Are you surprised? The gambling saga in the UK continues as government officials want to take the affordability check debate to parliament. (Image courtesy of Yulia Gapeenko on Vecteezy)
I am unsurprised that the UK gambling scene is coming up so often in the recent casino news headlines. The White Paper would always cause a stir, but none more so than the debate surrounding affordability checks not only that, the confusion that goes with it too.
At a recent government meeting, Philip Davies hardcore rejected the UK Gambling Commission’s idea to start assessing people’s financial risk when it comes to horse racing.
I assume that if his argument against affordability checks is successful and it curbs the restrictive nature of these checks, then maybe, just maybe, it will spill over to the entire British gambling scene online and offline.
But don’t hold your breath because he’s a lone wolf amongst a pack of wolves who have long been making public outcries about gambling addiction in the UK.
Mr. Davies does have some support from the BGC, yet the link is merely a media one and not a direct connection between the two. I’ve only connected the dots from an earlier news report in which I reported that the BGC asked to not overcomplicate affordability checks.
Carolyn Harris MP Has a Different Opinion to Philip Davies
Carolyn Harris said “It’s [affodability checks] about protection, not restriction,”. Her view is that checking people have the funds to gamble aims to prevent money issues for those who can’t afford losses. She’s not alone. GamCare is also all for affordability checks to reduce the number of people getting into financial difficulty because of over-gambling. You can also include numerous other charities in this same conversation.
For me it is a tough one. One the one hand, I think preventing people from over-gaming is a great idea. No one wants to see people go broke simply because they lost while gambling. On the other hand, it feels like the nation is treating players like kids. I really don’t know which side of the fence I am on.
What do you think? Is the UK a nanny state or words to that effect? Or is there a term for nanny state that applies to a certain industry. Are the rules being forced upon the UKGC to enforce making the UKGC itself a nanny gambling licensing authority?
Crunching the Numbers
Another issue in hot debate within the UK online casino sector, particularly online slots, is the recently implemented maximum bet limits. The Department for Culture, Media & Sport thinks max stake caps for online slots may tank gambling profits. For the likes of top online casinos and sports books like LeoVegas,, which hosts both horse racing and slots slot limits and affordability checks are huge blow to business. Also, 888 Holdings who owns 888Casino and William Hill, and other sites that offer horse racing and slots could see large revenue declines. I covered the UK Online Slot Max Bet Limits Confirmed by DDMS just last week if you are interested in learning more about the laws coming soon.
By the way, I said double whammy above; let’s make a triple whammy because all online gambling entertainment entities in the UK not only have to pay business tax as usual (to be expected), but they also have a 1% levy on gross gambling yield (GGY) of operators. The crazy part is that this levy is not on their profits; it is revenue from gambling activities before the deduction of the cost of operation, including the payouts to winners!
Industry and Advocate Opinions
Now in the past most online casinos overseas would not accept players from the UK because if they lose their money, they can go to their bank and force a charge-back by claiming they though it was a legit casino. However, with crypto casinos willingly accepting UK players, there is no chargeback when using blockchain transactions, and so there is larger risk of a rise in UK players heading to what are dubbed as black market online casinos and sportsbooks.
Yet, cryptocurrency has not chargeback. I reported on this some months ago – UK Illegal Crypto Gambling Has Authorities Concerned! In that same report, you will find another report stating how some of the new rules implemented are going to ruin another one of the UK’s billion dollar industries.
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