CasinoBeats

Industry experts will discuss the recent announcement by the UK government to impose stake limits on online slots in a specially created CasinoBeats Summit Webinar tomorrow.

Scheduled for noon on Wednesday 28 February, “What’s at stake? Adapting to lower statutory slot limits – A CasinoBeats Summit discussion” will be the first live debate to cover the new changes which see a £2 stake limit imposed on players under 25 and a £5 limit on all other players.

Ian Perrygrove (CRO, Kwiff), Christopher Dalli (CEO, L&L Europe Ltd) and Tom Banks (Head of Corporate Affairs – UK & Global, Kindred) will be quizzed by moderator Sarah Ramanauskas (Co-Founder, Game Safety Institute) during the live discussion ahead of the CasinoBeats Summit at the Intercontinental Hotel in Malta on 21-23 May.

The measure is part of the proposals in last year’s whitepaper ‘High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age’, published in April 2023.

After initially considering a range from £2-£15, the new limits a..

Responses from the research, education and treatment sector of the UK gambling industry have begun to surface following the government’s online slot stake limits announcement last week.

After the UK government announced £2 online slot stake limits for 18-24 year olds, and £5 for over 25s, EPIC Global Solutions CEO and Founder Paul Buck referred to the measures as a “sticking plaster” that could “cause more harm” than good.

Taking to LinkedIn to respond to last Friday’s announcement, Buck responded by stating there was “no huge surprise” in the Department of Culture, Media and Sports’ decision.

He stated: “No huge surprise in what was announced today by DCMS, but it does feel like a sticking plaster that hasn’t been particularly well thought through. Probably the first of quite a few as the White Paper is implemented.”

Buck pointed to three issues stemming from the new online slot stake limit measures, suggesting that stringent limits on what customers can play with may invoke ot..

Tim Miller, Executive Director of Research and Policy at the UK Gambling Commission, has outlined the next steps for financial risk checks to help tackle gambling harms.

Financial risk checks were part of the proposals within the UK government’s gambling white paper, published in April last year, to “help identify and take action for customers who may be financially vulnerable.”

Miller said: “We have been working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that the next steps closely reflect the intention of the white paper. That is, that the process of conducting these checks will be frictionless for the vast majority of customers who undergo them.”

Back in September, the UKGC posted a blog to address the misunderstandings regarding financial risk checks, proposing that light touch checks occur “at £125 net loss (accrued bonus funds and re-staked winnings would not be included) within a rolling 30-day period or £500 within a rolling 365-day period”.

Assessm..

The UK government has confirmed that stake limits will be introduced for online slot games across the UK gambling industry to help protect people from gambling harms.

From September later this year, there will be a maximum stake limit of £2 for online slots for anyone aged between 18 and 24 years old, as well as a £5 limit for anyone aged 25 or over.

These stake limits bring them in line with casinos, to reduce “the increased risk of significant harm and life-changing losses from online slot games” as slots “can be associated with large losses, long sessions, and binge play”.

£2 online slot stake limit for under 25s

A £2 stake limit has been introduced for under 25s as this age group has “the highest average problem gambling score of any group, as well as lower disposable income, ongoing neurological development impacting risk perception and common life stage factors like managing money for the first time”.

The UK government also noted that there is a “stronger link between gambl..

Kansspelautoriteit has said that tackling illegal gambling providers will be of high priority for the Dutch gambling authority in 2024.

The statement follows the conclusion of two investigations the KSA conducted into the advertising of illegal gambling offers via affiliate websites and websites of online newspapers, in which it found 14 of the 33 websites investigated in violation.

According to the authority, some websites also targeted people who were registered with the country’s self-exclusion service Central Register for the Exclusion of Gambling – Cruks.

One KSA investigation focused on websites advertising illegal providers, targeting vulnerable players. The authority looked into the most visited affiliate websites and found four websites in violation. A follow-up investigation has since begun into these websites.

