sector, ensuring those experiencing gambling-related harms are able to access the treatment and support they need when they need it. As the main commissioner of treatment services, GambleAware continues to provide support and treatment covering a wide spectrum of need outside of severe cases of gambling-related harm and addiction seen through the specialist NHS clinics. The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to develop an understanding of the scale of harmful gambling in communities by reviewing and developing Scotland-level data. Where operators have breached licence conditions which are designed to protect customers, the Gambling Commission already uses its significant powers to order substantial fines and financial settlements.