The other investigation sought out affiliate marketing for illegal online casinos, specifically following the ban for untargeted advertising coming into effect las..

GambleAware has published data showing public support for financial risk checks to protect people from gambling-related harm.

An Ipsos poll,which surveyed 4,170 adults aged 18-75 across Great Britain between September 29 and October 4, 2023, found that approximately three in five adults – 57 per cent – support enhanced financial risk checks in principle.

Regarding affected others, over three quarters – 76 per cent – believe financial risk checks will shift more responsibility onto operators rather than solely players, while two-thirds – 63 per cent – believe measures will help reduce the number of people facing financial harm as a result of gambling.

Backing financial risk checks, GambleAware has stated that checks must be “implemented correctly and safely”, but must also be part of “a robust prevention strategy for gambling harms, with any delay likely to result in further harm experienced by the public”.

“As we continue to see a steady rise in demand for support and treatment ser..

The UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will impose new stake limits for online slots later this week on Friday, according to a report from The Guardian.

A debate will also take place in the Parliament Petitions Committee next week on Monday regarding a petition relating to financial risk checks for gambling.

Financial risk checks and online slot stake limits were part of the proposed regulations for the UK gambling industry set out in the government’s white paper, published in April last year.

According to The Guardian, the DCMS will impose new stake limits for online slots on Friday, with a limit of £2 for under-25s and £5 for anyone 25 or over.

These are different limit figures than the ones suggested in the government’s consultation published in April last year of between £2 and £15.

The white paper noted that setting the limit at the range’s midpoint – £8.50 – would reportedly cost the gambling industry up to £185m. However, limits of £2 and £5 wo..

Spillemyndigheden has declared a significant renewal error with its ROFUS self-exclusion service, resulting in around 1,200 registrants having “the opportunity to gamble”.

The Danish gambling authority commented that the error identified caused people who renewed their ROFUS registration to only have their original registration renewed and not any additional games covered by the service since the original registration took place.

Whenever someone renews with the self-exclusion service, the exclusion is supposed to apply “to all games that are covered by ROFUS at the individual time of renewal”.

As a result of the error, approximately 1,200 people were affected and “by mistake had the opportunity to gamble at physical casinos or buy bets in betting machines”.

The error has since been corrected, with Spillemyndigheden noting that “all renewals in the future exclude the registrant from all games covered by ROFUS at the time of renewal”.

An error was also found by the authority in “n..

Cyprus’ National Betting Authority has launched the National Self-Exclusion Platform as part of its Safer Gambling Strategy 2022-2025 to safeguard players.

The NBA stated that the free platform will help players control their betting by self-excluding – temporarily, long-period or indefinitely – from betting activities with all licensed online operators in the Republic of Cyprus.

Once a player has self-excluded, the authority noted that they may only access their betting account to withdraw funds and will no longer be able to create a new account with a licensed operator.

Speaking at a press conference introducing the self-exclusion service, Ioanna Fiakkou, President of the NBA, described the platform as “a robust tool for every player, designed to promote safer betting behaviour and safeguarding vulnerable groups of people”.

“The development of the National Self-Exclusion Platform underscores the NBA’s dedication to player protection and the establishment of a sustainable and fair..

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation has cracked down on illegal gambling activity after arresting 12 people alleged to be running illicit igaming operations.

Following a month-long investigation, PAGCOR Chair and CEO, Alejandro H Tengco, confirmed that the suspects were apprehended in Parañaque City, with support from the National Capital Region Police Office, as well as the cybercrime unit of the Philippine National Police.

The case will be handed over to the Parañaque Regional Trial Court.

Tengco stated: “The raiders were armed with a warrant to search, seize and examine operations of computer data against the suspects who were caught red-handed while operating the illegal online gaming platform tbb888.com or the ‘Big Bet’.”

In total, 11 computers, 21 mobile phones, two iPads, six laptops and several flash drives were seized by the authorities, believed to be used for running the gambling operations that illegally profited from online slot machines, live casino game..